I wrote a few weeks ago about our experience at the Spring Valley Bruderhof Community. Don't worry, I'm not in the process of joining the Bruderhof. But the experience was so much better than I expected. And it continues to prompt a longing and imagination. Would you (re)watch or read the transcript of this video from a couple weeks ago?

I guess I just want to chum the waters, to see if it means anything for us in X242. ​Specifically, if Acts 2:42 (X242) inspires us with a vision of how the first believers "devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer," are we also moved by Acts 2:44 that "all the believers were together and had everything in common"? Or rather, are we moved to do anything different about that? 

I asked the question in my July 7 blog, but here's the question again. Are you drawn to it?

TRANSCRIPT
Last week we spent several days at a Bruderhof community (bruderhof.com). It's German ish, or German, I'm not sure, for place of brothers. It's what we might call a Christian commune, but I don't think they would refer to themselves as a commune. They're a community that lives in Christian brotherhood. 

They live having all things in common. They have a common purse, they have common work. Where we were, at the Spring Valley community it has 230 people there. Seventy or whatever would be kids. So it's people of all ages. The oldest person there is a 94 year old lady, I believe. And they all live in community. They each have their own little apartments, but they're connected. Different buildings and all that. They do their own vegetable gardening. And what they grow they eat. If they're not growing it, they're not eating it. Then they also go outside their community for things like chicken or whatever. 

They have a common work, they have two factories: one factory at the Spring Valley and then just across the way at another community, the New Meadow Run, is another factory. One is the Rifton factory. They make equipment for people who are disabled. Go to rifton.com. They have this state of the art factory where they do injection molds, they make their own molds, they have CNC equipment and all that, and that's downstairs, and then upstairs they have assembly things and everyone just works. And from this it generates an income and that provides for the community as well as for other communities.  

Across the road at the other one, they have a woodworking factory. Community Playthings is the name of it, and they make daycare equipment and stuff, which is really cool. Same sort of concept, everyone does something.  

Everyone works. As you get older, you don't retire, you just change the level and quantity and duration and stuff of the work that you do. And so they were saying, like, the 94 year old lady, she used to work all the time, just like everyone else. But at this stage in life, she shows up. I think they said [she] helps out in the kitchen for an hour a day, and that's her community. And they said that that's not even something that has to be [required]. No one has to work. Like, they don't police it. That's where you have community. And so the whole place values it. And if it's valued, people do it.  

Anyway, that's the setup of it. Bruderhof. It's Anabaptist.  

A friend of mine said, "Boy, it sounds like communism." Not at all. The difference would be that the Bruderhof is Jesus centered. It's voluntary. People opt in. It's a pledge. It's a lifelong pledge, but they opt in and they can get out. It's not a violence based political system like communism would be. And so it's totally different. Think more "monastic life," but in an Anabaptist sense, (more) Protestant and Anabaptist than Roman Catholic. Think more monastic than communist.  

Man, when we went to it, I had no idea what to expect. 

Someone within our network of micro churches that I connected with, he told me about the Bruderhof. And I like, I didn't even know what word he was saying. Bruderhof. And I looked it up and I found out that they are very open to visitors. And so ta da ta da ta da -- I saw that we were going to be going near one [in our travels] and I reached out by email. 

They're sophisticated... I always said I would love to be Amish as long as I could have electricity and my cell phone and my car and wouldn't have to dress funny and stuff like that. I mean, I always meant it as a joke, but there's something that I sort of romanticized about the Amish life, uh, except for the stuff that makes them different than us, that protects that life. 

So I've always said it as a joke, but the Bruderhof would be kind of along those lines. They're not Amish at all. But it's sort of like the best of both worlds maybe? I don't feel called to be Bruderhof, but I definitely am loving what I experienced there and am chewing on what that means for us. 

Acts 2:42 is our theme verse that organizes how we do it with X242, our network, where it says the early believers "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer." You read down the next verse 43 says that, that everyone was in awe about the wonders and the signs that the apostles performed. And then verse 44 says that everyone held everything in common. No one believed that their possessions were their own. They held everything in common. Jump over two chapters to Acts 4:32, and it says something real similar. This sense that no one claimed that they had any possessions of their own, but they held everything in common.  

Now -- and that's where the Bruderhof gets this. And I've been [asking], how do we live out that? Because I don't feel called to communal living at that same sense where no one has any possessions. But the Bruderhof, they are living a radical (not "radicalized" in the way that we might say it) application of Acts 2:44 and Acts 4"32. Radical application. And I believe it's good what they're doing.  

