The need to feel like we belong is one of the strongest driving forces in our lives, whether we realize it or not. We do, or don’t do, countless random things to fit in. We wear certain clothes, cut our hair a certain way, and use all of the right words. We pick up the cool hobby or habit, or drop it if it’s not cool. It’s hard-wired in us to want to be accepted, to belong. Think about it, why do people join gangs, join clubs, stay in abusive relationships, or flock to myspace and facebook? It’s because we shudder at the thought of not being able to say, “we.”
At Mosaic, we believe this is because God created us in His image, that all people are created in His image, and therefore all people have inherent worth and value. God is a relational being, in the trinity we see God in a sort of mystical relationship with Himself (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We see in creation God’s desire for us to be in a relationship with Him. And we read in Genesis that before Eve, God said “it’s not good for man to be alone,” so He created Eve to share life with Adam. God is relational, and we reflect that, we desire to be in relationships, to belong.
We believe that in order for us to truly experience the joy of community (a group of people within whom we find acceptance) we must value honesty, transparency, and acceptance in our relationships with others. We want to be the kind of place that any and everyone can feel like they belong; because we will demonstrate that we see their inherent worth and value by welcoming them in and getting to know them. We will covenant together to fervently seek out authentic community by inviting others into the community and striving to create community within the relationships with which God blesses us.
In other words, we want to strive to get to know each other, really get to know each other. We want to do more than just say ‘hi’ and move on, we want to spend time together. We don’t want to just smile and nod as we walk by, we want to sit down and see how life is going, find out what you’re excited about, and what you’re frightened of. We want to get to know you, and we want you to get to know us…so we will share ourselves. We will strive to be open, honest, and transparent with one another. We will share our hopes and dreams, our fears and failures. We will strive to share life together…because that’s what we’re wired for.
