A Short Word For Those on the Narrow Path

Don't Pass a Brother Without Looking Him in the Face

When I began following Christ again, truly following Him (by this I mean I was in a position of knowledge about the King that was going to turn my life around, whether I attempted to do it myself or I began to see it happen all around me with no other choice but to heed to it), I struggled greatly with how to address the community I was living in up to that point.

Now do not be fooled in any way- the transition of my life from previously being blind in darkness to my eyes graciously being opened to the light has been the biggest gift to me, and if I do anything in this world that is of importance it will be “praising His name, for it is good” (Psalm 54).

But of course, the Devil will always be a liar, and to attempt to live differently is to struggle the same. He will bank off of that. No, this does not make you weak, but rather it admonishes your humanity and uplifts your reliance on the only One who can save, the only One with eternally trustworthy strength.

I was known as a friend to dish about everyone’s personal business with (including my own judgements about it- how foolish knowing not a person around me knew my own heart… why did I think I could decide what everyone else’s looked like?), a dirty-mouthed clown (my cursing was commonly for the sake of comedic relief), and most difficultly, the buddy you could always count on to get stoned with. Of course, I knew all of this would need to change.

As the change happened in me over winter, new-semester come, I did not expect anything around me to change unless I carried the change with me- I was right to think this.

I got back to school for the second-half of my sophomore year, and one of the first people I ran into was Miranda Lane- she begged me to let her smoke with her friends who were not shy to say within the first week that they had a substance she could now only dream about (of course, I have come to a distaste for it, after a long and hard trial God blessed me with to remove it from me- for God does not simply tell us no, but he goes further and responds to our arrogant misunderstanding to show us why it is His love that is separating us from what we think we love, but what is really that which hates us so).

I said nothing of my new habit I was building, except to a few friends whom I knew would keep me accountable, and remained sober without complaint… this was the thing I did not expect. No one noticed.

This made it more difficult- that I would still be thrown into the fire with those who expected me time and time again to keep burning, guaranteeing the need for me to be consistent in putting on my armor (Ephesians 6- read about this armor we receive from Him who protects us).

But if change is true, it will not leave you.

The whole semester and onward, I learned how to control my mouth that instinctively spoke nasty, my legs that tended to go where they shouldn’t, and my mind that craved escape and rebellion.

Through all of that reformation, I was plagued with a question I bet you have, too- Does this mean I can no longer commune with those who perceive the parts of me that I am throwing away in the fire?

There is a song by the Christian rock band DC Talk called “Jesus Freak”. The chorus goes like this:

What will people think when they hear that I’m a Jesus Freak?

What will people do when they find out it’s true?

I don’t really care if they label me a Jesus freak

There ain’t no disguising the truth

Besides the fact that that song deflates the assumption that Christian music cannot rock, it is exactly what I had to decide for myself. Would I run from the world that I was saved from, or would I shout my salvation to those whose hearts knew not yet that He is what they are searching for? That hopelessness, hatred, pain, struggle, hardship, impossible circumstances, and death of the soul, mind and body is exactly what He alone can heal?

Do not let the common Christian community who preaches removing yourself from the things of this world convince you that your brothers and sisters, whether in Christ or not, are objects of abandonment- for if you or God thought this way, you too would have been abandoned. It is our job to stand firm in our faith, and to do this you must employ the help God has given you through godly community, dedication to consuming scripture to reiterate the truth to you, and filling yourself with what you wish to produce in God. But, it is also our job to share it- whether to sour faces of judgement, harsh treatment, or smiles and hopeful acceptance of the Word He speaks through you.

“Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” - John 20:21

You are not sent back in the world to live apart from it in order to prosper until you meet Him. God gives the prosperity and encouragement in all things. You are sent to sing His song of salvation anywhere someone will give you a beat, and if they don’t, He will give you enough strength to make a beat yourself and sing even louder.

What many do not realize is that the greatest prosperity you can have is to look a brother in the face, not disguising your own which has been molded by Christ Himself, and watch it lift up in its countenance.

When you pass by a brother or a sister (every human is this in relation to you, you must get past your own presumption that you are different from anyone else, whether saint or murderer), do not miss out on the opportunity to look them in the eyes. Remember the days of old, when things lay empty before you. If you are now full, with the fullness of Christ that has no end, who are you to deny pouring into an empty cup? For this hope that you have in your eyes and your heart may be the only hope your brother ever sees. Do not turn your face, as God does not turn His face from you- and He is the one who has every reason to, but in His love could never dream of doing so.

Let your love for others work at separating them from the hatred you hold of the world and it’s vice.

For this is what we fight for as God did for us- each other.

- Miranda Lane