Think of the power of community in people’s lives. Listen to John Gardner’s description.
John Gardner describes the power of community in people’s lives:
Families and communities are the ground-level generators and preservers of values and ethical systems. No society can remain vital or even survive without a reasonable base of shared values–and such values are not established by edict from the lofty levels of the society. They are generated chiefly in the family, school, and other intimate settings in which people deal with one another face to face.
Where community exists it confers upon its members identity, a sense of belonging, a measure of security. Individuals acquire a sense of self partly from their continuous relationships to others, and from the culture of their native place…
A community has the power to motivate its members to exceptional performance. It can set standards of expectation for the individual and provide the climate in which great things happen.
(John Gardner as quoted in Five Challenges, pp. 44-45)
If that is all true, what is the effect of the breakdown of community? What is a central mission of the church in the light of that reality?
