Individual & Community

Won't spend much time on this. Yet, the very issue of the individual vs. the collective is a classic tension retained in all walks of life, including local churches and denominational offices. What happens when the necessities of the individual and the necessities of the community collide? Does it necessarily follow that they do collide? This tension is dynamic to be sure, lurching at times toward one end of the spectrum and then to the other.

If I could characterize scripture for a moment, it would appear the Hebrews scripture center mostly on the community elements of a shared faith while the Christian scriptures tend to move more toward the individual--though there is still a strong communal role. The beauty of this tension is that we are now able to see the church as a system, very much a family system. Edwin Friedman has written much about this. Again, what has been so helpful to my own understanding and practice is to recognize this individual (member) and community (system) way of examining interactions.

Finally, what is scary is the observation by Friedman that more often than not, a local congregation will over time take on the family system of the pastor/priest's family of origin. Now, there's a sobering image as I head off into the weekend! Happy Weekend!