The last two years have been very difficult for most people in our church and in our community. The weight of dealing with a global pandemic, constant pivoting, and what feels like never ending restrictions have significantly impacted our lives. Through it all, God has been reminding me of something so simple yet so needed in this time. We were created for community! We were created to connect!

UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY THROUGH LEGO

For those that might not know, my oldest son Josiah loves LEGO! As he has grown up from a toddler to a teenager, he has learned something very profound: LEGO is way better than blocks! Why is that? It is simple. LEGO’s connect, while blocks only stack. Regardless of a LEGO’s shape, size or colour, every piece is designed to connect. What a powerful vision of a multi-cultural church! Furthermore, regardless of what year a LEGO brick is made, every piece can connect to any other piece from any other year. What a powerful vision of a multi-generational church!

You were created for connection! Connection is in the very fabric of our God-created being. As a matter of fact, I believe with all my heart that COVID has actually proven this beyond any shadow of doubt. Approximately five years ago, a poll came out declaring that North Americans are some of the loneliest people in the world. Some people reading this blog today may argue, “That’s not me! I am constantly around people!” My response to those people is simple. I think you are building with blocks, not bricks. Remember blocks only stack, they don’t connect [think Jenga]. Blocks don’t add strength or stability to what you are building. They are just blocks that are near other blocks. This is so important to understand because:

PROXIMITY DOESN’T BRING LIFE; ONLY CONNECTION DOES THAT!

Think about this idea in relation to church today. You can come to church and be near people and not connect. The reason we do that is because it takes way more effort to connect than it does to stack. But God designed you to connect with others. You were designed for community! LEGO interlocks, bonds, builds and connects! This is what God designed church to be. A place of deep connection and life-giving relationships.

Remember the creation story in the book of Genesis? After each of the first six days of creation, God responded by saying “it was good”. Then the unexpected happened. For the first time in history God declared something to be not good:

Genesis 2:18a [NLV] – “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone.”

It is not good that you should be alone. God designed a natural family for you, but He has also designed a spiritual family for you where you can connect, serve, give, care, and pray for one another in a powerful display of God’s heart on the earth. This is the heart behind the New Testament Church. The New Testament Church did not stack people, they connected people! The New Testament Church understood that one LEGO brick can never make a set. In other words, we need each other and we need to be connected to each other in order to help others fulfill God’s purpose for their life. You matter to God and you matter to us!

Today you may feel like a broken LEGO piece but that is okay. God sees you as a masterpiece, not a mess. As a matter of fact, God is in the business of turning messes into masterpieces. I am living proof. When most kids play with LEGO they don’t like broken pieces. To them, they don’t look right and they don’t connect right. So their only response is to discard that piece because they feel like the piece has lost value. We often do the same thing with people. But God values people differently! God values broken pieces. It is often said that the value of something is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it. Jesus thought so highly of you that He paid for you with His life!

Only God can take broken pieces that the world rejects and build them into something better than the world could ever produce. Think about this for a second. Jesus built His earthly ministry around fisherman, tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, the blind, the deaf and the lame. Not exactly the elite of society! Not exactly an all-star cast! Maybe you feel broken and unworthy of God’s love. Maybe you feel broken by other LEGO pieces and don’t want to connect. As a broken piece it is much easier to blend into the crowd. Why? Because when we connect, our brokenness becomes apparent. But it’s when we admit that we are broken that God can begin to heal us. The reality is we are all broken. We are all in need of forgiveness and healing. One of the most powerful ways that God heals you is in the context of community in a church family.

Make a decision today to connect! You were designed for it by God Himself! You were created for connection! Always remember that you have a God-shaped void in your heart that only God can fill, however, you also have a human-shaped void in your heart that God chooses not to fill. Look for other godly LEGO bricks and build together! Be utterly amazed at what God can build together in the context of Christian community!