Ken Boa emphasizes that our approach to community engagement, first and foremost, must be rooted in Scripture, or the gospel message will be lost. We must recognize the greatest need of people is to know God, or else we’ll be in danger of overemphasizing the social relevance of the gospel. As we realize that the gospel isn’t “either/or” but “both/and”—both personal and collective, both individually and socially relevant—the Bible offers a few critical foundations to guide our view of community:

• The Trinity: God Himself is relational; He is a community of being (three persons, one God).
• The Imago Dei: We are made in the image and likeness of God and are also relational beings.
• The In-Christ Life: As believers, our alienation from our Creator, within ourselves, and from others (as well as from the creation itself), resulting from the Fall, has begun to heal (and will be complete at the redemption of our bodies and of the created order). We are now in communion with Christ; in fact, we’re so identified with Jesus that He said, “I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (John 14:20). Furthermore, His desire is that we experience shalom (peace, harmony, love, unity) not only within ourselves and with God, but in our relationships with others.

Ken teaches this study live each Monday night; info on study location and time is here.