A productive community

It wasn’t long before the crowds that regularly gathered at what had come to be known as the House of the Holy Spirit reached incredible numbers. Not only did this Jesus community gather inside and outside of the house, they also met in increasing numbers in the temple courts and in the homes of those who lived in Jerusalem. The open hospitality was truly appreciated, especially by those from faraway places.

But no matter where they were from, those who were part of the growing Jesus movement in Jerusalem struggled in prayerful ways to be an active part of the forming and shaping of a productive community.

Such a community discerns and decides its core values, as well as the results the members want to see from those values in action. Each member then uses the gifts and resources he or she has been given to become that result in the particular context. Productive community can only successfully happen when individual perspectives become inner-directed and other-focused, when individual desires for control are willfully given up for the sake of community and when individuals begin to become the change they want to create.