Before the race, I was on this constant journey to find the “right” way to live out this Christian life. If there was a best way, I was determined to find it. So determined that one day, a little over a year ago, I up and left my church of 3 years to find something new. I don’t really know why I left because it was an amazing church, but I guess a part of me was curious to see what else was out there. I think it was a self-discovery of sorts: I had been living out my faith the same way for 3 years, and I was on a journey to find some sort of affirmation that I was walking the right way.
Well, I was kind of wrecked at this new church… everything that I had ever thought was “right” in living out my faith was challenged. People worshipped differently, had different lingo, interpreted the Bible differently, and just had a different Christian culture than I was used to. I quickly grew accustomed to this culture and grew a lot in knowing my identity in Christ. I learned to step out in new ways of worship, started to see the Bible in a new way, and truly felt a new joy come over me! But over time, I became complacent as before, thinking again that I had found the best way to live the Christian life and everyone else was wrong. I even began to judge my Christian friends who walked differently than I did, even though I had been living out my faith that very same way months ago.
I would never say those words out loud of course, but my attitude and actions proved otherwise. I would talk down at my friends as if I had been enlightened in some special way that they had been missing out on. My roommates would say things like “wow you seem so much happier now, it’s crazy!!” And in some ways, I definitely think the Holy Spirit was giving me a new joy and freedom that I had never experienced before, but I also think that part of it was me convincing myself and my roommates that I had finally found the “right” Christian path.
I got to the point where I only wanted to attend a certain type of church and I thought that other churches had it all wrong. I wouldn’t usually speak these concerns out, but I was criticizing in my head all the same.
Before the race, not only was I determined that I knew it all, but I also wanted everyone else to believe the exact same theology that I believed. It was pointless, really, because I wasn’t doing it out of my love for those people, I was doing it for myself, to serve some void in my soul that needed affirmation by being right. I needed people to see my perspective so that I could be validated in my inner being. I thought I knew who I was in Christ, but clearly I was searching for satisfaction elsewhere.
Once I got to World Race training camp—an interdenominational community—I was baffled when my squadmates didn’t worship the same way as me. I had never been in a community before with so many differences in preferences and ways of worship.
Then, I get on the field month one and my teammates gave me feedback saying:
“Mikayla, I love your passion, but sometimes you make it seem like your way is the best way and everyone else is lesser.”
I would just say thank you and force a smile, but still secretly thought in my head that eventually, they would see my perspective and change their thoughts. So instead of forcing my opinions on people, I would ask questions to “understand,” but I think a lot of the time I was just internally judging people’s perspectives without actually hearing them. I had basically entered into this secret mission to get people to believe the same things as me. Little did I know that I would be the one to get wrecked.
My thought process continued like this for months. This constant judgement in my head when I would walk into a new church in a new country would rage on. Rather than being excited about the fact that Thai girls were studying the Bible, I would sit in our daily devotionals and think about how I could teach it better. So terrible.
And then, somewhere in Cambodia (month 4), it hit me. I remember Sharelle (my ministry host at the time) said to me “you know, I love that we can fellowship together and talk about how great heaven will be one day. I think if we were to go into theology, we would have a lot of different views, but I love that it doesn’t matter because we can just talk about how great God is.”
All month, she would drop little truth bombs like that to me. She would say things like “you know, I think in some ways, the youth these days get so caught up in the lights and the show and the worship styles and lose sight of what truly matters [The Word of God and Jesus]” This infuriated me at the time but she said it in such a humble, confident way, that it made me really think about things.
I still don’t think Sharelle realizes how much she impacted me that month. She was a spiritual mother to me, and I needed it more than I even knew. Sharelle and I are very different in the ways that we worship and pursue the Lord, and but also so similar in how we see God in the little things, like nature or the sky, and how we both love dreaming about things like heaven and sharing testimonies of God’s goodness and going on silly adventures telling people about Jesus.
