Take Heart!

Acts 13:51,52

“But shaking the dust off their feet against them, they proceeded to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.”

You take hits, and you take tumbles. And when you are on the ground you will get kicked. Hits and falls are inevitable, right? You can’t avoid what will come to pass. There are great resources out there about picking yourself up by the bootstraps and carrying on. It’s a common theme from old testament themes to WWII the slogan for the British Isles, cleverly, “Keep Calm and Carry On.” I can think of no better motto for ones life.

One could assume that tumbles and falls are associated with a poor prayer life. I beg to differ. Romans 8 talks of suffering and how suffering is life with Jesus. The book of Psalms is full of several accounts of suffering. Now the word suffering is such a general word, why would we want to use that word? It ranges from being short for your bills to cancer and broken limbs. Let’s streamline this entry and just lump every single suffering, tribulation, hard time, challenge etc. into one word and we’ll use challenge, yes challenge. Doing your taxes is challenging, finishing a test is challenging; walking through surgery and cancer is challenging, parenting (from what I can witness and hear) is challenging. Yes, from now on, for this essay, Challenges is the word for everything unless otherwise specified.

How can Christ relate to our challenges? After all, the Bible does say that Christ can relate to our sufferings.  The goodness and glory that is given to us by grace is something that was worked for with blood and pain. Christ suffers with us. Bottom line. Jesus is relatable to anyone in the world with any condition. Tempted and tried like us, except he defeated temptation and trial. [i] The power behind Jesus is great. So great in fact, that when He died, the world changed and life changed, death changed[ii]. So great, even His name is power.[iii] Bottom line, Jesus is the way to true power, more so,  to true life.

Back to “challenges”; our standard, as Christians, has been set high from the time of Moses. The effect of challenges and things on a young adult can be just as powerful as a mature adult. Only, we are learning how to take hits. We aren’t used to them, when we were adolescents our parents, mentors and educators took our hits for us, or at least lessened their blow. Now we take our own challenges. We pay the bills, we get our own credit cards, we make our own money. For the majority of Twenty-something’s in America, life, real life, is beginning. Many of us are getting married and having kids. We are taking the proverbial first flight, cutting our safety net. Gander on into Acts and you’ll find a church that was starting to take on it’s responsibility, you could say that they were starting to pay their own bills, and cut their safety net. 

We can consider it great joy when we face trials, and we can dust ourselves off and proceed with what we are to do, and that’s to share Jesus with those who don’t know Him. To show love to those who are hard to love and to those who will not welcome you. Jesus tells the disciples “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town.”[iv] Community, do not dwell on the things that hurt your feelings, challenges that get the best of you or when you get run out of town. That’s ok, just dust yourself off and try again. God brings grace, and love for a reason.

Bottom Line: Whenever we face opposition, it’s no big deal. Just dust yourself off and move on with Jesus. You cannot let a wall keep you from being able to share Jesus or progress in Life, School, Work, your Marriage etc. Keep Calm, and Carry On....

Matthew 10:22-23

“You will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered. When they persecute you in one town, escape to another. For I assure you: You will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

---

[i] Matthew 4:1-11

[ii] The Jewish view of death is that of Sheol. A time at which even with atonements and sacrifices one could still go to Hades, the land of the Dead, and have to wait for the Messiah to come. When Jesus died, it was finished and He “led captivity captive” Death could not hold Jesus, even covered in every sin in the world and time.

[iii] Acts 3:6-7, When Peter said to the man, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazareth…” He walked….. When we do things in our own name[power] we can and will fail; however, when using the name of King Jesus, things get done.

[iv] Matthew 10:14

Do you remember how old you were when you became an adult?

How rebellious is it to be a Christian?

     I am a 25 years young man in a church that is constantly in growing pangs. These aren't always bad things, they expand and contract the Church.

     My biggest struggle is to find my place in this Church. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; about the Church being a body, and every part having it's place, just like body parts. I know I am being built for super cool things; my goal is to figure out what things I have been built for. I know where I'm called and I also know where I am.

     This issue isn't a new one; but it's not like this issue hasn't been addressed. At some point an individual should take on their responsibility and transition into their role as an adult. Given today's culture, the age of transition is in the 20's. This age is a difficult one, forget the teens the twenties are where it's at. I feel like unless a church specializes in the 20 something's then it's hard for these brothers and sisters to find authentic community, in a body that caters to families and elders. Twenty somethings are those that have no family of their own, too old to be young and too young to be old enough. 

     As has been mentioned before, that the twenties are where each individually finds his or herself and really makes their relationship with Christ their own. So in these years, there is such a wide variety of walks and maturity levels. It would seem to be a daunting group to take on and disciple. In Acts, which tells us the history of the church, I would assume the Apostles some of which still had the memories of Christ still fresh in their mind. Were sent out to sow the seeds of what we reap today. 

     Each individual in Christ is part of something bigger than themselves. This body that we are inducted into is more important that our relationship with our friends, family and world. I find it funny that Jesus calls us to be outside of mainstream culture so that we can influence mainstream culture, so we did it; we ejected the church from mainstream culture and made our own bubble, with it's own mainstream, underground and indie subcultures. The problem is we brought along the same unhealthy habits and problems that the world had. Some of these little plagues are problems with our human nature, and thus can creep into our church life.

     Can one say that the church is plagued with the same problems that the world is? The answer is yes, and this is something that I, as a young person, am figuring out. Problems that plague my peers, plague me.  My struggle as a young adult in the body of Christ is finding my place. My role in my church. Until recently I have lived in the future, my career was in the future tense, my marriage is in the future tense... I'm coming to an era of life where everything that was going to happen is starting to happen. I'm ready to start taking on my roles in the Church. My personality is taking shape to start taking responsibility. I'm excited. I have my fears and I have my doubts, but I'm ready to take them on.

     My name is Ryan Hansen, I am a young adult in the body of Christ, looking to take on my role as a leader.