^{Proverbs 6}
There are six things the Lord hates,
    seven that are detestable to him:
        haughty eyes,
        a lying tongue,
        hands that shed innocent blood,
        a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,
        a false witness who pours out lies
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Community. God hates its destruction. He instituted community in a specific fashion to bless and protect his people. This protection acts not only to restore those who have been hurt by others but also to restrain behavior that would lead to that wounding. We can be hurt by multiple sources: The world, with its constant grinding and hopelessness, people, who bite and devour one another and Satan, the destroyer and deceiver. We can be responsible only for ourselves and the way we offer ourselves to others.

We can use the proverb above as a template to see what our relationship to the community is, for the seventh thing God hates relates perfectly to the first six. No community of people, whether believers or not (but especially believers) will ever be strong when riven by haughtiness, lying, blood letting, scheming, evil, gossip, and belligerency.

This desire should produce in the children of God a strong desire for the gospel. The desired (if not always realized) expectation of community is that it be a place of love and grace; a place of healing and comfort. The gospel should bring about a desire for reconciliation and, indeed, Jesus takes His children out of this world and places them in community. We are one body, bound together by ligaments and sinews of love and grace. Let us seek one another out and express such a love!