"We're pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road..."
So begins one of my favorite hymns, "Find Us Faithful." It speaks pretty directly of the Way and those who travel with us on the Way. (Click here for full lyrics) When I think of Jesus as the Way, I am reminded that Jesus calls us into faithful community.
Sometimes we want the faithful, but not the community. This was especially true in past generations, when faith was considered a private matter and not to be discussed with others. Many people have been discovering (in the past 20 years) the joy of building their faith in relationships with other people.
But now a new phenomenon is arising- community without the faithful. The small group movement, which took off in the 1990's, sought to undo the solo Christianity which plagued the USAmerican Church. In doing so, they put relationship-building at the forefront. And what followed was a gradual loss of vision for making disciples. It came to the point where people getting together for dinner and discussing politics was considered discipleship. And there is a place for this kind of community, just like there is a place for personal/individual faith practices.
I want to invite us back to the "Find us Faithful" community, which is made up of mentors, peers, and mentees. In other words, we need mentors. Timothy had Paul, and we need our mentors too. We need peers, people with whom we are on an equal footing. Accountability groups are good for this kind of discipleship. And we need mentees. We need to be making disciples. Jesus told His disciples that anyone who believes will keep doing Jesus' work (John 14:12). Making disciples was that work.
So we are all pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road, and those who have gone before us light the way. May those who come behind us find us faithful.
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