What college taught me about living in community

One of the most unique experiences that an individual can have in life is dormitory living. I still remember my first year of college. It was exciting, not only to be off on my own, but it was the chance to live in a space always surrounded by friends. There was always something to do, people to hang out with, a party to be had. The reason being, we were always together. Doors on our floor were always open. People were continuously going from one room to the next. People shared their food, clothes, cars, books, and everything else they had. While I'm not sure I want to go back and relive those days, there is something from that season that I wish I could rediscover in my current life. 

When I think of the early church described in the book of Acts, dormitory living comes to mind. In Acts 2 we read, 

All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.

I'm always struck by the repetition in those three verses, as the word together is used three times. There is an intentional emphasis by the writer on how the church prioritized the community.   

In our transient, on the go society, it seems like it's getting harder and harder to connect with people. Currently, I'm in an email thread with a group of friends who are trying to find a date for the group to get together. The original date that was posed was for a few weeks out but didn't work for the majority of the group, so we had to push our get-together back by a full two months. 

It's not uncommon for people in the church to say, "We need to get back to the days of the early church and live as they did." While I appreciate the sentiment of that comment, I don't think it's possible. We are living in such a different time and context. But that's not to say the early church doesn't have things to teach us. I would submit that prioritizing community life is one of them. 

My parents were great models of this for me. From the time that I was in middle school, they always prioritized hosting a group of ten to fifteen people weekly in their home. They shared a simple meal together. People told stories about what was going on in their lives. They studied the Bible together and prayed for one another. It was a beautiful picture of what it could look like to live "together" with other people in our fast-paced world. 

I feel conflicted as I write this, because recently my wife and I made the decision to step away from a similar sort of group to what I saw growing up in my parents’ home. We're navigating a new season of life with all three girls in school. We're learning how to juggle their extracurricular activities. And both my wife and I work jobs with odd evening hours that pull us away from time with our kids at night. But something in my heart knows that I need to be deeply connected with other people on a regular basis. 

I think it comes from the way God created us. In Genesis 2, after God had spent day after day creating the world and proclaiming each part of His creation "good," the first time He said that something was NOT good was when Adam was alone with no other human in his life. Part of our biological wiring is that we are created for community. 

In community, we find support and encouragement. It's the place where we can deeply know others, and in return be fully known. In community we're reminded that we're not alone, that other people are struggling in similar ways as us. Not only do we find support, but we have the opportunity to carry the burdens of others. And engaging with others in this way helps us become the people whom God fully intended us to be. 

So, in a season of recalibrating life, I'm reminded of my college years, and how at that time, I was experiencing something that my older self would come to crave. 

You may have avoided a community of faith because it seems weird or scary, or you're in a season, like me, of recalibrating life. Know that you were created for community and that you will fully come to know God through it, and wholly discover who God has created you to be because of it.