“I’m not going anywhere tonight,” I told myself. ”I can just let my laptop run out of batteries while I lay here on the couch and surf facebook then grab my charger later,” I thought.
I was wrong.
I ended up driving to Starbucks to write a paper this evening, instead of staying on the couch as planned. Now, here I sit only three sips into my Vanilla Latte, and only 29% battery remaining on my laptop. And alas, I’m nowhere near an outlet.
One of the guidelines I’ve failed to fulfill tonight is always plug in your laptop when you’re near an outlet. I was sitting on the couch for an hour and a half and could’ve easily plugged my laptop in and charged it up. But instead, being stubborn, I told myself I didn’t need to be plugged in and assumed I would have time to do it later.
How often to young Christians make the same mistake?
No, I’m not talking about forgetting to plug in our Macbooks and iPhones.
I’m talking about forgetting to plug ourselves in.
I’ve heard over an over again from exhausted college students that they don’t see the need to go to church during their 4 years in academia, since they will have time for that later in life. Those who are best at procrastination are procrastinating again. But this time, the results can be devastating.
Thinking you’ll have time for church later in life is almost like thinking, “Meh, I’ll go visit my doctor when I’m on my death bed.”
The community that one receives from involvement in a local church is unlike any other. Hebrews 10:24-25 says:
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
We are meant to live in community with others; to build each other up, to serve together, to encourage each other, and to worship Christ together. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: a relationship with God is personal, it is NOT individual. We are to personally know God as our Lord and Savior, but we are to know him within the context of a community. A church.
I plead of you to stop looking for the perfect church. You’re not gonna find it (churches are filled with broken people, after all). Instead, search for a community that you can get plugged into… then do it! Dive head first into the mess and brokenness of other’s lives. Don’t wait until your life is coming to an end. Get plugged in now. When conflict arises (and it will… it always will), don’t just get up and walk out. Keep pursuing the heart of Christ together! I promise you that on the other side of conflict, there will be a depth of relationship unlike any you’ve experienced elsewhere.
Soon you’ll find that the closer you grow in community, the closer that community as a whole draws to Christ.
Get plugged in.
