Article - Communal Individualism

Do you enjoy being alone? For some people, being alone is the worst thing imaginable. Growing up there were those people in high school who always seemed to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, and the reason either they or others would give for this phenomenon was that they hated being alone. For some, acceptance by someone else is extremely important. For others of us, fading into the crowd is the goal. Being anonymous and having alone time is what some people clamor for. The very idea of being in the spot light, of being singled out by someone else for any reason strikes fear in the very core of some people. These people may in fact plan their activities in ways that afford them the most anonymity, the most seclusion. So when concepts are presented like group work, fellowship, accountability, or community, people who prefer aloneness may cringe.

I have recently wondered how church goers who prefer individuality feel when their church encourages group activities. I wonder if assemblies, class times, big fellowship gatherings, and other group activities seem unnecessary to some church goers. Perhaps the reason for statements like, ìyou need to have a personal relationship with your Godî sounding so appealing to some is that it sounds like permission to abandon the gathering when the activities of the congregation take on a group dynamic. If I'm one who prefers aloneness, I can really dig the concept of a personal relationship with God. I'm afraid that throughout the years, without really intending to, the church has unwittingly conditioned its members to think that the only important thing is the personal, individual relationship that each of us must have with our God. What assumptions might be made by someone who prefers to do things individually? One assumption could be that a person sees no relevance to attending all of the services of the church because they feel their personal relationship with their God is all that's needed. Another could be that as long as I'm spending some amount of time in prayer and bible reading then the personal relationship with God is maintained. I don't have to show up to every class or additional gathering of the congregation.

The interesting thing about all of this is that I just don't see Jesus taking this individualistic approach. Sure, there were times when Jesus would withdraw to have alone time with the Father, and he certainly told his disciples that there would be places he would go that they could not, but he always returned to be with his people. In fact, Jesus was so committed to being with his people, that he told them he would be with them (and us) always. He said that even though he was physically leaving earth, another would take his placeóhis Spirit, and his very Spirit would actually live inside his people. How much closer could Jesus be than to set up camp in the heart of everyone who is his disciple? Scripture also has made it very clear that the disciple of Christ is a body part of Christ. The Spirit indwells the disciple, and we take on a new form becoming a body part of Christ. As such, there are no rational options for separation from the body. We all know that body parts can become, shall we say, disassociated from a body but what happens to the part when it is no longer attached? It dies. There's no way to get around that. A personal, individual relationship is something we all must have, but that does not imply separation from the body. If anything, it further underscores the importance of communion with the body. I receive individual benefit from being joined to the body, but I am also part of a communal system that functions best when I am working in concert with the other parts of the body.

So have some alone time with God. It's good for you. Recognize that we receive nourishment from our individual connection to the body of Christ. Don't let that last part get by you, though. We are still connected to the body and our connection is for a purpose that is far bigger than what we can accomplish alone.

Communal Individualism

Jesus always returned to be with his people.