Subscribe to RSSCommunity Creates Comfort
Over the past week I have been spending time on the Big Island of Hawaii with my wife. We have done a snorkeling cruise, seen rock beaches, and attended a farmer’s market. Outside of each other, we haven’t known another soul on the entire island. We have been strangers in a strange land, so to speak.
But on Sunday, we attended a church and spoke about Compassion International, a ministry with which we are involved. When we walked into the building, we were greeted in a warm and uniquely Hawaiian manner. There were no strangers in the congregation, though we did not know anyone’s name. Though this was our first time there, everyone treated us as though we were long lost friends, coming back for a reunion.
While our time on vacation has been relaxing, and no one had treated us poorly, we were never in a situation where we had felt like we were at home. At least, not until we worshipped with this local congregation.
And that is the point. The community that this church created instantly caused us to be at ease, to be comfortable. We were among friends, though we had never known these people before. The common link between us all was our relationship with Christ, and that we had all come together for the same purpose, to worship Him.
The lesson that can be drawn from this experience is this: if you create community, you can also harvest the benefit of the comfort that it creates, both for your own people, as well as for those who are visiting. And we could all use a little more of that.