Ideas on Gardening

So, here’s a question from the perspective of a missional, simple-church, organic community pastor in Michigan.

The more I hear about this buzz word “community” the more I get concerned if we are reaching for something intangible. In his book, “The Forgotten Ways” Alan Hirsch makes a good point when talking about the difference between “community” and “communitas.” Hirsch basically argues that if we are merely  seeking to create a group of people (no matter the size) that have affinity, are connected to God and one another and come together for worship, then we are missing the point of being the Church. Without a missional focal point, we won’t achieve “communitas.”

I like the image statement that a friend gave me a few years ago which compares our work to an organic gardener. He would say that our role is not the “creator” of community, but rather the one that helps keep the soil rich and able to produce community within it. We must re-learn that God is the only being capable of drawing, and connecting people, and we as pastors are merely to act with God’s movement, and tend to the garden so that it may grow fertile and vibrant.

So I ask, is community something we really should be striving for? Is it really something we can plan for? Or, should we learn to step back, listen for God’s movement around us and work to create organic spaces for community to blossom?