Bold Words & Red Letters

Today, we saw one example of community with thousands gathering in one place to worship the Lord and commemorate the life of someone who embodied what it meant to be a bold and active member of the body of Christ. It has been overwhelming to see the rising boldness in the Christian community across the country since the death of Charlie Kirk. The body of Christ lost a brother, publicly, and because of that we all sense the call to help step up and continue the work that the Lord was doing through him. But when the adrenaline and freshness of the news fades, as time begins to heal grieving hearts, what will keep us going with the same intensity that this fire has lit in the body of Christ? Our personal community.

As a Christian, there are a lot of important things, of course- faith, prayer, scripture, sermons, worship… but there’s something that many people skip over that I would encourage you to put towards the top of that list and that is community with other believers. People often say that you don’t have to go to church to be saved and no, you don’t… but you should. You are not getting the most out of your walk with the Lord if you’re not surrounding yourself with other people who love Him daily.

Once you become a Christian and put off your old ways, the world still wants you back. Satan wants to win you back over to worldly things so that your influence for the Kingdom is nonexistent. We are fighting a spiritual battle every day, and it’s hard to win a battle on your own even if you know the war is already won for you. Go to church. Keep yourself closest to those friends who are willing to battle with you.

In the gospels you can read the story of the paralyzed man who needed to get to Jesus for healing. We’ve all heard it, but do we pay attention to it? He couldn’t get himself there. And his friends didn’t give up getting him there just because it was crowded and impossible to get in the door. They MADE a way FOR him. Who do you surround yourself with? Are you constantly with people who are indifferent to the ways of the world, people saying that they’ll pray for you but not discipling you, or are your people those who would tear holes in roofs to help get you to Jesus?

Jesus ate with sinners, but he hand-picked his inner circle. Be mindful of the people you allow to be your influence, but never keep yourself from those who need to be influenced by you.  Hand-pick your inner circle, like Jesus did, and battle together for the Kingdom the way that many have before you. Don’t let today’s world and culture convince you that the Church doesn’t need church, that’s just Satan trying to win battles by getting you alone.