Working on a study of the church with one of our new elders in training, I came across this statement in the book that we are studying together (free translation from the French text): “A person does not exist isolated, independent from others: he/she is a person in community; he/she is built by and for the community. No one is an island sufficient in himself/herself”
I’m sure that all of us would agree. As individual members of a local church, we are “built by and for community.” That’s what we teach, share and preach to others. That’s what I’m seeking to impress upon this elder in training.
However, many times the importance of the “community” element in our personal growth and development seems to get lost in cross-cultural ministry. Over time, we can learn to function autonomously and see input (read: constructive feedback) from others as unnecessary and a way for them to simply unload on us. We avoid looking for and receiving feedback from others. We may work on a team, but we do not allow ourselves to be built by this community.
What we want in the church we are seeking to establish is for believers to recognize their need for others: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). It’s the “we” that takes priority because we believe that we need one another to be built up into Him.
I am always saddened to read that the number one reason cross-cultural workers leave the ministry is because of other cross-cultural workers. Certainly, there are a number of other reasons to explain this attrition. But working to sift feedback from others and then applying that helpful feedback would be a first step to allowing the community to grow us up into Christ.
So, how do we allow ourselves to built by the community that we are part of? That’s for another blog post.
Filed under: Community, Feedback, Speak truth in love |
Thoughts Along The Journey 
Thanks for this important reminder, David. When I look at the church planters in the New Testament, it seems that Apollos is the most autonomous, but even he accepts instructions from Priscilla and Aquila, benefits from the letter of recommendation sent by the local church and collaborates with (but not under) Paul’s mission team. One might say that the most independent NT missionary was still strongly connected and interdependent on the body of Christ in its congregational and missional structures.