Supernatural Community

As Christians, we have no choice but to be part of God’s flawed community on earth that is called church, and God makes it clear that we can only do this through His supernatural power. I think we can all agree that without us yielding to the Holy Spirit in our lives, no church on earth would last more than one week, so God calls us to community that begins with supernatural forgiveness. We see this in Luke 7:47 in which the prostitute desired gospel community with Jesus and others, just as Jesus desired gospel community with her. In faith, the woman repented of her many sins, and she was forgiven. When her sins had been forgiven, she loved Jesus with great love, even washing His feet with her tears and hair. The magnitude of her love for Jesus reflected her awareness and experience of forgiveness that she received from Him. A Pharisee who watched this interaction between Jesus and the prostitute still desired no community with her. The Pharisee could only see her sins. He could not see his own personal need for forgiveness, so he loved little, if any. Jesus summarizes the scene by saying: "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little."