Henri Nouwen: Community

Again, my heart is being stirred by God working through the words and life of Henri Nouwen. I just finished his should book “Making All Things New” and wanted to leave some of his sayings on “community” that I will be processing hopefully for the rest of my life.

“There are many groups that have been formed to protect their own interests, to defend their own status, or to promote their own causes, but none of these is a Christian community. Instead of breaking through the walls of fear and creating a new space for God, they close themselves to real or imaginary intruders. The mystery of community is precisely that it embraces all people, whatever the individual differences may be, and allows them to live together as brothers and sisters of Christ and sons and daughters of his heavenly father.”

How I wish this was a true mark of the Christian community. I have seen this but I do not think this is the norm of the Christian community.

And on how we talk:

“But often we find that words function more as walls than as gates, more as ways to keep distance than to come close. Often-even against our own desires- we find ourselves competing with each other. We try to prove to each other that we are worth being paid attention to, that we have something to show that makes us special.”

I felt pretty called out on this.

And lastly:

“The question is not simply, ‘Where does God lead me as an individual person who tries to do his will?’ More basic and more significant is the question ‘Where does God lead us as a people?’”

This smacks Christian individualism in the face. This individualism makes me more convinced how our expressions of Christianity often are due to our culture compared to what Christ intended.

Deeper reflections to come.