The Beloved Community
“But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. The type of love that I stress here is not eros, a sort of esthetic or romantic love; not philia, a sort of reciprocal love between personal friends; but it is agape which is understanding goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.” (MLK, The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation’s Chief Moral Dilemma, 1957)
This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:16-18)
Happy New Year!
Our actions and our truth will define a truly beloved community. As a minister of the gospel, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was no doubt channeling the compelling love of Christ that is defined not merely in prophetic proclamations or easy sound bites. The love of Christ that was on display for all to see was the self-sacrificial giving of his life for everyone, identifying most closely with those who were on the margins and discriminated against. He came to upend the power and privilege that define human social structures, undoing hierarchies and tearing down empires. It was self-sacrifice that led Him to the Cross (laying down his life for us).
That self-sacrificial kind of love led to the tragic early death of Dr. King himself. But, the death of Christ and the tragic loss of life of those that have served in His name over the years cannot quench the love that motivated them. The compelling nature of the vision of a beloved community, motivated by love for God and a deep love for others transcends time and circumstance and calls us all to the worship of a Creator who built that love right into the fabric of His creation.
As we launch into a new calendar year and continue in our journey of the Christian year, I share this compelling vision of a beloved community as our defining theme and goal for 2022. The path toward this compelling vision is uncomplicated. It is rooted in a love of God and a love for others. It manifests in service toward others that recognizes both our shared humanity and associated frailties, and our shared dignity as image-bearers of the eternal Creator. All the learning, understanding, and profound God-given revelation of the church must yield to these uncomplicated truths. God is love. Jesus modeled that love in devotion to His father, and his sacrificial love and compassion for people. We are called to be apprentices of Jesus and thus model his compassionate love.
For anyone who has been around the church for a long time, the simple truth of God’s love can sometimes feel like the stuff of children’s church or Sunday School (when that was a thing!). As we grow, we often feel compelled to “go deeper” and learn more about the Bible and God and His ways. And while we should, sometimes it distracts us from the simplest truths. Sometimes our learning gives way to legalism, or formulas, or doctrinal truths that draw boundary lines and create fences that are difficult to move in or out of. If we are not careful, what is intended to be a self-sacrificial beloved community becomes more of a country club or secret society with a code of ethics that causes many to feel like they simply don’t belong. If left unchecked, it can become the antithesis of the love that drew people to Jesus. It can become the antithesis of the compassion and care and devotion that defined the life of Jesus.
At New Hope, we have a stated value that we are a place where people can belong before they believe. We believe that the journey toward belief in Jesus Christ as the Messiah needs a community of believers who are modeling an authentic love of Christ and building relationships that are rooted in a respect of others as image-bearers of God. We also believe that our community must model that the needs of others impact all of us. We are not alone, nor are we independent agents. We are united in love, carrying each other’s burdens and giving ourselves to that community.
The theme of the beloved community emerged for Dr. King as an expression of the vision for shared humanity on the other side of reconciliation and redemption. It was and is not a utopia, but a vision of God’s Kingdom on this earth. It is a vision that embodies the dignity of all people, and a place where justice and righteousness are experienced by everyone. However, the fact that it is “on the other side” means that there is still work to be done to get there. It is cast as our vision and goal and stands as the hope that will compel us to continue to engage in the hard work of reconciliation. We must continue to dismantle racism in our collective conscious, as well as within the systems that we influence and interact with. We must continue to use privilege to leverage voices and upend power and hierarchies that advantage whites, men, and America at the expense of people of color, women, and other cultures of the world. We must create pathways for personal journeys of faith while pointing to the potential for communal impact as the purpose of personal life transformation.
In other words, our love of God leads to a love of others expressed in service to help this world reflect the Kingdom of God. God is love. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. Our actions for others will define our love of God. Our truth must be on display not with proclamations of words alone, but with demonstrations of compassionate care and heartfelt communal sacrifice. It’s not complicated. But it is powerful, and the journey is filled with ups and downs. We will experience resistance. We will experience joy. We will experience hurt. Along the way, we commit to one another, in the name of Jesus Christ, to bear with each other in love.
I’m excited about the journey that God has planned for us. It is not a complicated journey, but neither is it easy. To become a truly beloved community will require sacrifice, compromise, a commitment to learning, and love that will move us all into deeper levels of apprenticeship. New disciplines will be required. New habits will be formed. Goals will be revised, and a life of devotion will take on a new character and consistency that many of us long for.
As you prepare for your new year and consider where you fit in the larger scheme of this vision for a beloved community, I would like to personally express my sincere gratitude that God has grafted you into New Hope. You are unique, and gifted, and God has you here for a reason. It will be my commitment to you to help you find that role and ultimate purpose that will define both your connection to the community and open pathways to deeper levels of apprenticeship on the journey. You belong to the New Hope community for such a time as this. You are purposefully and wonderfully made and called to contribute to this journey even as you draw strength from the community that surrounds you. We are called to some hard work together, but we do it in the name of and with the strength of Jesus Christ.
Over the next few weeks, we will unpack more of this vision and review our path (our mission) for accomplishing it. We will share service opportunities, and be listening for ways in which we are being pushed into new things. We will be listening and learning and seeking to get to know you better as well. We will be inviting you into a closer community through our small groups, book clubs, prayer vigils, and other social activities. We will culminate our month of vision casting with our annual meeting on Jan. 30 after morning church. In February, we’ll transition into a deeper dive of learning how to be better apprentices (disciples) of Jesus Christ. That will take us right through Easter.
You are loved! You are prayed for. You are seen and heard and valued for who you are. You are part of this wonderful community of believers and seekers at New Hope for a reason, even if only for a season. I look forward to the unfolding journey together with you.
Many Blessings on a fruitful New Year!
Pastor Scott