I think we are often oblivious to the pervasive individualism in our society and culture. We go about our lives and don’t realize how much or world-view is affected by our very individual perspective. Interesting, it hasn’t always been like this, as I have been reminded of recently in my studies. For example, did you know that in medieval times people didn’t sign their artwork – there was no thought of individualistic ownership or copyright? Did you know that in the Ancient Near East, the perspective of life-after-death was a communal one; they believed that they would simply live on in the memory of their community? Those are just two examples that has led me to the question:

Have we, in our culture saturated with individualism, lost sight of a communal perspective on life, theology, ministry, art, worship, reading, prayer, preaching, family, life, work, school, etc.? Are we blind to an important community perspective? How would that perspective affect us?