Evaluating 40 Days of Community

[*NOTE: Quotes from the 40 Days of Community Workbook are blockquoted.]

"We're compelled to love God's family...because God loves us."

"Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:11, NIV).

And God loves us by:

• sending His son to be the propitiation for my sins,
• by freeing me from the bondage of sin and death,
• by feeding me spiritual food and drink that will satisfy my thirst and well up to eternal life.

Thank God for His mercies which endure forever!!

The purpose of your time on earth is not primarily about acquiring possessions, attaining status, achieving success, or even experiencing happiness. Those are secondary issues.

Are these even secondary issues? I think the scripture is clear that they must be non-issues (Luke 14).

God loves you deeply and unconditionally.

This is true in that His love doesn't depend upon you, but Rick doesn't qualify this. Such a half truth is very dangerous, and most certainly unbiblical. Can he assume that everyone reading this book are true believers, or just people with purpose? You have to believe (to accept and appropriate it) in order to receive God's promise of unconditional love. John 3:36 (NASB) states unequivocally, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Hopefully, as we grow we become more giving and less selfish; but we've all known people who never grew up and never considered anything but their own wishes, desires, and cravings.

Note that its not about adding some selfless acts to our repetoire, but dying to self, taking up our cross daily (Luke 9:23).

Real love focuses on how I can serve you, not how you can serve me.

Well said!

Learning genuine love is not easy, but it will bless your life beyond imagination here on earth, and prepare you for eternity.

This statement may be very misleading. If we come for the blessings, we may be sorely disappointed and may end up being like the person who began to build without first considering the cost. Living a true Christian life is not a party; it is hard labor, full of pain and tears and persecutions -- indeed, "all those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Tim 3:12, NASB). All the apostles except for maybe John has severely shortened life expectencies because of the gospel. Our joy is in the Lord, not in this life.

You must develop relationships with many different kinds of people in order to practice loving others. The Bible calls this being in "community," which is another word for fellowship.

This description does not fit the Bible definition of fellowship. Christian fellowship is an unlearned, immediate thing shared between two true believers. The church is not a social club, and the gospel is not a social gospel. The world has many social gatherings where there is a real sense of community, but nothing comes close to Christian fellowship for the simple reason because it is not built or learned but a gift from God!

Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last, first." (Mark 10:29-31, NASB).

Jesus here was speaking of the fellowship we would instantly have when we become disciples of Christ (Luke 14:26-27, 33). Though we willingly give up what we have, no matter where we go in the world, we can find fellow believers in Christ (our new families) who will share their homes and land with us simply because of our bond in Christ.