Community and Solitude, Part 1

"Let him who cannot be alone beware of community.
Let him who is not in community beware of being alone."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

These are some of the most insightful words I've ever read regarding Christian community. Community is high on the list of modern buzz words, which means that everyone is using it but no one really knows what it means. I use it a lot, and I'm not always sure I know what it means. That's unfortunate - because it's a concept that's integral to the normal, everyday life of a follower of Jesus.

There are many different angles we can take in discussing community, but for my next few posts I would like to narrow the focus to the balance between community and solitude. I believe understanding that balance is one of the keys to understanding what a healthy community looks like and how it functions. It is not "the" key to understanding Christian community - that would be understanding community as existing only in and through Jesus Christ. But achieving a healthy balance between community and solitude (fellowship & seclusion, speech & silence) would be an important piece to fit into the larger puzzle of Christian community.

The healthy balance of community and solitude in the life of a Jesus follower is not grist for the mill of incessant theological ramblings. It's important to me because it's one of the things we are struggling to learn at Logos. How much time should a healthy community spend together? Is there a minimum amount of time? How much is too much? Are there some things that must happen during that time together? What expectations should one bring to his/her community? How does solitude play into all of this? I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on this. You'll get more of mine later. Thanks for listening.

--Derik