We grow up aspiring to be independent. As toddlers we learn to walk by ourselves and feed ourselves. In a couple of years, we become able to retrieve our own glass from the tall cabinet and pour our own milk. Years later we will count down the days until we attain our driver's license which will allow us to travel anywhere all by ourselves. Then we graduate and move on to college, out from under our parents' roof. And once you've graduated from college- well... then you are really an adult- living by yourself, paying your own bills, driving your own car, and entering the work force- the "real world".
Many life lessons were learned this past semester. The biggest lesson was that independence is not a reflection of the lifestyle that God desires for His people. God created the Church because He knows we need the Church- we need relationship to survive this messy world in which we live. While reading Young's novel The Shack a few quotes regarding independence stuck out to me. "The world is broken because in Eden we abandoned a relationship with God to assert our own independence." That makes me wonder how much better the world would be if we decided to live in a community of relationship (with people and with our Creator) rather than in isolation. Later in the book, Jesus explains that "Being his follower is not trying to 'be like Jesus', it means for your independence to be killed."
Through the many trials I have faced while living "on my own", God has really forced me to become dependent on Him and on the Church. There is such beauty in living in relationship with God and with His followers. I am so very, very blessed to have a wonderful community of Christ followers to be dependent upon! They offer love and life in a world that desperately needs it, and they also offer a roof for me to live under for as long as I need it. Dependence is humbling, and thus difficult, but perhaps living in humility will lead to transformation.
