From Crowds to Community

Gospel of Mark

It had been days. Between gluing my eyes to news clips and scrolling my phone for social media highlights, I entered into my own world of internal chaos and uncertainty. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I couldn’t handle what I was hearing, or so I thought. I watched. Prayerfully. Thoughtfully. As an empath and highly sensitive person, I had to give myself an extra dose of self-care because the images of sickness and suffering were becoming a bit too much. A new disease – well, new to me at least – was ravaging the global community. First, I read reports about China, then Italy, then the United Kingdom, and so on. But it was absolutely undeniable: a virus that once seemed a million miles away was now hitting much closer to home. The Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, was just beginning to make its presence known and felt in the United States.

Day after day, I awaited the most recent updates and tuned in to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s press conferences like I was listening to my favorite radio station. Precautionary instructions were released to the public, including warnings to avoid crowds larger than 50 people…then 25…then 10. And before too long, the government released a “Stay-at-home” order to stop the spread of COVID-19. Businesses have either shut down or have been forced to innovate the delivery of their services to the public. Schools are closed, and caregivers are having to wade through the muddy waters of curriculum instruction in order to homeschool our children. Nursing facilities, prisons, hospitals – no institution has been untouched by this pandemic. Even some of the most primitive houses of faith have had to become acquainted with the power of technology to release messages of hope and inspiration in dark times. These days are unprecedented, at least for recent generations. Indeed, these days feel more like the start of endless nights. But like watching a tiny ember boldly and courageously staying lit in a dying fire, I noticed a small piece of light. A tiny bit of warmth in the cold dark. Something else was and is unfolding in this new world.

I began to notice more acts of kindness. I began to see more intentionality around bringing people together in some manner since there is now so much physical distance between us. We are trying to figure out what to do, how to live now, and how to hold on to hope and each other. Hashtags declaring “together we can make it” and “take care of each other” accent my social media feed along with tips on how to take care of oneself during “Corona Quarantine.” I began thinking to myself: “What a phenomenon! Hidden gems of community have become more visible, even though crowds have gotten smaller.” I’ve been pondering this idea ever since. In fact, I find this concept repeatedly entering my thoughts and prayerful contemplations as I have visited the Gospel of Mark.

A Reading of Mark’s Gospel

The Gospel of Mark is considered to be the first of its kind, a written narrative upon which the other Gospels are likely based. Despite what we now surmise as its first place in Gospel chronology, for almost two millennia this work was virtually ignored. As one scholar put it, “the Second Gospel was overshadowed by its neighbors in the canon” (Black, 2011, location 561). To put my spin on it, I would say that for quite some time, the other canonical works needed to make some room for their predecessor to sit comfortably at the table of hermeneutics and theology.

It seems that Mark’s Gospel was written to an audience facing a period of persecution, i.e., early Christians who were experiencing firsthand their own stories of family betrayal, injustice with courts and subsequent tragedies “for [Christ’s] name’s sake” (Mark 13:13a). Perhaps this connection to suffering is why “the Second Evangelist” (the author of the Gospel) presents the reader with a plot full of parables, misunderstanding, miracles, paradoxes, betrayal and tragedy in the story of Jesus. If such is the case, I propose that the subtle distinctions between crowds gathering around the good news of Jesus, and the formation of community because of this gospel should be explored. Suffering indeed creates conditions in which survival is in part contingent upon our communities of connection. Think back on the challenges of COVID-19, for example, and how a response to such suffering is the emergence of various pockets of supportive communities (or at minimum, greater visibility of these communities). Again, as the crowds diminish, more communities begin to form.

In the Gospel of Mark, there are several references to crowds gathering to experience a taste of Kingdom as presented by Jesus through his teachings and acts. Within the crowds are admirers – people who desire to hear more of the good news, to feel more of Jesus’s power and authority, and to encounter more of his welcoming ministry to those who are marginalized by society. So great is the need for healing and deliverance that Jesus cannot evade the multitudes that search for him. Early on, Mark paints a scene in which a crowd so large fills a house where Jesus is teaching, and a set of friends climb to the roof to lower their paralyzed comrade before him (2:1-12). Mark 3:7-10 presents the reader with a flight scene in which Jesus attempts to stay ahead of the crowd and push off the shore with the disciples to avoid being crushed. In yet another text, we see a chronically bleeding woman come up from behind the crowd to touch the Teacher; the result is not only healing but a changing of labels from “unclean” to “daughter” (5:25-34). The list goes on that reveals interesting dynamics between Jesus (the gospel message and ministry), the crowd, and (eventual) community.

