Building Christian Community

Written by Darren Hewer

What does your community say about who you are? What do you say about your community? One year ago, we featured a blog post titled “Is Patriotism Lame?” which discussed the unfortunate riots which erupted in Toronto during the G20 Summit in June 2010. This year, Canada again faced riots in June. This time they were in Vancouver, following the Vancouver Canucks’ game seven loss to the Boston Bruins in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

The reaction of the fans was in one sense understandable. Their team, generally considered to be the favorites in the series, had just come tantalizingly close to achieving hockey greatness for the first time ever, and lost … on home ice. It would be natural to be disappointed. But choosing to act out by rioting, stealing, and burning cars is entirely inappropriate and immoral. Fueled by anger (and likely alcohol, not to mention a few people who had come in to the city looking to start trouble) the fans acted in a way that shocked and appalled Vancouver residents.

Reports are now showing that it was only a miniscule portion of Canuck fans who participated in the riots. In fact, many of the rioters were not even hockey fans, but merely opportunists eager to take the opportunity to stir up a crowd. Nevertheless, the incidents reflected badly on Vancouver as a city. The actions of a few tainted the reputations of many in the community.

The community quickly tried to respond. Volunteers started cleaning up the mess the next day. People wrote notes of apology and encouragement and left them around the city. A Vancouver elementary school exchanged letters with a school in Boston, congratulating the Bruins on their win. One child’s letter read: “Vancouverites are good sports but a few troublemakers made us look kind of bad. Vancouver is not a bad city. Great job on your win.” (Vancouver Sun)

What does your community say about you, and what do you say about your community? Christian churches and faith communities aren’t immune from having troublemakers. Often the actions of a few, or even a single person, can affect the entire community. If you are still hurting from bad church experiences, talk to a mentor today. If your church is facing strife from community difficulties (and which church isn’t?) let us know and we will pray with you for unity.

Related:
Become an Online Mentor – Help us build relationships and communities of faith!
The Hurting Church – Why we get hurt and hurt others in the church