Community with Luke Banner
On today’s episode of the Journeywomen podcast, I chatted with my friend and pastor from right here in Clarksville, TN, Luke Banner. Luke serves as the assistant pastor in my local church. It was so fun talking with Luke about how community really is the “big C” Church. Luke shares that the Church is the body of Christ and how as members of the Body, we make up the congregation of worshipping believers, aka: the Church. Unlike secular community, Christian community isn’t just the frequency of interaction we have with someone, maintaining a shared passion, or sharing common interests. But the goal of Christian community really is… well, let me let you hear it from Luke, “The goal of Christian community is for the church to be the Church. What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. To worship together, all-pervasive. Everything should be worship.”
This conversation is the beginning of a little series on the topic of Christian community. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast however you listen so that you won’t miss upcoming episodes on confession and conflict, praying together with other believers, individual and corporate worship, and celebrating God’s beautifully diverse design. I can’t wait to share them all with you, but you know before I do, I have to tell you about our incredible sponsors for today’s episode: Apartment Life and Mysa Home Styling.
Can you share with the listeners a little about who you are and what you do?
What is Christian community? How does the Gospel enable and empower us to do life together?
Why is it important? What is the goal of community?
Why do Christians need one another?
What are some deterrents to community?
What is the effect of an individual's sin on the community as a whole? Why is that important?
How can we serve one another in community? How can we bear one another's burdens?
What will happen as our community becomes more genuine?
Do we create community?
If our future reality is together, can that begin now, on this side of heaven?
THREE QUESTIONS I ASK EVERY GUEST
What 3 resources would you recommend for someone who wants to grow in their understanding of community?
What are your 3 simple joys?
Who has had the greatest impact on your own journey with Jesus?
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
"Christian community is the 'church' being the Church. In that, we have a statement of identity and a statement of mission. The church is the statement of identity, that we are the Body of Christ. Christ is our head and we are the Body as those who worship him as our Lord and Savior. That’s our identity, we are the church. Our mission is to be the church, to act like the church, to do the Great Commission from Matthew 28."
"Christian community is the Church. We orient ourselves in a certain way that we are the Body of Christ and orienting ourselves to the mission of the Church."
"In Christ, who we are is a statement of being. What comes after that is what we are to do. The indicative is our state of being, who we are. Out of that we live a certain way, that is the imperative."
"The Gospel message is a message of hope for the hopeless."
"The Gospel invites us to authenticity, to take our masks off, and to not perform. It’s a beautiful invitation to say 'I’m not ok' when we are not ok."
"Christian community is not an end in itself, it’s a means to an end."
"Christian community is about God. It’s about what Christ has done for us. It allows us to be free. Community is a byproduct of what God has done for us."
"As the Body we are not just needing each other, but are dependent upon each other."
"We need each part of the Body."
"God has created us to have mutual dependence upon each other. We are encouraged to bring our best, where we all contribute and then we can all feast together."
"Acknowledge the tension in our hearts when we are loving people that are hard to love."
"We should expect community to be a mess because we are all sinners. If it’s not a mess, then we are probably not showing up authentically."
"We are set free from performance and are set in motion to love, and to know, and be known."
"'Peacemaking' is a picture of Jesus coming to this world. He comes to the earth marching towards the cross, to pay his life as a sacrifice for sinners… Peacemaking is often confrontational. It is an approach that is willing to speak and possibly wound in order to heal."
"'Peacekeeping' is passivity and silence and saying that things are ‘well’ when they are not well."
"Sin is corrosive, toxic, and it’s destructive. It mutilates our relationship with ourselves, with others, and with God. It creates a distance between us and God."
"When seeking to know the right time to speak to another person… ask yourself 'is it loving to stay silent?'"
"We have to be willing to fail and be willing to be wrong [in community]."
"Even when we do community wrong, we are doing it. We are showing up, being authentic, and being real."
"The goal of Christian community is for the church to be the Church. What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. To worship together is all pervasive. Everything should be worship."
"The goal of Christian community is the glory of God and the proclamation of the Gospel in all we do."
"Don’t settle for facades."
"We can serve the community by being an integral part of the community, and that requires each person have a willingness to know and be known."
"We are made in God’s image, which means we are not made for individualism. We are not meant to live life alone. Our very souls cry out for intimacy with God and with each other."
"In community, those around us are a mirror to us as well."
"As we become more authentic and as we believe the Gospel message more and more, it should liberate us to engage with the reality of our lives (both the brokenness and the good stuff) in a way that is bringing us closer to ourselves, to those around us, and to our Father."
"When we [live in community] we bring the Kingdom near."
"[Community] causes us to fall in love with God, with the Gospel, and with each other."
"The mess [of community] is beautiful."
"Community has a way of dying if people aren’t engaging with it and making it continually grow. We have to be intentional about pursuing community."
"How do we create community? Through vulnerability and trust."
"We have to have some level of trust, but there is no real trust until there is vulnerability."
"What we get here on earth is a foretaste of Heaven. A foretaste of what awaits us with Jesus and the body of Christ in Heaven."
"When we risk in the pursuit of Christian community, and we are hurt, it really hurts."
"The hope in the midst of pain in community is the Kingdom coming near."
LUKE'S RESOURCES
The Cure: What if God isn't who you think He is and neither are you?
To Be Told by Dan Allender
Community and Growth by Jean Vanier
LUKE'S SIMPLE JOYS
Watching my daughter
Adventure and play
Eating and drinking things that start with “B”
RESOURCES FOR FINDING A LOCAL CHURCH
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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