God’s Gift of Our Own “Inner Ring”

In Psalm 133 it declares, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity…For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. As Christians, there are many aspects that we hold to as important foundational characteristics of our faith. In his book Engaging Gods World Cornelius Plantinga Jr. emphasizes the importance of living together in community, “What we must see, now, is that successful living in God’s world depends not only on taking responsibility for our own realm…Success also depends on meshing our kingdoms with the kingdoms of others….” Community or as C.S. Lewis might call it the Christian “inner ring” is a gift and a blessing, which must never be taken for granted. As we continue through college, learning what community is, how it is practiced here at Calvin College, the consequences of a community free lifestyle, and the relationship of community to other important areas of the Christian walk, we will be able to better fulfill Gods calling for us as his instruments of service.
In I Corinthians 12:12-26 we are presented with one of the greatest analogies of the truth of Christian community in the church. In verse 12 Paul states, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many they form one body. So it is with Christ.” This idea of the community being compared to a body hits on two central parts of the idea of what true Christian community is. These two are responsibility and unity.
Inside the body there are thousands of parts that are responsible for specific duties. Likewise responsibility inside of community is the idea that each person of the community has his or her role in the plan of God. God calls us to perform specific aspects of his will not only in our earthly vocation, but also in our every day actions. When we disobey God it is not only us that suffer, but the whole body that suffers. This brings forth the idea that each part depends on the other. Christians need one another through struggles, pain, sadness, and temptation. God places us together for that reason. In verses 17-18 Paul states. “If the whole body were an eye where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear where would the sense of smell be?” God calls every part of the body, even those we don’t get along with. Each of those parts is special to Him, and each of them has responsibility placed before them by God. These verses stress the fact that every person we view must be seen through the spectacles of community. It is crucial that we look at each other this way. For it gives the devil great satisfaction, as well as grieves God, when His community is not unified.
Unity is the second crucial identity of what a Christian community is. Paul stresses this importance in his analogy in verse 13, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body whether Jews or Greeks slave or free and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” How are we all united? What brings us together as Christian brothers and sisters, and separates us from the wickedness of the world? The answer to this question is found in the head of the Church, Jesus Christ. Plantinga states, “Christian hope centers on Jesus Christ the Lord of the whole cosmos, the one through [whom] God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things.” We all are united by that one central head of the church. The body must work together as one body; each unit with its special function serves the whole, not itself. Just as the limbs on your body do not disobey you, or look out for their own selfish interest, so also the functions of individuals in the community of Christianity must focus centrally on Christ and the activities of the church.
So what is this “inner ring” of community? Is it just doing your part for the body, or is community more complicated? The fact is that while community takes effort, continued action, and sacrifice for the body of Christ, the power of our Christian community is that we are united to one perfect head. The power of Christ over the body creates a community that not only does the actions, but does it to the glory of His name, with the attitude of thankfulness. The question then arises as to how do we live this community in our life here at Calvin?
Calvin College’s “Expanded Statement of Mission” states, “However likeminded or diverse its members may be, the community exist to enact a purpose; in the case of Calvin College that purpose is to shape hearts and minds through higher learning for Christian living.” The community at Calvin College is unique from other colleges in that you are immersed in the ideas of Christian culture. The fact that the foundation of Calvin College is based on the ideas of the Reformed faith, and the tenants of creation, fall into depravity, and the redemption through Christ gives us a distinct community. This emersion in Christian society is a powerful part of Calvin College, and it provides for the blessings of Christian brotherhood, as well as, the dangers of falling behind in our Christian callings.
The idea of Christian brotherhood covers a wide expanse of the community at Calvin College. At Calvin we strive to develop both our hearts and our minds in a willingness to give our all for the sake of Jesus Christ. In his essay Learning in War Time C.S. restates this idea by saying, “We are members of one body, but differentiated members, each with his own vocation. A man's upbringing, his talents, his circumstances, are usually a tolerable index of his vocation. If our parents have sent us to Oxford (or Calvin), if our country allows us to remain there, this is prima facie evidence that the life which we, at any rate, can best lead to the glory of God at present is the learned life.” What makes Calvin so special is that we do this together. The reality is that God has blessed us here with a community of brothers and sisters to help us on the path God has placed us on. The blessings of community at Calvin are many. Firstly, we should see the love of everyone towards one another. In his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis puts it practically, “Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our life.” The Bible allows no room for hatred of one’s brother and the worship of God at the same time. In first I John 4:20 is states, “If a man says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn't love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” Hatred of a child of God is something that is unacceptable to God, and is truly wrong. At Calvin love of everyone is stressed, no matter their race, color, or gender. Secondly, students immersed into the Christian community find that living the Christian life is much more bearable. The factors of accountability and encouragement go a long way in the community of Calvin College. It is amazing when, your faith can be built by the input and devotion of others, or when you can share and develop your faith with other Christians. With all of these blessings of a true Christian community, what more could a Christian student want? In Weight of Glory, Lewis states, “And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.” The benefit of living in a cushioned Christian community, however, comes with some dangerous side effects.
