Seven years ago, my wife and I were struggling. Things were dark and getting darker. The dance we had created during the first ten years of our relationship was no longer working.

            Things were magnified by the fact that we had just begun our life as missionaries in Australia. Ministry was thriving. Everyone was counting on us. That was part of the problem.

            That's when my wife hit me with one of the hardest, yet most life giving statements I have ever heard. It is in large part what saved our marriage. Karie said this, “You are my soul mate. You are the man I have committed my life to, I’m just not sure I can live with you.” And with that, Karie began to pack her and Lily our two-year-old for home.

Who is my Christian community? This is the question gnawing at my mind. Who are the people I have to hang in there with and eat with and pray with on a regular, daily basis?

There are different groups I spend time with and different people I feel committed to for a variety of reasons. There is the Body of Christ worldwide that I suppose in some sense I am accountable to. There is my church- the people I study and serve and worship with. There is our ministry team that I choose to walk out my faith with most days. There is my nuclear family that I grew up with but don’t live with. There is my roommate who is a dear sister in Christ.

It makes sense that all these people are my community and I love having so many different kinds of people and groups in my life. Looking at the idea of Christian community though- a group of people committed to study, worship, being witnesses of the Gospel of reconciliation in the world, and caring for all among them- I wonder who that group is.

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