Can I Buy a Friend at Wal-Mart?

Is quality or speed of availability more valued in our society? McDonald's or Applebee's? (I know, maybe neither, but the fact that we could say neither and then list a hundred other options is a whole other commentary on our culture.) Drive or walk? The newspaper or the internet? Email or snail mail? You get the point. I've realized recently that the fragmentation and desire for speed and ease of our society is something I don't think about very often. It's just how things are and I take it for granted.

Another aspect of our culture that gets kicked around a lot is the desire to connect with others (especially for young people). Our divorce-happy, transient, Wal-Mart going, chat room (or My Space) oriented world is producing people who want to be connected to others in a way that is permanent. But do we? Do you?

I know that I am thankful for the meaningful connections I have to other people, and when I think about being a part of a group that desires to become like Christ together, to love each other, and to function as a body, I get excited. The Biblical picture of community is beautiful and of course I would want that. But I think I want it without work. Without risk. Without patience, endurance, and death to myself. I want real connection like I want Wal-Mart to get a drive through so I can pick up a DVD without even getting out of my car. I want community like a Big Mac, pre-made under a heating lamp and ready to go into the box.

My point is this. The connection and community that this generation longs for will take patience, honesty, endurance, selflessness, giving, forgiveness, vision, hope, and trust. None of that is easy and true community will not come easy. I think that's why the Bible says that people will know we're Christians by the way we love each other. If we could ever pull off committed community in a world of impersonal fragmentation, people would see a difference. We just can't do it on our own.