Incomplete Without Community
No one really debates the need for people to exist within community. It is not merely a Christian understanding; it is a human understanding. But belonging in and of itself will never be enough. Hanging the need for community on belonging is like hanging the need for water on thirst. The need for both is deeper. Thirst is a symptom of a deeper design that your body was created to require water to survive. While we can technically survive without community, we don’t function properly without it. The deeper need for community is embedded in the very fabric of who we are; it is part of our design…So what does this mean? This means that we were created for community. We were not created simply to appreciate it. We are incomplete without it (Brad House, Community, p. 34, 35).