Box-Free Fellowship

A friend and I talk often about how easy it is to put our faith in a box without realizing it. To put God in a box. Even for those of us who feel blessed with vision, what we see and imagine is miniscule compared to what God sees. His vision is infinitely beyond our reach. It's incredible the way we always try to limit, from our tiny human perspectives, what He can accomplish.

This makes me stop to think: How much more so do we put our understanding of Christian fellowship in a box? Think about how easy it is to categorize people; to define who they are and how they act or talk; to predict what they will do and how they will react to situations. How often do we limit the people we are in fellowship with? It's not that we do this consciously. It just happens. Unless we remain aware of it, we'll keep doing it.

This is something we can learn from participating in virtual Christian communities. It's much more difficult to put someone in a box when you interact with that person virtually. No matter how well you get to know the person, there's still a degree of freedom and unpredictability. It keeps the fellowship in some ways more genuine, more "in the moment," more dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit.

I'm not saying you can't have this kind of fellowship experience in a live setting. I've certainly experienced it within several church communities. But you have to work at it. I believe that when you engage in a virtual Christian community - a good, strong community that is secure and respectful, a safe place to interact with other Christians - you can learn more about what I will call box-free fellowship. And then apply that to your local church community or other live Christian fellowship gatherings.

It's something to think about, anyway. I will certainly be thinking about what the Music 423 Christian community teaches me about interaction and fellowship... and see how those lessons relate to my live fellowship experiences.