Soma's Extended Thoughts

I work at the Starbucks in town and I know far too many things about some of the customers that come through the line. One lady has had kids that just recently went through a grueling week of swim lessons, and one just had the most gorgeous huskie puppies, well her huskie couple that she owns did. The conversations that I glean these bits of information from happen in under twenty five seconds, and happen only once a day. The relationships that we baristas have with our customers are very genuine, we all actually care about them, however the relationship rarely go further than those twenty five second conversations. Honestly if one of the customers stopped coming in we would briefly notice and in ninety percent of the situations not even mourn the lost conversation. This community that we have within the two siren tails, once dissected, is clearly not authentic.

We know what “authentic community” clearly is not… what exactly is it? Does it exist? Is it something even attainable or does it just hover like a small butterfly, out of our grasp.

Authenticity is something that Soma as a community holds in high esteem. We believe it is to be one of our core values. What in Christ’s life gives us that idea? The early church has some stellar Authentic Community and in all honestly that is the church we hope to emulate. Well we want to emulate Christ, but the early church was less removed from it than we are… they are a very good picture of what living like Christ should look like. Just as an overview… They were of one mind and they spent so much time together that they couldnt help it. It seems that everything that the early church did was for Christ, and they did it together. Just take a gander at the passage that encomposes that earlier verse! They were so set on the spreading of the gosple that they couldnt help but be of one mind.

How do we do it?

In John 13 Christ made himself below everyone who he was clearly not below. Some People claim that this whole feet washing episode is even more culturaly shocking and strange than even going to hang out with the leppers! After this there is a strangely intimate picture that a dicsiple “was reclining next to him” and later “Leaning back against Jesus“. Other even more riskay translations refer to this disciple reclining into his ‘bosom’. How can we achieve this sort of intimacy within our own community?

In John and in Acts there is a real attitude of service.

In John and in Acts there is a real attitude of intimacy.

How can we as Soma have both.  Doesn’t it just sound awsome to be a part of that kind of community, an authentic and christ centered one?

John 13:14 “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”