And during that month, things started to click in my head. The Lord humbled me a lot and started to open my eyes to see Him and the body of Christ in a new way….
Somewhere in Cambodia, I started thinking that maybe there isn’t one “right” way to live out this Christian life. Maybe God created us all unique for a reason. Maybe he gave us all different passions to reach more people in this world.
And if we’re all created so differently, it’s no wonder that we all enjoy worshipping in different ways. Some people love hymns and calm church services and some people love the hype singing and dancing and jumping around church services. And that’s okay. How could I put God in a box and think there’s only one way to worship???
I’ve been to countless church services on the race and every single one is different. Does that mean that one is better than another?? Of course not!!!! I’ve been to western-type church services where there’s a set plan and I’ve been to services where they sit in a circle on the ground, sing acapella, and have a Bible study. And then in Africa, it’s a lot of singing and dancing and go with the flow.
Different cultures have different ways that they receive words and connect with God and it’s truly a beautiful thing to witness. In America, people get lit up when there’s a ukulele on stage, but in Africa, they get lit up when there’s a full gospel choir and dancing.
One of the coolest things on the race is that I get to attend so many different church services. Yes, as mentioned earlier, for the first three months of the race, I was pretty critical of these church services. But these past few months, the Lord has been opening my eyes and giving me freedom. Freedom to see beauty in every church that I step foot in. Freedom to love every Christian that I come across rather than wonder if we have the same views. Because in the grand scheme of things, those little differences don’t matter. What matters is Jesus! And the fact that His Spirit unites all believers together in a special, unique way. All the rest is mere preference and Bible interpretation.
If you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, who sacrificed himself to give us new life and make us right with Him, then I am proud to call you a brother or sister in Christ, no matter how you worship, what church you go to, your specific convictions, or even if you go to church at all. Because as believers, we make up the body of Christ, and we are not confined by a building! We unite together and change the world, and we aren’t defined by our denomination or theology. We are united as followers of Jesus, that’s it.
It saddens me in America how much time we spend bashing other churches and preaching sermons about why we’re right and other denominations are wrong. To some degree, it’s good to learn, but if we’re constantly trying to prove why we’re right and others are wrong, are we really growing in our walk with The Lord? What if instead, we put our energy into preaching about living missionally and diving deeper into knowing Jesus more?!?
Living in constant community for 8 months, you see SO MANY different ways of worship. In college, I was in a community where we pretty much lived out our faith in the same way. But the World Race is a unique opportunity to get to live with people from all over the U.S. with all different church backgrounds. And what I’ve seen is that individually, our walks may look different, but together, we bring a unique power and qualities of Christ that we wouldn’t see if our walks all looked the same. On my squad, there are people who serve in a way that’s inspiring, people who have a reverence for the Word that’s convicting, people who love evangelism, people who love playing with orphans, people who are passionate about speaking in tongues, people who have deep convictions for justice, people who enjoy going out for a drink, people who don’t drink at all, people who enjoy singing hymns, people who love to break out in spontaneous Holy Spirit worship.
The point is, we don’t define each other by our differences! It doesn’t matter that one person grew up Baptist and another grew up Pentecostal, what matters is that we all love Jesus and we point each other closer to Him every other day. We all have same Holy Spirit and together, we all make up the body of Christ! It’s beautiful and amazing, and worshipping with my squad brings some of my fondest memories on the Race.
So, people, I urge you, don’t make the same mistake I did. Don’t get caught up in trying to live out your faith the “right” way. Because you’ll just wind up on some never ending goose chase. There’s no “right” way to live out this Christian life; there are actually a multitude of ways to walk with The Father. God just wants your heart, and He just wants to spend time with you!! What if, as Christians, we come together and deeply love one another, spurring one another on towards the gospel instead of getting side tracked by little differences? How much more of an impact would that make on the communities around us! And how much more would that bring freedom in your own heart!!
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. [Ephesians 4:4-6]
