Learn to Compromise: Part 2 The Lesson in Community

Rough Draft:

 I want to develop the last article a little further.  The baby boomer generation lack of compromise and commitment has helped to erode our societies sense of community.  The  nucleus of the family is destroyed, the loyalty to geographic location is gone, the loyalty to local stores is gone, the loyalty to denomination is gone.  It is here I want to rest for awhile.  The younger generation is so longing for community, particularly within the church.  Read a few blogs and you will quickly find it is all the rage among 30 something pastors right now.  It is has been lost and they are grasping to find it.  The problem is the community of the church is not one that is instantly established.  It existed 50 years ago, because you had 2 or 3 generations all within the same church.  Your parents were Baptist, you were Baptist, but not only Baptist, but you went to the church you grew up in.  This established accountability.  People did not just know who you are today, but they knew your past, your short comings, your change, your family history, how committed you had been in the past, etc.  And the people that know these things are not just people that you like and have everything in common with, such as age, children, income, etc, but is spread over generations and personalities.  The next generation is now coming along, not wanting the tradition, wanting something new, but longing for community.  Sometimes I fear the want the feeling of the community, but with autonomy and freedom.  The want to live in New York city and have it feel like Hickory, Indiana.  However, true community appears to come at the loss of once autonomy and freedom.  This kind of true communitycannot happen overnight or with the formation of a new program.  This can give one a sense of community, but the fullness of community takes time, involvement, and commitment to build.  So, keep longing for community, but establish something that will be left for generations to come.  We, as the upcoming generation, need to be careful to not overthrow all traditions, but preserve what we can to help establish this community.  We need to root ourselves in the local church, and lose ourselves and identities within the body.  We need to not chase the latest fads, but stay the course.  We need to be faithful and committed.  And if we are committed within this community it means we will learn to compromise our wants and our desires for the betterment of the whole.