Biblical Community Regardless of Environment

The environment where community takes place often trumps the essentials that make a community a community. For biblical community the same issue is prevalent. Biblical community should be able to function and thrive in any environment. Biblical community is something that transcends face to face interaction and rather than being based on an experience - biblical community is determined first and foremost by essentials that exist regardless of environment. They exist in Scripture. They exist in an order. They exist in a meta-narrative.

Before you experience a cookie in the environment of your kitchen, eating it or purchasing it somewhere - the cookie has an essence... a "cookieness" that does not depend on environment. It is not to say that one would not enjoy a cookie in one particular environment over another - maybe more after dinner with a cup of milk than maybe for breakfast - my children would disagree. The point is that the essence of the cookie exists - it's "cookieness" continues to exist regardless of where (the environment) it is experienced. It also continues to exist regardless of whether you enjoy the cookie or not - or to get even more technical - the cookie continues to exist whether you understand it's "cookieness" or not. I like cookies, but I don't understand them; I don't understand how they are made. I am sure there are ingredients and an oven. But the essence of something is not determined based on whether it is understood or not.

Biblical community is like this (or anything for that matter) as there must be an essence of biblical community that transcends environment and exists in the very essentials (principles or truths) that make biblical community what it is.

For example, if you asked the majority of people to define "biblical community" you would receive multiple different answers, but what most of the answers would have in common is that the description of biblical community would be based on environment. "What is biblical community?" - Answer: going to church together, going hunting together, face to face interaction, pot-luck, my small group date night etc...  What if in order to begin to understand biblical community, one must first understand the truth about it - the essentials, the principles that make biblical community what it is REGARDLESS OF environment?

I believe that there are essentials found in God's Word that allow one to fully understand the essentials of biblical community that then will allow one to experience this mysterious and amazing community regardless of where he is. Is it possible that the essentials of biblical community begin in the Truth of God Himself? Specifically the Trinity? What if the essence of a biblical community is hidden in the most divine relationship of all? What if the essentials or essence of biblical community began with a Truth to be known first and then an experience to be had second? More on this later. My flight is about to leave.