Investing our time in a community group is essential because we are created for community….

This week, we have been looking at an event from history involving a man named King David. The king, after isolating himself from close community that had access to him and who knew him best,  so that he could having the autonomy to do what he wanted to do, decided that what he wanted to do was have a little fun with someone else’s wife, who was doing what King David was supposed to be doing.

So, in order to do what he wanted to do, King David sent his messengers to get Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, for a late night rendezvous.  The messengers did not refuse, challenge, or hold the king accountable because King David was the one who wrote out their paycheck. King David had drifted away from the accountability of close community and was now surrounded by yes men who would only tell the king what he wanted to hear, not what he needed to hear. Instead of remaining in close community that provided loving accountability, King David’s independence, isolation and autonomy drove him to commit adultery.

After Bathsheba became pregnant; after King David attempted to control the outcome with no success, King David had Bathsheba’s husband murdered. And while King David thought his plan to cover up his selfishness and rebellion that led to a murderous affair was a success; while King David thought he was off the hook, the reality was quite different, as we see in 2 Samuel 12:1:

Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, "There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. "The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. "But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him. "Now a traveler came to the rich man, And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; Rather he took the poor man's ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him."

The Lord responded to King David’s cover up by sending the prophet Nathan to the king. The Lord sent Nathan because no one had access to King David because everyone else around King David was a yes man who received a paycheck. King David had made himself inaccessible and isolated.

Nathan engaged the king with a scenario to expose his selfishness and rebellion. The scenario, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded like this: “There were two men who lived in the same town, one rich and one poor. And all the poor man had was a gift certificate for his family to go to Chili’s for a family dinner. However, when a relative from out of town came to visit the rich man, he was unwilling to spend his own money to take him to Chili’s. Instead, the rich man stole the gift certificate from the poor man and his family to take his relative to dinner. So king, what should happen to the rich man?” We see the King’s response in verse 5-6:

Then David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. "He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion."

The prophet, having set the trap for King David, sprung the trap on King David in verse 7-12:

Nathan then said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 'I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 'Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 'Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' "Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 'Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.'"

The prophet confronts the king with his selfishness and rebellion and begins to proclaim God’s just and right response to his rebellion. Because King David chose to follow his selfish desires instead of fulfilling his responsibilities, he had despised the Lord. Now this word despised literally means to think lightly of. You see, King David’s rebellion revealed that he placed his own selfish desires over God’s desires.

And as a result of King David’s choice to follow his selfish desires instead of fulfilling his responsibilities, the prophet proclaimed that King David would experience opposition from within his own family for the rest of his life. As a result of King David’s choice to follow his selfish desires instead of fulfilling his responsibilities, the prophet proclaimed that what King David had done in private to Uriah would be committed against him in public.

You see, King David’s sin was devastating. King David’s sin, like ripples that form when a rock is dropped in a pond, had devastating consequences to his family and the nation.  King David’s selfishness and rebellion that flowed from his isolation and autonomy permanently undermined his credibility and moral authority with is adult children.

For the rest of King David’s life, his adult children, who quickly did the math and figured out what had happened between their father and Bathsheba, would rebel against him. For the rest of King David’s life, King David would struggle against the outcomes that flowed from his selfishness and rebellion.

You see, King David got into trouble because he isolated himself from the only group of men who had access to him. King David got into trouble because he isolated himself from the close community that could hold him accountable by telling him what he needed to hear, not just what he wanted to hear. And because of that reality, because no one had access to King David, King David made a series of decisions that had life changing consequences.

But here’s the thing, every one of us has the potential to do the same thing. Every one of us has the potential to do the same thing because when we isolate ourselves we don't get in trouble by ourselves. Every one of us has the potential to do the same thing because autonomy is a myth. Autonomy is a trap. The goal of autonomy an unworthy goal because you are never really autonomous and you are never really out of community.

And it is here, in this event from history, that we discover a timeless truth as to why it is essential for us as followers of Jesus to be consistently investing our time in a community group in that investing our time in a community group is essential because we are created for community. Just as it was for King David, just as it has been for humanity throughout history, investing our time in a community group is essential because we are created for community.

The question is not “will you be a part of community?” the question is “what community will you be a part of?” You see, you are never completely out of community but you could be out of the community that you need the most. That is what we are such big believers in community groups here at City Bible Church. That is why we have as a goal that every regular attender at C.B.C. would be investing their time in a community group. Community is not optional. It is critical, because what you do is not optional, it is critical.

We believe that the circles that are community groups are betters than the rows of corporate worship gatherings because transformational spiritual growth occurs in community with others where those supportive and encouraging relationships can be developed where people can take that next step in their relationship with Jesus wherever you are at in that relationship with Jesus. And, as a church, we believe that the earlier the better when it comes to community groups. That is why we have community groups for every age and stage of life here at City Bible Church.

And here is the thing: If you wait to get in a community group until you need it, you will not have community when you need it. And when you are in community as part of a community group, community is already there for you when you need them to be there for you. Community groups have the potential to keep you from getting off track when it comes to your relationship with Jesus and the relationships around you because somebody can see what you can’t see.

Somebody can see when you are getting sideways when it comes to your marriage relationship before you see it. Somebody can see when you are getting sideways when it comes to your relationship with your children before you see it. Somebody can see when you are getting sideways when it comes to your relationships as a single person before you see it.  Because just for free, single people you have stuff you need to work on that you will not work on until you are married, but it is hard to work on when you are  married. You see, people don't have marriage problems; they have single problems and now are married. And that is why single people, it is so, so, so important for you to be in community so that you can work on your single people problems before you get married.

So with all that in mind, here is a question to consider: When will you take the step to get into the community that you need the most by being a part of a community group? Are you willing to give people who don't need anything from you access to you? Are you willing to give people permission to ask “Are you okay?” who will not accept “I’m fine” for an answer? Are you willing to give people the opportunity to truly know you as you get to truly know them? Or are you going to continue to drift towards the false and unworthy goal of autonomy, isolation and independence that results in you only ending up in the wrong community?

Because, as we have discovered, investing our time in a community group is essential because we are created for community….