By definition, a community is a group of people sharing common threads such as location, values, interests, religion, and so on. What makes a community truly unique is the culture which develops out of those common ties. However, what makes a community truly sustainable are relationships.
Relationships within the community are built on the core values of its members and the beliefs shared within that community. A community having a purpose which is well defined and agreed upon by its members, will always be stronger than one that is more loosely established. Thus the reason that many of the most successful businesses hold very tightly to a common mission. That statement of mission serves to bring together people in unity of purpose.
However, unity can never be achieved in its fullness without a willingness by each individual to submit ones own personal mission to the greater mission of the community. Or in other words the willingness to place others needs above your own. This is a willing submission to the greater cause, as opposed to a forced submission by the dictatorial powers of government/leadership.
In order for a community to achieve its highest level of purpose, willing submission to the purpose must exist. In order for people to be willing to submit to a common purpose, that purpose must be clearly defined and understood by everyone in the community. Thus a clear and concise mission statement of purpose in needed.
If the purpose of the community involves more than an occasional interaction between members, then it also becomes important to define the rules which govern relationships within the community. Observing the rules, or laws, instituted by the community, insures that each member acts in a way that is acceptable to the community. Members must therefore willingly submit to the communities laws which govern their actions while participating in the community.
In the world today, we face a society which seeks to live by imposing its rules on others. Instead of trying to instill values that are noble, leading to freedom and abundance of life, it seeks to create its own values of self protection for the greater good, which simply leads to more laws and loss of personal freedoms.
Our communities at Fields of Zion International seek a different approach. One that proved tried and true for generations. A community based on two simple principles….
Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.“
Matthew 22:37-40
A community which is built around these two spiritual laws has no need of other rules or regulations if all of its members choose to willingly submit to these standards in all their actions.
Our Core Values at Fields of Zion were written as a tie which binds us together in unity of purpose, and give moral guidance on how to live in a manner which honors and upholds these two great commandments.
God teaches us in His word how to have and know, or understand, what love is in terms of upholding this command. In learning to Love as God loves us, our desires are turned towards God’s desires, as we seek to fulfill His plans in our individual and corporate lives, out of respect and honor of that same Love.
Therefore a correct understanding of God’s love is a critical first step in building our communities. Thus our community is not founded on a simple belief of God, but instead a desire to honor these commandments. Or in other words, each member is placing as his/her highest priority, the act of willingly submitting to the fulfillment, in their own life, of upholding God’s commandments of Love. In doing so, they honor and respect their God, their neighbors, and their families through an uncompromising desire to uphold their values in every relationship, even if it means personal hardship or suffering. This attribute, of a willingness to suffer, for another’s sake is by far the greatest mark of someone who knows and understands Love as God intended it to be understood.