Living in community is an inescapable facet of our daily lives that determines much of who we are not only in one another’s eyes, but in the Lord’s eyes as well. Simply put, we strive to build community because we are created in God’s image to do so.
God desires to live in community with us and by seeking a similar community experience with those around us we can invite God into our daily lives. Any community we desire to create must first have God as a pillar, but when we consider the frailties of the human nature: subject to a variety of temperaments, corruptive impulses, thirst for power and recognition, and prone to jealousy – all these place unrealistic expectations upon building community. These shortcomings promote the sort of self-centered worldview that is detrimental to the spirit of living in community. Given our nature, what hope is there for community?
The Lord’s charge in this matter is clear, “look not to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” as it says in Philippians. To me this is the heart of what it means to live in community and the first and necessary step of being collegial. It is as much an aspect of my calling to serve the Lord in this job as mentoring students or teaching a class is. Community is an indispensable component of the ACU mission, for as the apostle Paul says in Romans (and the quote that adorns the bottom of every page of this portfolio),
Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly; if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching. – Romans 12: 6-7
This passage is special to me because it is a daily reminder that I work best when I work hand in hand with those who bring wisdom to my foolishness, caution to my haste, guidance to my aimlessness, and humility to my arrogance. I am a very different person sitting here today than I was just five years ago, and I believe that has everything to do with the community of believers I’m surrounded with on a daily basis.
The ACU experience is one of collaboration and community. In the sections that follow I hope to relate how that experience has shaped my acts of collegiality and extended to relationships beyond my department, my building, my college, and ultimately the university itself.