I was sitting talking to my friend/leader Allison a few nights ago and we were just reflecting on the race so far. I was talking about the amazing ministry I have had and the awesome ministry hosts I’ve gotten to serve in all the countries and the relationships I have with them. I was explaining how great it is that I’ve been put with such amazing people and how I’ve kept in contact with them and how I would love to go back and visit them and serve them more.
Then Allison asked me a very thought provoking question.
Why is it so easy to build these deep relationships with people in other countries and other cultures vs. the people we’ve been in church and community with our whole lives?
That got me really thinking about my relationships, and I realized that I am spiritually closer to some of the people in other countries and from other states that I lived with for 3-6 months or worked with for 3 days than the people I grew up with in church.
I began to think through the differences of those environments. In these other countries we’ve served in there is generally a lower Christian population. I began to wonder if these people jumped at Christian relationship and fellowship because it isn’t as common to find people who are firm in faith who want to help them grow.
In America There is a church on every corner, an most likely a fellow Christian anywhere we go, so it has become such a norm and so easily accessible we have grown to take it for granted. I think sometimes we look at the church as always being there when we need it instead of simply always needing it and the Lord.
We also began talking about how these people look to the body and to the church to be filled. God is their complete source. They seriously view God as their provider, their hope, their strength and their source where in America I think we have become so comfortable we can loose sight of these things. I have relied on God more this past year than ever before. I find myself praying for it to not rain on the walk home, I pray for God to bless us with good food or a ride home or a bed or to not get lice/get sick. I have learned to rely on God to provide and take care of every little thing in my life because at this point I seriously have zero control over any of it.
Because of this I too have come to rely on God and the body for everything, and because of that I am able to better pour out into my team and community wherever I am. I am being completely filled by God, not by an hour of church, not by an hour of bible study but by the father himself therefore I can pour out his love and his wisdom to others freely and without emptying my tank.
So here the main point of all of this and what I’ve learned:
We should be going to the church with the mindset of pouring out. We should be filled by God to then go out into the body with the focus of pouring out into others loving, teaching and disciplining them. If our personal relationship with God is strong and filling than our relationships with fellow Christians will be strong and filling because of the natural overflow of his love. I’ve had to take a step back and say “am I comfortable simply living like a good Christian, or am I going to strive to live like Jesus, loving others abundantly and staying in communication with God?”