What distinguishes a crowd from a community? I propose that the difference between the two entities is found in their purposes and intents. Said differently, there are nuances in state of mind and condition of heart. In first reading, it seemed to me that crowds gathered to get what they could get from Jesus: healing, food, deliverance, etc. The miracles of Jesus and the authority with which he shared this radical and innovative message of hope attracted crowds. However, those whose hearts were longing and ripe for community also gathered among the crowd to receive the deeper thing that Jesus offered – good news and the ushering in of a “new way” of living, a way in which Kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. These people in search for community become family members with Jesus. In Mark, kinship is a theme. It is a concept in which Jesus identifies true followers/believers as members of his family and citizens of the Commonwealth of God. Being a member in the crowd doesn’t necessarily make one a member of the family. Family members are not related by blood, but rather by faith. Returning to Mark 5:25-34 for instance, we see that the crowd presses upon Jesus as he passes through; but only the seeking soul of a hemorrhaging woman actually touches him. From that touch came restoration of her place in society, and what’s more, new kinship in Jesus’s family

Gleaning Gospel Wisdom

Considering the actions and non-actions of the crowds in Mark’s Gospel, we have been invited to evolve. Spirit gently beckons us to shift in mind and relation from being a casual gathering of crowded people to becoming a purposeful and intentional koinonia, or fellowship, in community. But how exactly do we do this? Jesus presents to us that there is mystery shrouding the Kingdom of God, and accessing that mystery requires a shift in mindset. We use his example of teaching the masses yet bringing together disciples in more intimate ways to learn of him and each other. We understand and lean into a truth that community is where we gain clearer insight into who we are in relation to God and the radical other. I argue that the point at which “You” and “I” cross is a sacred place – a holy ground – where God meets us with grace as we meet each other. We set the intention of our ministries and sacred spaces to allow Spirit to bring us again and again to this cross so that our roots grow deeper in koinonia together.

We also borrow notes from the professional helping field. A good group facilitator will tell you that there are stages of group development that begin with a “joining” phase and last until a point of adjournment. Ironically, group work of this kind usually happens because members are facing some type of psycho-social suffering and can benefit from the support of a healthier community. Undergirding the whole process, however, are presence and authenticity that build trust and safety, and eventually lead to increased, appropriate vulnerability of group members with each other. There is usually a setting of intention toward purposeful togetherness, adorned with openness to the “other.” Said differently, the group facilitator skillfully and intentionally helps group members shift their thinking from “I” to “We.” This is important because the group – the community – is where we unlearn negative social patterns and put on newer, healthier ones that we practice with each other. We practice in the group until the NEW WAY truly becomes new life.

It’s funny really. Everything that I’ve penned above reminds me so much of the beautiful process and art of true worship! True worship brings us to a humble and solemn awareness of the greatness of the Divine, and how large the table from which we are free to sup. We tend to take up less space when we realize how small we actually are; we begin to see and respect that there is space enough for us all. We begin to conceptualize through the Spirit that we are but a drop of paint on the colossal canvas of God’s creation. This awareness beckons us to leave, and in many instances make, room for the rest of Her children.

An Invitation

Hear me when I tell you that crowds in and of themselves are not bad. In fact, across all of the Gospels, we see and feel the many ways in which the good news has the power to draw the masses. Who doesn’t want to hear a radical message of hope and new life? Who wouldn’t want to have their immediate needs met in the form of healing, feeding, and deliverance? Besides, it is to the crowds that we’ve been sent. We’ve been instructed to go out to all the land, share the message of the Kingdom and Commonwealth of God’s people, and gather them for the harvest. May we forever gather around and lead people to “The Way” as a community. May we raise good news not only to light our individual paths, but to illuminate the beauty and mutual care of koinonia as kin to Jesus.

Dear Lord, let crowds come at the sound of the Gospel! But may the Church never settle for just the pleasure of seeing crowds gather. May we never prematurely end the journey to the Commonwealth of God because of our ability to build megachurches or amass enough followers to earn the blue check next to our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook handles. I pray that we do not cause the Gospel to fall short of its transformative and transformational power to elicit from the crowd those disciples who long to enter into a new covenant of Kingdom kinship. I pray that as the Gospel does its work of drawing and setting people free, we will follow the example of Jesus and do the hard work to bring people together – not as crowds but as community.

Sabrina Nichole

Right Moves for Youth, Charlotte, NC

 Life of Worship Ministries, Kings Mountain, NC

_References

_{Black, C.C. (2011). Mark. Abingdon New Testament Commentaries. Nashville: Abingdon Press.}