Stretcher Bearers

“For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you brother.”

Philemon 1:7

This post has been a long time coming, it’s been on my heart ever since Spring quarter last year. I was studying for a final and listening to Lifesong by Casting Crowns. When I heard the song called Stained Glass Masquerade, I had to take a pause from my work and sat there contemplating the lyrics for a while. I have to admit, many times when I listen to Christian music or even during worship I focus so much on the music that I am distracted from the words. This time, however, those words hit my heart; I think because it is a subject I’ve dwelt on for a long time and struggled with throughout my Christian walk. How genuine are we to each other? How can we be even more open and willing to share? What is the depth of our conversations and are we being superficial? There were so many issues brought up by that song and I think I’ve also been inspired to write this post by all the talk recently amongst our class about some of these issues.

I think there are several issues that we always discuss about GOC, many specifically related to the size of our fellowship. For our class the “gender gap” has been repeatedly brought up recently and I agree it is an issue for us. Also, talking with Andrew and other people, the problem of cliques and fringe people has been on my heart. Both of these issues are heavy on my heart because I feel that I am more of a cause of them then a solution. I am naturally introverted and when I am able to find people I am comfortable with and can confide in, I stick with them. I seek them after fellowship, hang out with them at gatherings, and pretty much form that clique. Most of the time those people happen to be guys just because of common interests, like sports and games, as well as comfort levels. I have realized that I use these reasons as an excuse, a crutch to justify my passive approach to people and relationships. There are people I observe all the time socializing and being proactive and I think to myself, “they will take care of other people” and “they will make the effort if they want to talk to me.” Yet, if I pass on those responsibilities and then everyone else follows suit, who is taking that initiative? Am I here to serve or be served? Am I loving people if I am not even willing to make a call or invite someone to lunch?

These issues all seem to stem from a deeper heart issue, at least for me, a lack of genuine care for people. Yes, there will always be subjects that we can only discuss with friends of our own gender. Yes, there will always be those we are always more comfortable talking with and holding accountable. Does that mean, however, that we forsake other people? If I am truly a child of God and a man seeking to be like Christ, I ought to love as He has loved me first. Even with my closer friends, many times I avoid the meaningful spiritual discussions in favor of the more “comfortable” superficial ones. I expect calls from them, I expect them to initiate the meet ups, and I expect them to bring up the conversations. How much deeper would my relationships be if I could turn to my brothers and sisters in Christ in times of struggle as well as in times of joy? How awesome would it be if we could bear one another’s burdens? How much closer would we grow if we could freely confess our struggles to each other?

I feel that there are several practical things we can do as a fellowship to reach this point, a point where we truly are a fellowship of stretcher bearers. The room hangouts are definitely a cool idea and just having meet ups in groups where we can overcome social awkwardness. Also, just for reaching out to people that we know are not coming regularly or may not be as plugged in to GOC. Like Justin always says, we should not need a follow up team; rather everyone should be welcoming newcomers and following up on others. Andrew was pointing out that if we each just got to know a few people really well this year, that we do not normally talk to, how much more welcome would each person feel? How much more would God be glorified as we become united by His Spirit? There are things I think we can personally work on such as not making such a big deal of guys and girls talking or eating together. Also, not just looking for the same people every time we meet up. These smaller solutions are great, but I also need to look at my own heart because I feel once I genuinely care as Christ did for me, then these will all be natural outpourings.

I guess this post was just a pouring out of my own thoughts, it was very stream-of-consciousness. Also, I hope it will keep me accountable and whoever reads this will continue to keep me accountable in my goals. I pray that I would bear the burdens of my brothers even more and that we would persevere together. I pray that I would love my class and GOC more and more as well as truly share with them without fear. I pray that I would reach out to people and care for those that are not as plugged in. I pray that I would help the freshman grow, serve them, and just spend time with them. I pray that I would be an encouragement to those around me and a person who values people more than temporal things. I pray that our fellowship would be characterized by our care for one another. I pray that our fellowship would not be hindered by its size, but that we would find even more stretcher bearers because of it. Lastly, I pray that our fellowship would live out the faith and love of the four friends in Mark 2:3-4.

“And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. And being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.”

Mark 2:3-4