Trinity – That’s Why Community Matters

As you are probably aware, we have been strongly encouraging people to get involved with a Gospel Community. In order to help everyone get a better sense of why we are heading in this direction, we want to first explain why the issue of community is so important for the church, so we can then explain how Gospel Communities fit into the picture.

The God of the Bible is clearly a relational God; throughout Scriptures, we see him intimately and lovingly involved in the world. But contrary to what some religions teach, God did not create man to cure his loneliness. The one God is not a solitary individual, but a divine community. The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) summarizes the doctrine of the Trinity by saying, “In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.” One God, three equal persons. God is persons-in-relationship, existing in love from all eternity (John 17:24).

We are made in the image of the Trinitarian God (Genesis 1:26-27) One implication is that we are created for community; we too are relational beings. The only thing in the Garden of Eden that was not good was a solitary Adam. God forbade the Israelites to create an image of him (Deuteronomy 4:15-24), for God himself had already made an image of himself in the world – humanity! That image was terribly marred in our rebellion, but God’s redeemed people are now his image in the world.

So the Trinity means that community matters, but it also shapes and defines our view of community. Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears write that “The Trinity is the first community and the ideal for all communities. That community alone has not been stained by the selfishness of sin. Therefore, in the diversity of God the Father, Son, and Spirit is perfect unity as one God communicates truthfully, loves unreservedly, lives connectedly, serves humbly, interacts peaceably, and serves selflessly. In a word, Trinity is the ideal community in every way.”

Cheers,

Will