Build Community 2

1 John 4:18

The fear of the unknown can be a powerful force. Most people are not always comfortable going places they are not familiar with or meeting total strangers. We are much more comfortable with what we know and who we know. The idea of perfect strangers coming into our lives can really raise some fears.

The writer John continues in his letter to new believers by addressing the fear of the unknown. What does he say about fear and love? What does love do?

As we look at the all too common experience of declining attendance in churches throughout the nation, most church members are confronted with a dilemma. If we stay the way we are, wrapped in our comfortable habits and traditions, surrounded by only the comfortable familiar, we will soon die off as a church. If we seek out new members and new believers then we are faced with encountering strangers, people we do not know. And this can cause fear.

But we must remember why we are doing what we are doing. We should exist as a church to be the manifestation – the real and tangible presence – of the love of God. We should be the expression of God’s love in the world.

And that expression of God’s love should involve a desire to build a community of believers. And if we will build a community of believers then we must go out from the walls of our place of worship and encounter the stranger. We must be welcoming to the visitor.

Is this a frightening idea? Absolutely.

We don’t know these people. We don’t know what they will bring to our church. They may bring their own problems and issues with them, their own baggage that might be a bit unpleasant for us.

Or they might bring in new ideas, concepts and approaches that are exciting and dynamic, that might turn our church on its head in a good way. They might bring a new vitality and energy and love to a stagnant group of believers.

Whatever awaits us we must approach the idea of building a faith community with love. We must approach the new believer and the stranger with the love that God has shown us. That is perfect love; and, as John points out, “perfect love drives out fear.”

DAILY CHALLENGE: What will it take for you to approach the stranger and the visitor with perfect love?