Faith Does Not Exist In A Bubble

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. - Matthew 28: 19 - 20

As Christ followers in America, we tend to ignore the Great Commission given to us by Jesus. We go about our daily lives, scarcely giving thought to the eternal destinations of those around us.  We pray and try to live righteous lives, as we should, be we neglect one of our main purposes.  Yes, we are undergoing the process of sanctification and will be doing so for the rest of our lives.  That, however, is not the only reason we’re still here.  God is ready to use us to reach the lost of the world, because he loves each and every person he has created.  We should be living our lives as a shining example of his love, treating each other with kindness and love.  Even then, there are times when we should all step out of our comfort zones and actually talk about Jesus.  Admittedly, this is something I find intimidating.  It is something that has been sorely lacking in my life, but I have been hoping to change that.  For starters, I am currently reading Good News for a Change: How to Talk to Anyone about Jesus by Matt Mikalatos.  I am still early in the read, but it has been interesting so far.

The life of a Christ follower should not be lived in a bubble.  We are not simply the followers of some religion whose requirements we can appease on our own.  I don't particularly care for religion.  I don’t care what religion you are, and neither does God.  Jesus actually has a lot of criticism for “religious people.”  Instead, what God wants is followers, not dogmatic people blindly and ritualistically going through the motions, but earnest followers who want to be in close fellowship with him, because they choose to be.  Religion is about rules, but that's not really what God is concerned with.  He is looking for relationship, and for his people to be his tools to spread the good news of Jesus to the world.  This is about reconciling people to God and saving their souls.  If we look at it as anything less than that, we risk minimizing our efforts and reducing our effectiveness.  We need to talk about Jesus because people need to hear it.  People need Jesus.  We all need him. He is the son of God, sent to defeat sin and death for all time.  The truth must be spread, because the cost of silence is far too great.  Everybody around us is a child of God, and God is seeking to return all his lost children to him.  That is what life is truly about.  Anybody simply looking to “convert” people or win an argument is missing the point. It’s not about numbers. It’s about real people with real lives who need real help, who are at real risk of being separated from God forever.

We each have a faith journey that we are walking, and we are all at different points on that journey.  However, we can all be used by God to further his kingdom and reach the lost.  Why would we want to live in a bubble when there is so much at stake?  God can do amazing things through the faith of his people, but if your faith is so limiting that it is only about you, then how powerful can it really be?  God is a deeply personal god, yes, as we all have come to him on different paths, and he met us in different places and in different ways. But that doesn’t mean it’s private. In fact, if something in your life has made such a significant difference, why would you want it to be private? Is opening up the book of our life not worth the potential that other people could experience the same great changes that we did? Is our privacy worth keeping others from experiencing grace?  It’s not about your rights or your privacy or your comfort. It's about Jesus.  It's about love.  It’s about truth.

[to be continued...]