In 2005 I read Shane Claiborne’s Irresistible Revolution and fell in love with the idea of intentional community. Five intentional communities later, I know now that living in community is tough stuff. In fact, Shane says it himself: “The simple way is not the easy way. No one ever promised us that community or Christian discipleship would be easy… This love is not sentimental but heart wrenching, the most difficult and the most beautiful thing in the world.” I must have skimmed over that part…
As an intern with an emergent congregation, I am discovering that we are having to face many of these same harsh realities as we live out our calling to be an alternative community of Christ followers. Much like new monasticism, the emergent church seeks to exchange our apathetic, consumer-driven tendencies for an embodied spirituality. In application, this has meant a couple of things for us:
First, we don’t own a building. Our church meets at a coffeehouse/music venue, where we rent space for a few hours every Sunday morning. Sometimes we decide to forgo our rented space altogether and meet up at someones house, or at a park, or at a nearby church made up of unhoused persons. Having this kind of economic flexibility allows us to focus on relationships.
