I’m reminded tonight of the importance of community. Motivation is something I have always struggled with, people who have had a conversation with me for longer than 10 minutes will know that I can’t keep my attention for very long on any one thing. Thus, motivation for any one task I must attempt is often thwarted by something, anything, usually shiny.

Minecraft is a videogame that has taken the world by storm over the last 5 years or so. I think the vast majority of people have heard of it, and maybe compare it to a Lego style video game, but it’s so much more than that. There is no manual, and you aren’t given all the pieces to start with. It encourages you to mine, and grow all of your own resources. And above all it encourages creativity. You can build a giant tree house hanging off the side of a cliff, or you can build a castle in the sky made of solid blocks of Gold (I’ve actually done that), but Minecraft is a responsible parent. It knows that if it just gave you the gold to build that house, the end result would be as rewarding as picking your nose. Minecraft knows that if you put in the time and effort to gather the resources to build that Golden Sky Castle (hundreds of hours) that you will appreciate it all the more¹.

I love it.

So much so, that I meet up with three of my best friends every Tuesday evening to play together. We call it our Minecraft beer nights, where we play Minecraft, drink craft beers and catch each other up on our weeks.

So even when I’m playing Minecraft, a videogame that encourages repetitive tasks and creativity my concentration limits my potential. I can never finish any one thing. If you were to take a walk through any of the maps where I have attempted projects on my own, it’s full of half-baked ideas. Compare it to one of the maps with my friends it is a different story. You’ll find fortresses that spread out over massive areas, houses that are built into and dominate mountain ranges, monorail systems spanning the lands, towers reaching the heavens and mines branching out for miles underneath the ground.

That community I have with friends doesn’t make me any more creative than I am when I’m on my own. It just encourages it.

In Urban Junction, we may all be coming for different reasons. For some, it’s family, others it’s friends, time of prayer, answers, or just food on the first of the month; they may be completely different goals, but they all compliment each other beautifully. It’s a wonderful web of ideals, personalities, and abilities all weaved together by the ultimate crafter himself.

We should never feel alone in what we are doing here. God has placed our desires and gifting’s on our hearts, and He has also placed this network around us. Having this community centered on God doesn’t make your desires any greater than when you were on your own. It just encourages it.

¹ Credit to Yatzee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wgQvij3rVE