The Benefits of Community

One of my favorite things ever is when my friends start using my expressions. For example, I describe everything as “cute” or “not cute”. The UT tower lit up at sunset behind a vast pink and yellow painted sky? That’s cute! Locking your keys in your car for the THIRD time in two weeks? NOT cute. Not that I actually did that—just a theoretical example… The point is, it’s contagious. I can tell I’ve been spending a lot of time with a certain person when they walk out of a killer test and say “there was nothing cute about that.” And it works the other way too. One of my friends always says “Peace out girl scouts!” when she leaves a place, regardless of whether or not guys are there, and I find myself saying it all the time. 

Community is Crucial

It’s undeniable that the people we spend our time with have an enormous impact on, not only little things we say, but also on our thoughts and actions. Coming into college, I knew that Christian friends would be crucial in keeping me grounded in my faith, and I prayed that the Lord would give me Christian friends to keep pursuing Him with. Through Christian Students on Campus, the Lord not only provided me with a few close friends to keep me grounded, but also a community of people who are in passionate pursuit of Him. 

Being at UT is such a special time to be immersed in a community of Christians because there are so many Christian students in close proximity of each other almost all of the time. I mean, we really are together like aaaall the time, and it has been one of the biggest blessings. The Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. If somebody tells you that they are an “individual Christian,” it’s fake news. 

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. –Heb. 10:24-25

We need to spur each other on and support each other. We need people to pray with, get into the Word with, do normal things together, and occasionally go on adventures. All of my best memories of this past year are with my friends from the club: praying in the car for our families on the way back from Bible study, deep-diving into the book of Revelation at midnight over coffee and donuts, my baptism at the lake in the mountains that my girls prayed over at the beginning of this year. 

Doing Life with Others

While all of these really spiritual moments have been impactful, I also have precious memories doing mundane college student things with my friends, like cart-racing in the parking lot after grocery shopping at HEB, making tacos, working out at the rec, and spending twelve hours at a coffee shop cramming for a stats final that I’m beginning to realize I’m almost completely unprepared for. Okay, I don’t particularly recommend that last experience—PLEASE study in advance—but if you’re gonna cram, doing it with your sister in Christ makes it a lot more enjoyable. 

Sidenote:  If you decide to order a drink during said cram session, be aware that a macchiato from a hipster coffee shop in Austin is going to be ¼ the size of what you would get on campus and will still cost $4 plus tax. The barista is going to assume that you know these things and you will just have to take the drink and pretend like it’s fine even though you are actually pretty salty. 

My friends from the club have gotten me through hard times like these, and have also made enjoyable experiences that much more enjoyable. My highlight of the year has to be my spring break trip to Germany and Egypt. I hiked the Alps, saw the Pyramids, rode a camel, and sped down the autobahn; but, hands down, what made the trip so great was going with other believers. 

God’s Purpose Requires Community

As much as this tight-knit community has enhanced my life and personally drawn me closer to God, the Lord has also shown me that He actually desires for us to be in community because that is how His church is built up. The Lord is not after super spiritual individuals, He is after His body. Bodies are incredibly interconnected and each part is useless without the others. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think my left kidney is going to be making big moves on its own. 

Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. –Eph. 4:15-16

What a blessing it is that we don’t have to walk the straight and narrow path alone, but the Lord desires for us to function together as His body! It’s so awesome that the Lord uses every small and big experience that I have with these precious believers to build His body and grow it into Christ. Coming into UT I hoped for a few close friends to keep me grounded in my faith. I’m so thankful that the Lord not only gave me that, but also showed me His body and what it means to be built into it. 

By: Karen Joseph