The Longer we are Christians...

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What generally happens to Christians the longer they are Christians? You might think this is an odd question. Most people’s response to this question might be defensive and answered with other questions. Such as... “Why would you ask such a question? Isn’t it obvious what happens to Christians the longer they’re together in faith communitites?”

Maybe the answer is more clear than we care to see. Here’s the real question.... and maybe it’s more of a learned observation... Do Christians become more separated from non-Christians the longer they are Christian? Want to make the first question a bit more edgy, try this one... How does this reality impact our God given responsibility to be “salt and light” in our communities?

The irony is that we are on a mission for Jesus, the Great Commission to be specific. That command of Matthew 28:19-20 is not optional for Christians, nor can we simply ignore it at some point in our walk with Him. The older in age and more mature we become as Christians and hopefully wiser, the less contact we seem to have with non-Christians. How then do they get to see and experience Jesus in us? I am talking about actual relationships and friendships where trust and dialogue are built with people who get to know us personally, not just an infrequent street witnessing type of a thing to strangers.

Christians in fellowship together, growing to maturity together for a long period of time tend to find comfort, trust and security in the friendships of other Christians. This is not a bad thing nor is it out of harmony with God’s plan. But all to often we find ourselves cloistered from the real world. Doing so, relegates the real mission of outreach... to the sinners around us... to conversations among ourselves and ultimately to the back burner. We talk about a lot about evangelism, but do little to effectively move out of our comfort zone to really reach people. It's harder to reach total strangers than people we know such as... neighbors, coworkers, people you are in friendly and frequent contact with.

Instead of circling in closer with just Christians as we get older and more mature in our faith, shouldn't it be the opposite as we grow older and wiser? As the Bible clearly admonishes... we must maintain Christian community in the midst of being on mission for Jesus. We all need the benefits of Christian community. Close relationships and togetherness with other Christians should be a time of preparation to reach "outward"... not just inward.

It is ironic.... that when we mature and know Scripture and Jesus better and are transformed all the more by the Holy Spirit - that we spend less and less time involved with non-Christians who desperatdely need to experience the living God through his interaction with His people.

It's hard to "salt and light" to a hurting world if our salt is in the pantry and our light in the closet. We can’t win souls to Christ if the only relationships we value are entrenched in our Christian sub-culture. We need to be seasoning as salt and shinning and reflecting Christ as light out there, anywhere, everywhere, so the lost can see the power of God work in real people.