We may not be uniform—in race, politics, gender, generation, etc.—but we can be unified in love and service. This is how we get there: Stage One is Psuedo-community. Relationships are a half an inch deep and fake. We pretend we all get along, but we really can’t stand each other. Stage Two is Chaos. We quit pretending that we like each other, we finally aired our differences, and now the battle has begun to change each other. Stage Three is Surrender. We’ve accepted that we are stuck with each other, and we’ve proven that we’ve only hurt each other in the process of trying to change each other. Finally, though, we’re willing to surrender our agenda (and all other barriers to our communication) so that we might understand one another. Now we have hope. Stage Four is Community. We still don’t agree on everything, but we’ve learned to treat each other with dignity and respect. Our campus is a relationally safe environment. We share a sense of belonging and purpose. This is the place where lives are impacted. Everyone wants to be on this campus.