But, as you read down in Acts 4, it also says that there were no needy persons among them because from time to time, people who owned houses, sold the houses or property, and brought the proceeds to the apostles and laid it at their feet to be distributed however they wanted to, to those who had need. And so as I look at the scriptures, the early believers didn't live in this radical sense of community where they had no possessions. They still had possessions, but they gave it away freely to everyone who had need.  

Okay. So I've got some more to say about it, but my question: Are you drawn to it or not? Are you drawn to that kind of community where you live in close community?

They've got 200 acres or so, 300 acres, with a couple hundred people on it. Farm the land, do their work, live in close proximity. And yet [they] honor each other's need for alone time. They aren't up in each other's face all the time. They actually get plenty of alone time. But they also share lunch together every day, Monday through Friday. They worship together Sunday mornings. They have additional Bible studies on, like, Monday nights and Friday nights. And all that. They live close together.

Are you drawn to that? Because I'm drawn to it.  

I think I have romanticized the notion of small town, rural USA, and I think there's something to be said for it. Where we live has some feelings of small town. Sarasota has some feelings of small town, where, when I go places, I know people. And they know me. And...I love that. But, you know, amp that up. Boil it down. And it becomes the Bruderhof communal living.

Are you drawn to that? Cause I am drawn to that.  

I've been thinking about what would it look like for us to live in community. Is there something that could still be achieved like that doesn't require a "giveaway all your possessions" other than as you want?

So like my thinking would be, you still have possessions where if you see someone in need and you can sell something to help them out, you do it because your heart has already decided to. And so rather than a vow of poverty, it's a vow of humility and simplicity and generosity, which really should be a vow that every Christian takes, regardless of how they live it out. 

So I've been thinking about it. Would there be any interest...in living communally as an experiment, where you live communally to live out the love of Jesus. It's Jesus based. It's scripture based. You get together and you do the X242 devotion. We open scripture together...like we live as disciples together.  

Would there be interested in doing that? Not that it's the only way to do it, but would there be interest in doing it? Does that sound attractive or atrocious? 

What if, what if we were to...to live communally? Is it attractive to you?
What tensions does it create?
What enthusiasms does it create?
Is it a positive?
Or what fear do you have?
Is there something in between a vow of poverty type commune like no possessions, communal living, and living in a village that is mutually encouraging, mutually supporting, rises up to help each other, relies on each other, depends upon each other, lives out certain things, like, "if a man will not work, he shall not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10) because we believe that, in that, is maturity.
Is there desire for something like that?
Or is that just way off the deep end?  

And that's what I'm thinking about. The conversations I've been having on this trip, the conversations I've been having are incredible. If you ever get a chance to visit a Bruderhof, do it. You can go for one or two weeks, I believe. You reach out to them. They'll put you up. You join in their work. You can ask them whatever questions you want. I asked them all kinds of questions. And they were forthcoming. There was no sense that there's this upper layer that you're not allowed to talk to. There was no sense that "Big Brothers' watching us" other than the government. 

If you ever get a chance to visit the Bruderhof, it is worth it. Just to learn something from them. One of the most friendly experiences I've had. Amen.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction to the Bruderhof Community
00:31 Daily Life and Work at Bruderhof
02:35 Misconceptions and Clarifications
03:09 Personal Reflections and Experiences
04:13 Biblical Foundations and Communal Living
06:09 Invitation to Reflect and Engage
09:25 Concluding Thoughts and Call to Action

Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Tomorrow we leave Selah, Washington to spend four weeks in Oregon.

Here in Selah we were able to encourage people in the conventional church where my son, Josiah, is the worship pastor (walking in his proud father's footsteps). It reminds me what has been part of our conviction the whole time, that wherever believers gather, our heart says amen. Even if we choose a simpler church model, that is not meant to condemn more complex models. May God make every expression of his church fruitful. 

This being our third summer here, we actually have friendships developing, which is nice. Yesterday they baptized 14 people in the Yakima River. One profoundly beautiful moment for me was when a father was baptized, and then immediately turned around and baptized his teenaged son. Last year, my own son, Josiah, baptized that man's wife and other son, whom he's been discipling. I was gripped. What a wonderful thing for someone to enter the family of God by baptism and immediately turn and welcome his own son into the family by baptism. Amen. God is good.

