Well, the Tabor MACP intensive finished today, so I might actually return to posting on this blog. No apologies – just a recognition that the posting rate between house-sitting, Soul Survivor and now the intensive has been at a record low level. But I’m working on it, and there should be some interesting things being put up here in the next few days (I hope).
The intensive was focused on “Building and leading community” – which is a pretty big ask to try and cover over in 5 days. The main focus (at least in terms of the interesting stuff) was on Trinitarian theology, and the correlation between the makeup of the Trinity and how we are called to act in community, and indeed the very need for community amongst humanity in the first place.
Being created in the image of the triune God, who is in its very being an expression of eternal community, we are made to exist in community. And as Christians who have a member of the Trinity as a part of our being, when we join into community with other Christians, something deeply sacred and eternal happens. We, in some weird way, participate in the community of love that is the Trinity. It’s a bit of a mind-blowing thought, particularly if you let it sit for a little bit.
Trinitarian theology has some pretty key things to say about what our communities ought to be like, as they reflect the nature of our triune God himself. I’ll have a bit of a bash at a few of them here. The first is the notion of God as creator. There’s this crazy idea that before a time where there was time, and before the time when there was space – there was still God, in community with himself. And in that, God had to create space for people to live in. (I must admit – I can see that this link is perhaps a little bit tenuous, and so I wouldn’t take it too far, but I really do think there’s some value in the concept). And throughout the biblical narrative, there are some great examples of God providing space for people to live in, especially in the way Jesus interacts with people.
Another concept that can be found in the Trinity is the notion of unity in diversity. While each of the persons of the Trinity share their “divine nature”, they have distinct personalities and functions. The differences between the personalities are what make the Trinity what it is, rather than being a source of division. And we see the most beautiful example of the way that the Trinity maintains its unity – through a mutual submission – in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Not my will but yours”. It’s a powerful statement and says a huge amount about what it means to live in community together.
There’s plenty of other aspects that I could discuss here, but the key thing in amongst all of this is the key understanding that God is love. And that God is love is not some completely abstract notion but that because of the fact that we worship a God who is in constant community with the three persons that it is – that we have a God who IS love. There is no other concept so significant nor so difficult in understanding what it means to be in community together than that of love. It never ceases to amaze me that you can run around getting all deeply intellectual about your theology of just about anything, but you cannot get away from the simplest of Christian doctrine “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbour as yourself.
If you’re at all interested in this Trinitarian stuff, and specifically its link in with a theology of community, Paul Mayers has a much better post on exploring this stuff which co-incidentally he put up only the other day at “One for the road“. Quality stuff.