Community. It sounds like a really great word, doesn’t it? We all crave it. We are all part of different kinds of communities. We dream of or deeply desire a perfect, almost utopian kind of community. We have all experienced at one time or another a community that has been rich, meaningful, life-altering and something to work towards. But here is the reality: community is, more often than not, messy, disappointing, and at times heart breaking. Yes, even within the local church.

So what do we do with community? Do we just preach/talk about it? Do we merely dream about what it was or what it should be? Do we dabble in it by just sticking a toe in it? Do we give it a limited time offer/chance? Do we avoid it like the plague only because it is bound to hurt us? What do we do with the reality that God has hard wired us to be in relationships and therefore in community with other messy people (yes, I am including me… and you as “messy people”)?

Over the next couple days, I want to look at what Gospel-Centered Relationships are and I want to focus on three things. Gospel-Centered Relationships should:

1. reflect the Garden of Eden,
2. revolve around a well-developed understanding of the gospel, and
3. move continually toward a picture of what relationships will look like in the New Heavens and New Earth.

As you read through these posts, I would love it if you would interact with them!