If the Christian churches decided to build a city enclosed with thick walls, which allowed only Christians to live in what would you think? I assume you would think that was silly, but why? The first reason that we as Christians cannot just isolate ourselves from this world is that we are called by God to be models of Christ to not only each other, but the world. We seek, as Plantinga would say, to reach out and preach the “shalom” of Christ in the sinful world. This includes anything from witnessing to the job we are called to. Secondly, living constantly in the midst of other Christians carries the danger of taking for granted the beauty and blessing, that is the communion of the saints. It can be problem when we begin to take for granted the community that we have, while others have died in an effort to reach this type of Christian community. Finally, we fall in danger of becoming complacent in our faith. The idea that we live in a place where most of what we believe really goes unchallenged is something we must be aware of. When we leave college, we will face a world that not only disagrees with our faith, but challenges it every day. Compliancy is an easy thing to fall into, and is a sin we must flee from.
The community of Calvin College must be seen as something special and unique. Community is something that God has blessed Calvin with. The gift of the love of brothers and sisters in Christ around you, and the ability to grow with them in love and faith with God is truly beautiful. With its blessing must come a firm awareness of personal faith, as well as, the well-being of others both Christian and non-Christian outside the community. There are the powerful effects gained by living in a community like Calvin’s, but what are the consequences for a Christian student intentionally living outside the Christian community?
When an individual chooses to put himself in the company of those who reject the Christian community, he is not only forfeiting all of the benefits of the community, but placing himself in a situation that rest entirely on selfishness and worldly values. At Calvin the goal and sole purpose of the community is to grow together in Christ. So when a student rejects that community he is not only rejecting the values of a Christian community, but is turning himself away from Christ. Another strong difference between students who live in the community and students who live outside the community is that students in the Christian body are working not only for themselves, but for other members of the body, towards the end goal of the glory of God. Students who reject that community do so out of selfishness, and work not towards God’s glory, but their own. This selfishness does not only affect that individual. When students actively reject the community God has placed them in, it has negative effects not only on the Christian community, but also the world looking in.
The choice to reject a community like the one found Calvin College, carries with dangerous possibilities. If a student is willing to turn his back on the small community found here at Calvin, what is the next step? In his book The Screwtape Letters, C.S. touches on a powerful idea that relates well to the Christian student rejecting the Christian community, "The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." Does the thrill of looking out for self slope to a power that encompasses your whole Christian walk? What type of example is that individual portraying to the rest of the world on the outside? Open rejection and separation from the body of Christ is the opposite of the type of example we are to live as servants of Christ. We work together for Christ, not as individuals or in our own clicks to satisfy selfish glory. We work with each other as units of the body of Christ, not as selfish individuals. Working together as a community takes important attributes from all aspects of the Christian foundation.
Like every foundation the tenet of a Christian community relies heavily on the other aspects of Christian life such as discernment, justice, responsible freedom and vocation. The individuals in a community must be discerning in what they do, and the type of things they choose to support. They must be discerning because the things they do, music they listen to, and things they watch all represent the community of Christ. Christians in the community must also be responsible with how they pursue their freedoms. Christians inside community, have the ability to have spiritual freedom, not just freedom of the will. Spiritual freedom is the understanding that freedom is not necessarily doing what you want, but instead the ability to limit your actions to Gods glory, without the persecution of others. This freedom leads to mistakes, and initiates the importance of justice inside the Christian community. All of our actions have consequences, and as community members that fact must be remembered. The choices we make not only affect us, but the community around us. God has placed us where we are as citizens. We are as Plantinga states prime citizens, citizens with a calling and a zeal for Gods kingdom. We are citizens of God’s kingdom, to carry out His will. That is our primary vocation in the community. God then calls us into jobs or as Plantinga calls them “lesser kingdoms” and other actions to fulfill this vocation.
Community is a part of the church of God. The “inner ring of Christianity” is a body that God uses to fulfill his will for the church. The parts of this body must all work together not selfishly, but for the glory of God. When one part suffers the whole body suffers. As students at Calvin we are blessed in a unique Christian community, whose member’s actions can greatly affect the community. That is why these actions must be coupled with the discernment of mind, the action of responsible freedom, the consequence of justice, and the understanding that our vocation is to serve God as prime members of His kingdom. In his essay Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis comes to a beautiful conclusion which ties together not only Christian vocation and community but also the glory of such a unity, “The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.”





Work Cited
Plantinga Jr., Cornelius. Engaging Gods World. Grand Rapids, MI: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002.
Lewis, Clive S. Four Loves. New York: n.p., 1960. 80-81. Web. 26 Jan. 2010.
Lewis, Clive S. The Weight of Glory. N.p.: THEOLOGY, 1941. 8-9. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.
Lewis, Clive S. "Learning in War Time." Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford. . Web.
Lewis, Clive S. Screwtape Letters. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.