The other day I came across this quote from Georges Florovsky (a twentieth century Russian theologian),

Christianity entered history as a new social order, or rather a new social dimension.  From the very beginning Christianity was not primarily a ‘doctrine,’ but exactly a ‘community.’  There was not only a ‘Message’ to be proclaimed and delivered, and ‘Good News’ to be declared.  There was precisely a New Community, distinct and peculiar, in the process of growth and formation, to which members were called and recruited.  Indeed, ‘fellowship’ (koinonia) was the basic category of Christian existence. (Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, p 118)

What do you think?

Has he overstated the importance of “community” in the life of Jesus’ disciples?  Has he failed to name something more essential?

Are we always called to community with other disciples?

And just what does he mean by “distinct and peculiar?”

Take a look at how Christians gather and see if that is in community and consider if that is important for the formation of the community and the formation of us as disciples.