Fellowships of the heart

There needs to be a degree of commitment by individuals who form a community, says Andrew Black on his weblog. Laissez-faire is not a great recipe for the Body of Christ. But how to go about it? He links to an interesting post on contract versus covenant. Also helpful is this excellent chapter from John Eldredge's Waking the Dead, titled 'Fellowships of the heart'. Read it, you will love it. He describes a commitment to fight for each other, that's rare to say the least, and that's for instance modelled in the story of Lord of the Rings (or David's army if you prefer a biblical narrative). More Eldrege materials at Epic Reality and Ransomed Heart.