I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
-John 17:15
Eighty-five percent of the Zimbabwean population is Christian. In the USA that figure is eighty-three percent. So why is it so much harder to be Christian in the Land of the Free?
I attended a high school where almost everyone was Christian. The Christian percentage was so high that in most of my classes, we could talk about God without offending anyone because we were all believers! It was really easy to talk about God with anyone. I guess God realized that I was getting too comfortable so He sent me to Goucher College! (Quick back story) I was going to apply to Pepperdine University which is a beautiful, Christian university in Malibu, California. While I was doing my research on the university, a small voice in my head said to me, “It’s going to be too easy to be Christian on a Christian campus.” So I didn’t apply to Pepperdine. That small voice was right. I can’t tell you how hard it is to be a believer on this college campus!
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus commands his disciples (and us) to spread the gospel – to minister to others.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
-Mark 16:15
To be honest, I have never been so uncomfortable to spread the gospel in my life than I have been in the past five months. Not everyone on this campus likes to hear the name "Jesus". A lot of people on this campus don’t like Christians. I never thought I’d be made fun of for being Christian (even as a joke), but I have. It almost makes me uncomfortable just knowing that I believe in Jesus. I am unashamed, but I am not comfortable.
I am a part of the Goucher Christian Fellowship and last semester, we set up a survey about how Jesus is linked to race and ethnicity. This was one of the scariest things I have ever done in my life. We actually had to ask strangers if they wanted to take the survey. Most of the time we got rejected. When we didn’t get rejected, we had to talk to strangers about Jesus. I was way out of my comfort zone, but I was proud that I was doing what Jesus had commanded me to do.
I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
-John 17:15
The above verse was a part of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples. He didn’t want his disciples to be in their own bubble of Christianity. He wanted them to be in the horrible, cruel, uncomfortable world so that they could teach other people about God’s love. The same goes for us. As followers of Christ, we have to be prepared to be uncomfortable because spreading the gospel is no walk in the park. Look at Jesus’ life – he was mocked and made fun of and he was one of the most hated men, yet he continued to teach people about his Father. Jesus also prayed that evil is kept away from us, so we have nothing to worry about. Discomfort shows that you are in the right place. When you are not uncomfortable then you need to ask God to move you. My prayer for you is that you learn to be uncomfortable and that you overcome that discomfort by remembering the commandment in Mark 16:15.
God truly loves you.
With love,
Mandile.
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