I write to you now as someone who has hopefully gone through enough of Christianity’s ups and downs. I write to you now, hoping that my experiences are sufficient to not only inform or warn, but to guide.

In all my years as a Christian, I’ve witnessed a mixture of church goers and people who are on fire for God. These are two extremes in the scale– those that go to church just for the sake of going to church and those who go to church like it’s their second home. Both are not perfectly healthy states. But, those who find the equilibrium have managed to hit the sweet spot.

This piece was written specifically for one side of the extreme– the sheltered and safe. I guess, I’ve witnessed these instances enough to recognize. These are the ones who do not let life happen to them. They try to rationalize every decision, even to the point of overthinking, in order to maneuver the right life outcomes. Don’t get me wrong, people tend to be sheltered and safe for all the right reasons, including Godly living.

Yet, what’s wrong with living life, sheltered and safe?

There are countless accounts in the Bible where God called people to leave their comfort zones for the cause of Christ. A disciple was called to walk on water like Jesus. Another was called to leave everything familiar and move to where God was. People were called to abandon shelter– called to leave safety to run to God, the ultimate source of both. 

So, what am I saying? What am I imparting?

I love God and I try to love people. The time I left church was more about self-preservation– to avoid the toxicity that is within people. Because let’s face it, people may still have internal ugliness and being new creations can lean more towards mere prophetic declarations, rather than genuine and timely reality.

The point is this: during the time I was forced to deal with people outside my belief system was years of growth. As I held tightly to God, I developed His heart for the hurting world. I saw. I saw how badly the world needed the loving God that I serve. And I grew to understand people more, even people from church. How we’re all equally struggling. And how it’s really about how we respond to these challenges that determine Godly living, regardless of denominations. I understood that not all who profess the name of Jesus own up to their decisions. And I saw kindness in the eyes of those stereotyped as ungodly. 

As my mind was unlocked, the capacity of my heart to love grew bigger. I understood, I knew, and therefore, I’ve grown to love more.

There is a difference– a difference between being sheltered and safe and being salt and light. We try to be the prior because we want to maintain or sustain our own ideal notion of a perfect or functional life, when Jesus called us to get messy. To love the sinner, yet hate the sin. To wash people’s feet. To get off the boat.

Being sheltered and safe doesn’t get you where Jesus is. If anything, it keeps you from seeing what He sees, from feeling how He feels, from loving the way He loves.

If anything, do not be sheltered and safe. If anything, be salt and light. 

Matthew 5:13-16 (ESV)

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.