Walking Together Before Believing Together
Why belonging often precedes belief in collectivist and mobile worlds
Most of us were taught—explicitly or implicitly—that faith begins with belief.
First you understand.
Then you decide.
Then you belong.
But that sequence is not as universal—or as biblical—as we often assume.
In many collectivist and mobile societies, faith follows a different path. It begins not with belief, but with belonging. Trust comes first. Shared life comes first. Only then does belief begin to take shape.
This isn’t a strategy.
It’s a worldview.
Faith Grows Inside Relationships
In NOMADic and many NO-AD worlds, people rarely ask, “Do I agree with this?” as their first question.
They ask:
Who are you with?
Who stands with you?
Who will still be here when things get hard?
Faith grows inside answers to those questions.
That growth happens through ordinary, repeated practices:
shared meals
shared movement
shared stories
shared risk
Belief is not dismissed or delayed. It simply emerges from trust, rather than standing apart from it.
Belonging is not the reward for belief.
It is often the soil in which belief grows.
For many of us—especially those shaped by highly individualistic cultures—this can feel uncomfortable. It challenges assumptions we didn’t even realize we were carrying.
The Group Is the Starting Point
In collectivist societies, the group is not an optional add-on to personal identity. It is the foundation of identity.
Decisions are weighed together.
Consequences are carried together.
Faith is explored together.
Discipleship, then, is not primarily an individual journey with occasional community support. It is a shared path, walked side by side—sometimes with clarity, sometimes without.
This doesn’t mean individuals don’t matter.
It means individuals are never detached from their people.
When faith is introduced as a purely personal decision, it can unintentionally fracture relationships rather than heal them.
Leadership Looks Like Shepherding
In NOMADic communities of faith, leadership rarely looks like management.
It looks like presence.
Leaders emerge because they:
remain with the group
carry responsibility for others
protect the vulnerable
guide people through uncertainty
Authority is not granted once and for all. It is earned repeatedly through care.
Ancient images still work best here:
the shepherd
the elder
the guide on the trail
These leaders do not stand above the community. They move with it.
Boundaries Are a Form of Care
Healthy communities are not boundary-less.
In collectivist contexts, hospitality and protection exist together. Honor matters. Correction is communal. Conflict is handled in ways that preserve relationships rather than isolate individuals.
To those shaped by modern individualism, this can feel restrictive. But in group-oriented societies, boundaries are not primarily about control. They are about care.
What This Is—and Is Not
This way of forming communities of faith is:
not anti-structure
not anti-theology
not a rejection of settled churches
It is not a blueprint to copy everywhere.
It is an invitation to examine our posture.
Many of us did not realize how culturally specific our assumptions about “church,” “discipleship,” or even “faith” really were—until we encountered people who live differently.
A Quiet Biblical Pattern Worth Noticing
It is worth noticing that Jesus did not begin by asking for fully formed belief.
He invited people to walk with Him.
Long before the resurrection—and before His closest followers truly understood who He was—a community had already formed. They traveled together, ate together, learned together, and were sent out together.
Faith grew inside shared life.
We will return to this pattern later when we look more closely at Scripture through NOMAD eyes. For now, it is enough to notice that walking together often came before believing together.
A Question to Sit With
Where does belonging come from in your world?
And what might need to shift—for you, or for those you walk with—if faith were allowed to grow inside shared life rather than standing outside it?
Faith that moves with people must be carried by people.
Communities don’t form in rows—they form on the road.
NOMAD • Collectivism • Faith and Community • Discipleship • Belonging • Let Nomads Move You