We all have the capacity to create community through our actions everyday (Jensen, 2011). The Self evolves in a group. Thus, in order to see the best version of yourself, you need to see yourself as a group as a way of being. It is innate for us human beings. Peter Block said, the group (community) is not just where we live, it is a way of being.

We live in a culture that encourages like-mindedness, in effect isolating us from the strange. This prevents us from growing and learning from others with different perspectives.

 

Technology has amplified this like-mindedness by grouping people with others who like what they like or buy what they buy. The power of the group goes beyond like-mindedness.  It also thrives in the presence of individuality. The group is made stronger by the diversity of the members in the group because of the different gifts that are available for the collective benefit.

Peter Block tells us: “If you want to change the world, walk your block, knock on doors and ask ‘Is there anything you know how to do that you’d be willing to share with other people in this neighborhood?’” There needs to be a conversation that exists.

 

All transformation is linguistic (Block, in Jensen 2011). We create a future for the group that is distinct from the past, through conversation. Language is the means by which people are engaged into discussing something they have not discussed before. Old and predictable conversations prevent reform from occurring.

 

The key to a new future is to focus on gifts, on associational life, and on the insight that all transformation occurs through language. The small group is the unit of transformation and the container for the experience of belonging.

 

The existing community context is one that markets fear, assigns fault, and worships self interest. This context supports the belief that the future will be improved with new laws, more oversight, and stronger leadership. The new context that restores community is one of possibility, generosity, and gifts, rather than one of fear, mistakes, and self-interest.

 

Citizens become powerful when they choose to shift the context  within which they act in the world. Communities are human systems given form by conversations that build relatedness. The conversations that build relatedness most often occur through associational life, where citizens are unpaid and show up by choice, rather than in large systems where professionals are paid and show up by contractual agreement. (Peter Block, “Community: The Structure of Belonging”)

 

 

 

Have you been looking for an open door to be used for the Lord’s Kingdom? Won’t it benefit you to operate in the prophetic in all areas of your life. This year, I want to gift you this FREE Course and experience the Power of Prophecy as a gift to open your mind to receive the Mind of Christ.

What conversation can you initiate to influence change?