Evaluating 40 Days of Community

In the introduction, Rick Warren starts off with the following statement:

Today, millions of people around the world have begun to enjoy living a purpose driven life.

While Rick is referring to the purpose of doing good deeds, there are nonetheless many multitudes of people who live purpose-driven lives.  I see them all around me.  However, few live Spirit-filled lives and are disciples of Christ.  That is a whole different matter and something which Rick leaves unclear.

In fact, it is impossible to fulfill God’s five purposes for your life by yourself. We need each other!

I would say, we need God!  Rick’s statement of impossibility doesn’t leave much hope for those who by no choice of their own have to live alone (imprisoned, persecuted, hated, stranded, abused, etc. — see Heb 11:37-40).

The goal of 40 Days of Community is to water the seeds of purpose…

Let us be very careful here.  Nowhere in the scripture does it say that we are to water the seeds of purpose.  Again, lots of people in this world have purpose in their lives.  It is how they excel at what they do.  And lots of people are driven.  Any many are even driven to do good things, like volunteer, feed or assist the poor or build hospitals and schools in third world nations.  These are concepts and ideas that are upheld by the world systems encouraging benevolence… and also achievement and prosperity.  So, if ‘watering the seeds of purpose’ is not the gospel, is it what God has called us to do?  We really need to ask that question of everything we do in God’s name.  Let me put it another way that may be more understandable: is teaching my children the way of obedience to show them that they can do it?  Or is it rather to show them that they are inadequate and need God’s grace?  And if by grace, it is a natural outflow from saving faith and not something learned.

Real community (koinonia) is caught, not taught.

I can agree with the above statement if it is referring to the fellowship resulting from people believing the gospel.  However, in the next line Rick states, “…you’ll not just learn how to build community–hopefully, you’ll experience it.”  But Philippians 2:1 says, “if there is any fellowship” which assumes that it already exists amongst those who belong to Christ.  Yes, fellowship is caught, but it is caught from the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14) by believing the gospel and exercising faith.

During the next six weeks we’ll examine the five reasons we need each other to fulfill God’s purposes for our lives. (emphasis added)

Don’t we need God to fulfill His purposes? In 1 Thess 4:9 we read, “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess 4:9, NASB).  The following verses continue, “for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren…” — you see, those who heard the true gospel and responded in faith, already knew what to do. God promised, “…I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer 31:33, NASB). How does a new born baby know how to breathe? Or suck the nipple? Is it taught? Does it have to learn it? In the same way for the one born of God, these things come naturally because they abide in God and God in them.

“You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common” (1 Cor 1:10c, MSG). Notice that fellowship is something we must learn how to do. It must be intentionally cultivated. (emphasis added)

Must true fellowship be cultivated?  Where does the scripture say this?  The Apostle Paul is exhorting people to all agree (the KJV says “speak the same thing”) and to end their divisions.  This happens when the truth is made known.  The NASB reads: “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”  Nothing about learning how to do it here, unless it is to learn the truth of the gospel.  Division comes because untruth is allowed to grow unchecked.

We grow better together. …you cannot grow spiritually if you are detached from fellowship with a local body of believers. (emphasis added)

I can agree that we grow better together because we encourage, exhort, correct and train one another.  Iron sharpens iron, and so we grow by helping another see what he is unable to see.  However, the statement that one cannot grow spiritually if you are detached from fellowship with a local body of believers is a false statement!  The Bible says that we cannot grow if we are detached from the vine.  Do you see the overemphasis on people and lack of emphasis on God?

The apostle Paul did not need the other apostles or believers to grow spiritually.  After his Damascus road experience, he went away to Arabia for 3 years and returned preaching the same gospel as Peter and the apostles without consulting any man! (Gal 1:15-18).  If Paul could grow spiritually in the absence of a local body of believers, can’t we?  Not that this should be normative, but I think the point is clear that we cannot grow without other believers cannot be true.  We are to gather together in fellowship to serve one another — this is a clear commandment from scripture (Rom 12 and 1 Cor 12 are both excellent).

There are many benefits to serving God together instead of by yourself: we compensate for each other’s weaknesses, we’re more efficient, we multiply our effectiveness, we can defeat bigger problems, and we can support each other when we’re tired or discouraged.

A hearty amen to this!  However, its easy to cross the line and begin to trust in numbers.  After all, it is God who defeats all problems, not larger numbers of believers.  If we ever have the mindset of achieving more because of numbers, we walk into dangerous territory.  “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man” (Psalm 118:8, NASB).  More on this below.

“Worshiping together gets us out of our solitary conceit” (C.S. Lewis).

True, congregational worship should be a time where we are convicted of our sin, encouraged in good deeds, and affirm Christ’s Lordship.

Someone once pointed out that snowflakes are frail, but when enough of them stick together they can stop traffic. … That is the awesome power of community!

Think about this for a moment… is this not the same thinking that prevailed at the Tower of Babel?  No doubt that the proverb “there is strength in numbers” is widely held today, even amongst many in the midst of the congregation.  But again, this kind of thinking is dangerous and leads to trusting in people and not in God.  Thus, you will see that it is an idea discouraged by God.  It leads to corporate pride.  Our strength must come from God and be in Him alone.  Otherwise, what would I do if there are not enough believers around me?  Do I depend upon others or upon God?  Remeber how God took Gideon’s army of 22,000 men and trimmed it down to 300?  Then the LORD said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.” (Judges 7:7, NASB).  But it seems that the above statement from Rick actually suggests that we should trust in numbers of people and not in God.  When we are weak, then He is strong; but when we are strong, we tend very quickly to forget about Him.  We need to encourage one another to have faith so that we don’t forget that God (and not us) can do all things.  James 5:16b (NASB) says, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” Luke 18:8b (NASB) warns us solemnly, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”