Engage

One of the major lessons that I learned in the last 5 years (and I am still learning) is to engage.

Christianity is not just about a point in time when you decide to submit to the Lordship of Christ, but it is a lifelong journey of pursuing God and engaging in what He has prepared for you. My friend's post is full of truth as it is not only about avoiding sin, but it is to constantly run towards God.

I personally realized that it is so easy for me to feel complacent after learning many things while serving in CCF. The coop terms can be especially dangerous if I choose not to engage in doing God's work. It is not so much about "doing", but when I am doing things for the Lord I am often put in situations where I learn more about my faith, the Spirit develops gifts in me, a stronger character can be mold in me, and more importantly I am pushed to depend on God alone. Most of the spiritual growth I experienced have been due to God using me in ministering CCF and the people.

That is one reason why I love to ask people to serve, because serving does push me to know God more and grow spiritually. Serving also allows me to get to know more other brothers and sisters, to the point that I can develop with them a deeper connection (a partnership).

When I say engage, I don't mean that everyone has to be serving in an official role in fellowship or church. But to engage means to actively seek God and partner with Him in doing His work. Not everyone has to be in committee, nor serving in leadership. God will call each of us in whatever circumstances we are in, whether it's to minister to coworkers, classmates, homeless people. We are to respond to this calling.

There is a lot of danger as sometimes we can take serving and works as idols. There are two extremes I see in churches (especially Chinese ones), that people perceive Christian maturity proportional to the number of ministries involved, and the other side which prefers not to leave the comfort zone and thinks that serving are for those who are hardcore. There is definitely a Chinese issue of putting too much focus on the image and reputation, while it is also very Chinese to avoid confrontation and stay in the comfort zone. At the end of the day, serving is not about doing things as duty but an expression of God's love (1 John). So, if we are to do works without the proper reason, that it is useless (1 Cor. 13).

There is something called the bystander effect where people see a problem, but they rather not do anything because they think that someone else will fix it. If everyone thinks that way, then no one will step up. And that happens in CCF many times when people see a need, but they think someone else will fix it. A good friend of mine shared with me that "if you see a need, you are probably the best person to deal with it". Obviously, serving is not about fixing a need. But just as Nehemiah saw a big need in the Jerusalem to rebuild the walls, he was so broken to see the needs of his people that he cried out to God. The Lord opened the doors for him to address this need.

But whenever you engage in God's work, we are pushed to step out of our comfort zone and also inviting troubles. There are times when it can be tough, when trials and tribulations are along the way. Discouragement and exhaustion can come often. The beauty is that God puts you in tough situations, and He will provide what you need to go through it.

Christianity is not a static point that have reached a certain threshold, but it is a directional vector with a positive gradient (basically a continuously growing graph) towards God.

Engage.

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
 - 2 Peter 5-8