JESUS often retreated to find silence and solitude with the Father . He prayed a lot , and we read some of those prayers in the synoptic gospels . A second place that Jesus chose to live life was in a small community of followers . We call them His disciples .
Jesus ’ example persists today as a model for living our lives . We must have alone time , quiet time , with The Father . And we must have close fellowship or discipleship with believers . Solitude and Community . Here are some characteristics of Jesus ’ community that I find valuable as I try to replicate the Way of Jesus in my community .
1 1 . There is great perseverance . Jesus persevered with His disciples even when they asked things that revealed pride or greed in their heart . He persevered with Peter even when he chose to desert Jesus in the final act of the Gospel . Thus , we must have grace for our fellow believers that we live life with . We cannot let cross comments or bad attitudes cause us to write a fellow believer off as a person . We are all imperfect , and love doesn ’ t give up . It perseveres .
2 2 . There is teaching and learning . Jesus taught His disciples all of the time . He taught them in response
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to situations or conversations . He taught them formally through lectures / sermons . He taught them through action and service . We all must allow God to pass on the wisdom that we ’ ve learned from Jesus , and we must also submit ourselves to the wisdom of Christ as brought to us in the Word and through others .
3 3 . There is vulnerability . Jesus shared with His disciples about difficult , personal struggles He was walking through . He shared with them about suspecting one of the disciples of betrayal . He shared about His looming death . We must follow Jesus ’ example in sharing who we truly are ( what we struggle with , what we ’ re walking through ) with others in our community . For in vulnerability , there is increased love and the ability to truly know another person .
4 4 . There is accountability . From being vulnerable with each other it is necessary to follow up with accountability . Jesus called His disciples out when they veered off into the land of pride or sloth or greed . However , He also exhorted His disciples in moments of triumph and stepping forward . We must model His example by holding each other accountable , praising the good and gently calling out the junk
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that doesn ’ t look like Jesus .
5 5 . There is shared mission . From Jesus community came the sending out of the disciples , healing of the sick , miracle-working , and eventually , the foundation of the early church . They labored together to serve others and lead people to repentance . We must follow this example of Jesus as well . Serving alongside our disciples as well as sending them out and going ourselves to bring souls to repentance in Jesus .
I hope these few characteristics of Jesus ’ community are a blessing for you as you seek to develop further relationship and love amongst people in your small group , riding group , or even your CMA chapter .
CMA
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