Present as a Community

How do we measure a successful church? Consider the metrics we track over the course of time: attendance in worship, how much money is collected on a Sunday morning, and how many people step up to fill the leadership positions. These get reported in our annual church report and shared with the incoming pastor as if they can capture who we are and our faithfulness to Jesus’ teachings.

However, what really makes a pastor gush about their congregation (believe me, we love to boast when we can!) has far less to do with anything numbers can report. What excites pastors is the people who show up and invest themselves in one another as part of a community of faith. It’s more than being there physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. It’s about relationships. Our United Methodist membership vows refer to this as presence.

Acts 18:1-11 offers a beautiful example of how presence is lived out, though I suspect even the apostle Paul did not anticipate the relationships he would find in Corinth. After all, he had a pattern while on his missionary journeys. He would go to the synagogue and speak to the Jews of the city about Jesus. Some might believe; others would not and would oppose his preaching. Then he’d turn his attention to sharing the gospel with the Gentiles. Again, some might believe; others would not. And Paul would find himself heading to his next destination – oftentimes not by his own choice – to start over again. Rather, rinse, repeat.

Coming to Corinth, Paul was likely tired. He’d been on the road a long while, and he was alone. His traveling companions – Silas and Timothy – had stayed behind in Ephesus, and he was waiting for them to join him once more.

But then, something disrupts his routine. Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla, Jews who had recently relocated to Corinth from Rome. Verse 3 goes on to say, “because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together – by trade they were tentmakers.”

Instead of preaching and moving on to the next city, Paul stayed. Verse 11 eventually tells us he stayed for 18 months, but it’s not the length of time he lived there that defines presence, it’s how that time was spent.

They were all tentmakers. In the Roman empire, artisans who produced similar kinds of products would cluster together. Their shops would be located near one another. Though our modern sensibilities would be worried about competition, the benefits of cooperation made these groups advantageous. There was no UPS or Internet ordering. These guilds would help one another get raw materials and would share a water source. They helped new arrivals get started, and they talked about common interests.[1]

Think about your own experiences in the workplace. Consider your work friends… some become so close, they might be referred to as a “work wife” or “work husband”! Sometimes the deepest conversations, the most meaningful connections, are made while working side by side. In the midst of the busyness of a project or task, you can find that barriers come down and genuine connection is forged.

In the first century, these workplaces (tabernae), often ringing the outer perimeter of the first floor of an apartment building (insulae), also served as their homes. [2] Work life would spill over into social life; your co-workers were also your neighbors. And while Paul continued to preach about Jesus in the synagogue, some of his most successful witnessing probably took place in the stalls of the marketplace or over a shared meal. As the good news began to spread, there were no dedicated buildings for Christians to gather in worship, so these shops/homes also became the center of discipleship.

Spiritual discussions would not be reserved for a dedicated time or place, but would occur naturally and whenever a thought came to mind. In the environment and pace of everyday life, new believers could ask questions, express doubts, and be nurtured in the faith within the comfort of friendship.

It’s hard for us to imagine such an experience. We often look for our homes to be separate from the rest of the world and large enough to spread out. But with that physical separation, we also find that we can become separated emotionally and spiritually from one another. Unless we jot down our thoughts, we find that we forget the things we want to say to others, the questions we have. When we do gather together, we may find ourselves not comfortable sharing our troubles or too insecure to share our doubts.

During Paul’s time in Corinth, things didn’t always go smoothly. Just as he found in other cities, his message wasn’t received well by many of the Jews (verse 6). And while he had experienced the same rejection in other places, turning his efforts then to the Gentiles, I can only imagine that he remained disappointed. Despite the relationships he was forming in the city, would he soon find himself forced to move on again? Then, God came to him in a vision offering encouragement and also the reminder that he was not alone, but surrounded by other believers (vv. 10-11).

Being alone can leave us vulnerable… to physical danger and also to despair. The presence of another person can bolster our courage, provide a sense of security, or offer comfort. Paul had that kind of reassurance in Aquila and Priscilla, and Silas and Timothy when they eventually joined him.

Presence transforms a group of people into a community for support and encouragement and hope. That is who we are called to be as United Methodists. So what might that look like if we apply it to our lives today?

• Make connections with others. Before worship, turn in your pew and engage the person behind you in conversation. Linger afterward and maybe even invite another person to join you for lunch.

• Partner with others. Join a mission project or a committee and focus on the people as well as the goal. Share things that are going on in your life and focus on listening to others when they speak about their lives.

• Build one another up. Offer words of encouragement, share resources you may have, introduce new people to other members of the congregation. Widen the circle.

• Stand in solidarity. Sometimes the problems people face aren’t fixable. Sometimes the best we can do is hold their hand and let them know they’re not alone.

Acts 18 reminds us that the Christian life was never meant to be lived in isolation. It thrives when people share their lives, their love, and their hope in Jesus.

[1] Jeffers, James S. 1999. The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background of Early Christianity. 54. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press. Kindle edition.

[2] Jeffers, 55