Community Life

Author - Jauhmar Ellick McAllister 

What am I learning about the challenges, struggles, and benefits of the discipleship community you are part of called The Fellowship?

I'll be quick to tell you that this community called The Fellowship has opened my eyes like never before. I've never been a part of something so different and unusual. It kind of reminds me of a couple of TV shows I used to watch as a kid. How different people from different backgrounds would come and live together just living life and having fun. To me, this resembles the TV shows, but better. This program has Jesus in the mix, while those TV shows did not. I'm grateful to be a part of something like this. God really showed out when He brought this place to life. However, just in the couple weeks to a month of being here, we faced some challenges and struggles that we can all attest to.

One of the biggest challenges is getting used to how people think. We know not everyone thinks the same because we are all different. So, with that in mind, it can bring some tension from not wanting people in the kitchen while cooking to snapping/whistling to get someone's attention. It's definitely a process within itself living with people when you don't know them all too well. However, that's where the benefit comes into play. The only way to let someone know how you feel is communication. The snippiness of our actions toward one another causes us to discuss them and let each other know how we feel. It creates a healthy dialogue, so we know how to move around each other and not cause division. This leads to people owning up to their mistakes and issuing an apology to the individual. Even to go as far as saying they'll make a joke or two about it. Without communication, we would fall apart and become gossiping hippies. We talk behind each other's backs and act like everything is good when we go around each other. In the eyes of The LORD, that's not what children of God should be doing.

A community is a family, dysfunctional: yes, but still a group of people who love each other and want each other to succeed.

The struggle aspect of the community called The Fellowship is the quiet time. I can't tell you how many times I would wander into the bathroom and sit there for hours to escape everybody. Is it healthy? Well, it depends on who you ask. Spending every second of the day with people you barely know can get exhausting. Tiresome. Sometimes, you are even lonely because you wish you had that guy/girl who knows your every thought and you know their every move. I can only speak for myself, but there's a benefit to being around someone you don't know for a long time. It causes you to get out of your way and get into their way. See how they function, how they do things, and how they praise God. We, as people, settle for less.

We want what is comfortable, and being here is definitely uncomfortable. However, when you get The LORD telling you this is a place you should be, just enjoy the pruning. Enjoy the process. Keyshawn, Emma, and I were talking about the pruning stage and how God can take a situation like this and remove the excess branches and leaves from our lives to produce more fruit. That's what I'm seeing. The word says, "Iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend" (Proverbs 27:17). I can say there definitely has been some sharpening going on, and these new people I considered strangers are now turning into friends. It's hard to see the benefit of something when your eyes are closed and your ears aren't open. Like Pharaoh, he refused to bow down to The Almighty God. He refused to open his heart to The One. For that, he perished. How many of us are like Pharaoh, hard-hearted, stubborn, not wanting to enjoy the fruit of the labor God provides? I know there's a God of the Universes, and He has a plan with my name written all over it. I just have to stop being stubborn and narrow-minded to enjoy what he's placed here in my heart.

Today, we read about Moses. He had to hold up his staff for Joshua to win the fight against Amalek. In the process of holding the staff, his arms got tired, but his good ol' pals Aaron and Hur came and sat a stone under him and lifted his arms. Otherwise, Joshua and the Israelites would've lost and not succeeded. My question to you is, who's in your corner holding up your arms? Whose arms are you holding up? Who are you helping fight the good fight? Jesus said in John 15:12-13 "This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."

Let's start being the Church and go out in the community to help someone today, whether mowing a lawn for a neighbor or just picking up their trash. Be a better version of yourself today than you were yesterday.

PROMISE OF THE WEEK
JOHN CHAPTER 16 & 17!!!