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The Root of a Loving Community by Konstantina Tsoukalas
Just before the start of this semester, I moved to Dublin, Ireland for my senior internship. In anticipation of this move, I was mostly thrilled, looking forward to experiencing a new culture and meeting new people. There was a part of me, though, that was deeply concerned with finding community. I have a beautiful community in Rochester and they greatly enrich my life. While I knew stepping away from them for this season would be challenging, growing up “in transit” as a missionary kid prepared me well.
While I am always thankful for technology to keep in touch, it’s not long until I crave in-person community to truly feel connected. As I said farewell to my community in Rochester, many people prayed with me, promised to continue praying for me, and encouraged me to be in prayer that God would lead me to a beautiful community. Reflecting on the encouragement I received, I became acutely aware of how my pursuit of Christ, because of the agape He has shown me, has led me to the beautiful communities of which I am a part all around the world.
I realized that, in order to find a community God wanted me involved in, I needed to get plugged into a community in active pursuit of Him! My host family is a pastor and his wife, and they have lovingly welcomed me into their home, as well as their church. On my first evening at their home, I met some of the church members (from countries all over the world!) at dinner, and there was invited to join the young adults group the following evening. Because of our shared love for Christ, who selflessly gave of Himself that we may live, after just 13 short hours in Ireland, I was already plugged into a loving community.
I am reminded of 1 John chapter 4. In it, John tells of the incredible, sacrificial love of God and the love of Christians toward others. He explains that our ability to love comes from God and, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19, NRSV). Because of the agape Christ showed when He died on the cross, Christians are also able to love, what I think of as another Greek word, philoxenía. The word’s roots come from the Greek words philo, meaning love, and xénos, meaning foreigner or stranger. Philoxenía is difficult to translate exactly into English because it is more descriptive of a way of living. Living in philoxenía means you are humble, hospitable, and welcoming to the newcomer. Though none of my new friends are Greek, through the Body of Christ I have experienced no shortage of philoxenía in Ireland thus far.
I would encourage you to examine your life and your community. First, have you experienced Christ’s agape? Next, have you experienced philoxenía? Lastly, do you show philoxenía to others? I pray this semester provides you with countless opportunities for all three, and that you are able to thrive in the midst of a loving community.
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