My family and I recently went on vacation. When we go on vacation, we always have this conversation about where do we go. When we were thinking about taking a vacation this summer, one of the kids commented that they would like to go to the Mammoth Cave area. We have never been there before and in fact, never really been in caves. So for part of our vacation we would go spelunking (cave exploring). It was very interesting. We saw some different cave formations and learned how the caves were formed. These huge openings were formed by rain water finding its way into limestone and then beginning to erode part of the limestone away. Then over the years (many, many years); the various pockets of openings would come together and form a larger opening. Then more water would find its way and create an even large opening?and over more and more time the cave gets bigger and goes deeper. As we explored the cave and learned about how the caves were formed, I began to think about Christianity. Christianity is in some ways similar to how these caves were formed. Sometimes, we can think about Christianity more in terms of an individual thing?that it is a relationship between me and Jesus. We can think of our faith in terms of how Jesus brings salvation to me. However, this is just part of what Christianity is about. Christianity is not just about me and Jesus. It is much broader than that. Yes, Jesus comes to bring forgiveness and offer salvation to each person?however; it is not just for that one individual. Think about one of the most familiar Bible verses (John 3:16). ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave his one and only Son.’ The next verse goes on, ‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.’ (John 3:17). From these verses, it is clear that Jesus comes for the world. Another verse from Scripture tells us that Jesus desires to draw all people to himself (John 12:32). All of this reminds me that Christianity is a communal faith?Jesus comes to the world to draw all people to himself. All those drawn to Jesus are what we would call the church. The church is meant to be the group of believers that work together for the mission of God and to seek to do the will of the Father. The church can never be just a collection of independent people, but it the compilation of all people seeking to follow Jesus. The cave that we explored was created by the coming together of different pockets that were created by the rain in the limestone. The formation of all these coming together is what created the vast opening of the cave that enabled a group of at least 20 people to walk through. Just as these small openings in the rock needed to come together in order for a cave to form, so also the church is in need of many different people to come together for the church to truly be the church. Enabling the church to move forward and make a difference within our world. A cave is not a single small opening, but rather a series of openings that bind together to create a cave system?the church is not just one person, but the collection of those that Jesus draws to himself and it is through this community that we can seek to live out the forgiveness and salvation that is offer to us.