Are You Insulated?

Hey there, friends! I wanted to share with you a post I wrote for The Glorious Table this week about having a balanced community as a Christian. It’s something that’s been rolling around in my mind a lot this summer. Join me?

When you’re a Christian, it’s generally easy to surround yourself with other like-minded Christians. Church, your small group, your Christian writers’ group, your weekly moms’ Bible study, the other parents whose kids play on the church softball league–these are all great potential sources of friendship, encouragement, and accountability as you seek to follow Jesus. And let’s be clear: Christians need other Christians. We weren’t meant to journey alone. God intended us to scaffold each other.

Sometimes, though, it can be easy to let our Church community become our sole community. And this, I think, is where we can miss the boat.

When I was a new Christian, I was excited about making friends whose beliefs were the same as mine. I loved that we could talk–and agree–about Jesus. But I had other friends, too, non-Christians I loved a great deal. They sometimes questioned my faith, putting me on the spot and making me uncomfortable by challenging my beliefs. They sometimes tried to cajole me into “breaking the rules.” It wasn’t always easy to uphold the standards of Christ in their company, and sometimes I outright failed. But I still loved them, still wanted the best for them. I was always hopeful that someday they might come to know Jesus too.

Now, decades later, I work for a Christian company. I live in an area of the country that is overwhelmingly churched. My online communities are comprised almost exclusively of Christians.

It’s hard these days to think of anyone in my personal life who isn’t a believer.

To read more, click on over to The Glorious Table.