Community

Living overseas in an expatriate community has given me a unique glimpse into what the Body of Christ should look like. Most of the people with whom I spend time are here for the same reason: ministry work. We have chosen to leave our home countries, our families and friends, familiar languages, customs and conveniences and take up residence in a place that is foreign and unfamiliar. Because of that, our lives tend to become very tightly woven together. We work together, play together, eat together, worship together, serve together - you name it, and we probably do it together. We become our family - sisters and brothers and aunts and uncles and even mothers, fathers and children.

But even beyond all of that, we often take on distinct roles in our community. In the place of ministry - in my case, an international Christian school - there is often a need to step in and perform many different jobs. The music teacher, for instance (that would be me), can also coordinate chapels, lead discipleship, be the local member care representative, be a mentor teacher and help out with a myriad of other activities.

Sometimes those roles become blurred and blended as many people fill a need or take on a burden for a particular ministry. Sometimes, there are simply not enough people to make every program work and so some things are allowed to die or are postponed for a later time. The community is fluid and flexible as people come and leave and as needs arise or fade.

Just as Paul exhorts the Corinthian church to regard themselves as a unit, a body, it is imperative for those of us in overseas ministry to be unified and to work together to accomplish our purpose for being here. We cannot go out and find fifty more people to work with or to take the place of people we do not get along with - they simply are not available. We are forced to cooperate, to practice forgiveness and reconciliation, to resolve conflict and make peace. Unresolved issues eat away at the community as a whole, and there is no escape unless someone leaves the country (even then, deep-rooted problems are often left behind).

I have come to believe that this is actually a very good picture of what the Body should look like, whether it is here in Korea or back in the States. We have lost the sense of community in much of the North American church - but it is alive and well in the church overseas.

Paul reminds us both in Romans and in I Corinthians that we each have been given a gift, that we each have a role and a purpose for where God has placed us. I would urge you to develop those gifts, to discover your role and to faithfully pursue whatever calling God places on you. If any one of us does not fill his or her place, the Body is then not whole - at best it is handicapped. Sometimes that place is in an area we enjoy, a place where we feel we fit well and are fulfilled. Sometimes that place is difficult, working with issues or with people with whom we feel inadequate in dealing.

Paul also urges the Church to find unity, not division. If we focus on the differences, we will not be able to work as a unit, but if we will view our similarities of vision and burdens as most important, we will find ourselves accomplishing God's purposes for His Church. Sometimes, that means working through conflict and personal issues with others in the Body. It takes time and effort to develop relationships that withstand conflict - and even more time and effort to restore relationships that have been damaged. However, if we desire a true representation of the Body and not simply a group of people who agree with us on everything, we will find that the time and effort are worth giving.

My final thought on being in this overseas community is that the work of the Holy Spirit seems so much more real and visible. We could not function as a Body if we did not have the Spirit connecting us to our Head, Jesus Christ. There are too many differences of background, church practices, convictions, vision, etc., for us to fill our specific roles and to be unified without His intervening work in our lives. We also live too closely connected to continue liking each other without Him in our midst! How often I have seen His work left out of the church - relegated to a place of doctrinal head knowledge, but not viewed as living, breathing, necessary reality. How different the Body of Christ might be if we were each vitally connected to our Head through listening to and keeping in step with the Spirit.

The Body is vastly important to the Christian walk. How much more effective the Church would be at accomplishing God's command to go and make disciples and to preach the Gospel if we would learn to function in the community and as the Body of which we were created to be a part.