What did you think of last Sunday’s sermon? If you missed it, take a few minutes to listen to it here on the website (it’s at the bottom left of the home page). Then I’d like to know what you’re going to do to help build community here at Bloomfield.

We all have a tendency to treat church like a country club. All of us often just want to enjoy ourselves here at church. We think the music should be music that I enjoy. The sermon should be interesting to me. We come to meet friends. We come and go as we please. Even when we have legitimate complaints about church, it betrays that we have a kind of country club mentality. “Church is not the way I think it should be.” “I don’t like this or that.” As if it matters what you like! “Somebody should do something about this or that.” Why don’t you make a positive contribution?

The church is not a country club! (Or at least it shouldn’t be.) Country clubs are exclusive. Country clubs are about leisure, relaxing, playing… that’s not the church. Nice beautiful buildings where you go to smooze… that’s not the church. At a country club members are catered to… that’s not the church.

The church is a community. (Or at least it should be.) Community is a bond deeper than that of golfing buddies, it’s a kinship, a family-like bond. Community is a depth of relationship, a mutual commitment. In a community we live together, work together, follow Christ together, share with each other, give to each other. Community is about doing life together. Community is active and growing relationships.

What is it that we want to be here at Bloomfield? A community or a country club?

In the sermon I mentioned five areas (from Romans 12:9-13) in which the church differs from a country club.

1. Morality. In a country club there’s no commitment to purity, there’s no stance against sin. We’re just there to have a good time, so don’t ruffle feathers. But in a community, there must be a standard. In a community, we might just confront sin, not because we think you’re evil and we’re better than you, but because we care about God’s people, you included. We care that the community is healthy and pure.

2. Personal Interactions. Country clubs are polite, but it means nothing. Country clubs have a semblance of honor and respect, but it’s superficial. A club would have a hard time honoring or respecting someone who didn’t deserve it, someone who was poor and came in dressed in rags, someone who was lower class, or someone who didn’t belong to the club. But a community looks past all the superficial stuff and honors people. A community looks past the teenager’s Mohawk and honors him. A community honors children, even if they are a little unruly. A community actually appreciates the odd personality and honors that person. A community sees the sin, the immaturity, the irritation, but still loves as family

3. Ministry. Community is about serving God together, working hard together in ministry. This is not a country club where everything is done for us. This is a community where we pitch in to get things done. Country clubs aren’t about work, they are about leisure.

4. Suffering. Country clubs are for good times. We quit if it’s not fun and easy. But a community sticks together even in the tough times, even when there’s conflict in the community. It’s like a good family, they may have a fight, but they know nobody’s going anywhere. A community endures hard times, doesn’t quit on each other.

5. Practical Needs. Country Clubs might be good at hospitality, but not indiscriminately. Country Clubs are good at being hospitable for those that can afford it. A community, on the other hand, is hospital to those who have real needs, who can’t afford the joiners fee.

The church is not a country club. It is a community. So what are you going to do to build community here at Bloomfield?