I also connected with a man here last week who is in his late forties, was raised Christian, converted to Judaism, but has recently come back to a declared faith in Christ. He's not connected to any church. We started a friendship. He has a copy of my book, "Simpler Church." Please pray for Eric. 

In Oregon I have many meetings planned. Please pray for fruitful ministry there!

Does theology have gray areas? When we study the scriptures and have different opinions, is that a gray area? Is there a clear line between right and wrong? I recently talked with a friend about the importance of fostering dialogues between people with differing views. Instead of shutting down conversations, we need to deeply understand and engage with others, even if we disagree. Drawing from biblical examples, like Paul's approach in Acts 17, we need to start with where others are, rather than where we are. This is way more missionary-ish. Way more redemptive. It will lead to more meaningful and gracious interactions. This approach can transform not just personal relationships but also the broader cultural climate within our communities.

00:00 Introduction: A Conversation with a Friend
00:13 The Importance of Dialogue
00:28 Understanding Right and Wrong
01:31 Navigating the Gray Areas
01:47 Asking the Right Questions
03:14 Paul's Approach in Acts 17
05:27 Engaging Redemptively
06:12 Applying the Principles
06:42 A Vision for the Church
07:32 Conclusion and Encouragement
​

In my travels I've visited three small conventional churches, none of them related, that all meet in old buildings which influence how they meet. Two of their buildings are old churches listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The other is an old Salvation Army, I think. Very cool buildings, but they don't work well for modern church sensibilities. And it's wonderful.

In two of them, the only access to the bathroom from the sanctuary was a double door near the stage. In both of them, there was constant foot traffic in and out of those doors. Kids in and out. Parents in and out. Handicapped people in and out. Visitors like me in and out. At one church, I watched as the pastor, who was preaching from the floor, had to literally take a couple steps back to let a man get by on his way to the bathroom. Haha. 

And it was all very endearing.

The lack of a polished worship program is exactly what the American church needs. But even more important than what these little churches didn't have, is something they did have. 

Each church sang songs together, and had a sermon. But in the middle of the singing and preaching, they did something that's become a throw away time for a lot of churches. It's that time in the service that most larger churches try to program for efficiency, or eliminate altogether. And yet, each of these churches spent a good 30-40 minutes in it! And it was a strength for them!

In larger churches we think of it as "The Announcements." But for these churches it was the "Prayer Time."

Now, I say this as one who programmed larger churches for 22 years. And as tempting as it is to talk about it as a heart issue, I really think it's more logistical. Big crowds can't do what these churches did. In these churches, where the largest had probably 50 or 60 (maybe 80?), and the smallest had 20 (maybe 30?), they took time to talk through the needs and interests and events of the church, and then to spend time praying for them.

It really was the sweet spot of the service. 

And I say that as a worship leader and a preacher.

Don't get me wrong, the singing was engaged, and the preaching was on point. But I actually don't remember the songs we sang or the sermons I heard. They were good at the time. They served their purpose. But what I remember is stories people shared. And even more importantly, the patient care that was given, and the prayers that were prayed.

I was encouraged. And I want to pass it along to you.

In our microchurches, we have that same baked-in sweet spot! We share a meal together. We have intentionally not made it a sacramental type thing (although I believe it can serve that purpose). We just eat together. And we listen to each other's stories, without any other agenda than to be in fellowship with each other, sharing a meal together. It's our sweet spot where relationships are formed.

My hope is that our prayer time have that same conversational flow. I'm not saying they don't. I'm just saying, let's make sure they do. When you take time to pray, be patient in it. Don't rush it. Take time to talk conversationally, and listen slowly, and pray with your feeling as well as your thinking. Make sure prayer time is care time. 

Like I say, larger churches just can't do this. It is what it is. And yeah, perhaps if they started doing it they wouldn't be as large. But I don't think it's wrong to be large. I just think tiny churches have a sweet spot that we should hone in on -- the ability to be conversational, and patient, and prayerful in our fellowship.

Be encouraged. And don't feel rushed. Take time. It models the love of Christ.

Amen.

Thank you for your prayers and support. As I write this we are in Selah, Washington. Pray for a conversation I expect to have with someone this week who is intrigued by what we do. He said, like so many, "That sounds wonderful." And please continue to pray for wisdom and the Spirit's prompting in those with whom we've connected in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, and Idaho.