There are two major responses to fear. We either fight or take flight. For most of my life I have been the person to take flight. If trouble was brewing, I ran away. If I sensed that if I stayed where I was that I would encounter hardships, I ran. Unfortunately, I did not run from relationships in which I should have run the moment I saw a red flag. I did not run from unhealthy workplaces. I would always run from that which I could face and fight. I ran because I was afraid that people would be disappointed in me. I always stayed when I could not fight because I was afraid of what people would think if I took flight. I had to learn to fight or flight with God not with people’s opinions.
It has taken maturity and strength to recognize when I should stay and when I should take flight. It has also taken the fact that I have purposely surrounded myself with Christians who believe that we must stay where we are needed the most to present the Gospel and not hide in our little Christian caves. Most of my life, I have hidden in that Christian cave, even as I have lived in Los Angeles, California. Those Christian caves can be built anywhere, and they are very dangerous to our faith. I know because I recognized that when I crawled out of it.
When I resided in the Christian cave, I was unaware of the negative influence that I had become for Christ. It was never my intention to exclude people or to make people feel inferior because they did not believe in Christ or did not reside in the Christian cave with me, but it is exactly what had occurred. Throughout my Christian life, I was encouraged to reside in the Christian cave because people believed that those who were outside of it would influence me to walk away from Christ. The irony is that it was from within the cave that my faith waivered.
Within the cave, I received criticism and a list of rules that I had to abide by in order to thrive as a Christian. It is within the cave that I believed the term to become a “better Christian.” I have recently recoiled from that term to become a better human being and represent Christ. Christianity is not a competition, so I don’t know what a “better” Christian looks like. As a Christian, I am to replicate the attitude and actions of Christ, not of a person. Unfortunately, it took me years to recognize that much of my Christian beliefs were built on people that I thought were “better” Christians, instead of my faith being built on Christ who is the best.
So, I stepped out of the cave and entered a world where I need to influence people. I am always learning how to speak both in-person and online. I am trying to have intelligent conversations with people with whom I disagree. I don’t want to run away from those who do not believe in Jesus. I do not want to run away from those who vote differently from me. I do not want to run away from those who may commit immoral acts that I have not committed, but have committed my fair share of immoral acts with my own sins. I want to stay and fight the good fight of faith.
In recent weeks, I have recognized that people who are Christians want to run into caves. Some caves are filled with Christians. Some caves are filled with people who are Christians and because they voted differently than those in the other cave, they feel that they are superior to them and refuse to communicate with them. Both caves are filled with “better” Christians. I have been in both caves, and I no longer reside in a cave. I am out among the people. I have discovered that we all want great things for our country, our states, our cities, our communities, and our churches.
Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:18) Jesus said. “Go.” He did not say stay separate. Some of us need to gently and in love teach how to represent Christ well. We can only do that with humility and confess our own mistakes and sins. We need to lead and not run away. Others of us, need to stop running away from social media sites that do not have just “Christian” values, but sites that need Christians to stay and encourage others. We just may need to be aware of how we say our words of truth in love and realize that Jesus is so much bigger and better than any political figure or political party or agenda.
It is my hope and desire that for the first time in a long time, Christians will stop running away. Christians please stay and fight the good fight. “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” Christians have run away from Hollywood and scream that it is immoral. Christians have run away from large cities and claim that they are evil. Christians have run away from public schools and universities and claim that they are void of God. Christians let us stand together and not make another mistake. Let us stay on social media where Jesus is needed. We have all sinned. No sin is greater. It is time we love those whose sins are different than our own. Be love. Be the light. Let us come out of the caves and stop running and stay. It won’t be easy, comfortable, or safe, but it will be well done.
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