We’ve opined about different aspects of what online community is about. But my friend, Paul, is asking the deep question: What is community?

I am trying to figure out what community really is. Without any pre-thought, I can say that most people who say this word probably don’t have a clear idea about what it is either. I think that it is more than feel good meetings and friendship, because there are times in community that are tough and not fun. I think that it is more than saying hello at church and asking how someone is doing, because I have been in those situations and felt very lonely. I think it has to be more than just meeting together regularly without getting to know the lives of the people gathered, because that is a place that is too easy to hide. So I guess I know a lot about what community is not, and not a whole lot about what it is.

There’s a couple of good comments over there and I encourage you to chime in with your thoughts either here or there.

My thoughts, at this hour, during half-time of Monday Night Football, are that community is really all about being connected. When we’re connected to others, no matter what the vehicle, we’re in community. However, the environment dictates HOW we’re able to connect.

For example, I feel like I have a pretty decent community with the guys I play fantasy football with. Why? Only 3 of 12 of us live in the same area. It’s because we’re emailing, blogging, commenting, and talking on the phone about a common interest. We’re pretty connected. From those conversations, I know I often branch out into more personal conversation.

I also feel like I’m part of a community with a group of couples that meet once a week for Bible study. It’s fun, more intense, and obviously the conversations are different. Does this make us any less or more of a community? I’d argue, “no”.

Can we hide or facade ourselves easier in online community? Sure. Less visual and audible cues are present when we’re online. But can we hide our real thoughts and emotions when the eyes and ears are more engaged in the conversation? Oh yes!

Now drop this into a spiritual context: with whom did Jesus have community? Would any of you say that we today, through prayer and fellowship with other believers, have community with Jesus? Is it different than what the disciples experienced? I say it’s still community, just has various aspects to it.

Or, how about the photo in this post? Does it depict community? If so, why? Because people are together looking at a computer? Is it key they are together? They are watching a video. Could that video be emailed to each of them and have them each watch it in different countries? If so, are they still experiencing community? Yes, but obviously it’s different.

So what exactly is community then? I think it’s centered around connecting. When we’re connecting with each other in spite of the different environments we find ourselves in, we’re in some form of community.