Relating Like the Trinity

[The following quote is from a lecture given by Dr. Larry Crabb called "Experiencing the Trinity: Trinitarian Community and Spiritual Formation". This has obvious implications for how we relate to one another in our house churches. It's easy for me to think that a home church "model" will automatically create the kind of community that Crabb talks about here, but that just isn't true. When it comes to pursuing Trinitarian community, we "home church" folks must be just as intentional as our brothers and sisters in other church models.]

“Final reality, the final nature of things, is a certain way of relating that is foreign to me naturally. The way the Trinity relates among themselves defines reality. Reality is a certain kind of ‘relationality’, a certain kind of community which [Jesus prayed would] be reproduced in the Christian community.

In John 17 [we learn] what the Lord wants to see happen most as He is headed to the cross, praying in His high priestly prayer. He was saying, ‘As a result of My death, I want to see Christians form small groups like Ours.’ If that’s true, then I suggest it isn’t too much of a leap to suggest that all good marriage counseling, all good parenting counseling, all good counseling about sexual addiction, eating disorders, depression, and anxiety…needs to center on people learning what it means to enter in to a certain kind of relating style. And until we focus on ‘relationality’, I don’t believe we’re getting to the core of reality in our souls.

Are we specializing in our churches on moving people toward Trinitarian-like relating through spiritual conversations? If we are, I believe we have a church. A church is not about simply doing lots of good things. It’s not about merely behaving morally. It’s not about merely…discovering your voice, finding out who you are, using your gifts; it includes that, but essentially it’s about being in community, being with others the way the three Persons of the Trinity are with each other. We need [our spiritual leaders] to value Trinitarian relating above all other goods; above evangelism, above mission, above youth programs, above every other good thing that churches do.”

Collect: 1 Advent

Faithful God,
your promises stand unshaken through all generations.
Renew us in hope,
that we may be awake and alert
watching for the glorious return of Jesus Christ,
our judge and savior,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.