I Dare You

Seriously, this is a “dare” for all who follow Christ.

Not the kind of ‘double-dog-dare’ we did as kids.

Not an attempt to get you to do something no one else ever should.

Not a one time ‘wow’ moment fueled by foolishness nor heralded by hormones.

Rather, a dare to do what Jesus has said we should.

Every single day.

Dare to do something that, even though Christ commanded it, the world around us seems to have forgotten it.

I’m not talking about the secular, God-denying world.

I’m talking about the Church world. Those who claim faith in Jesus, who sing about His love for them and their love for each other, and yet….their words and actions show something entirely different.

Jesus prayed  “May they be one, Father, as You and I are one.”

He told us the world would know we are followers of His, by how we showed love to one another.

Not by how well we sang songs or wrote theses or what kind of productions we put on.

By the love we show. By how we are united to one another, in Him.

“A house divided cannot stand.”

Today’s church is most definitely divided, and at risk of falling apart.

So how do we turn it around?  Start by taking this dare.

I dare you  –  all who wear the name Christian  – to take the next month and REFUSE to speak of things that divide, and DELIBERATELY CHOOSE to find things that unite.

Choose NOT to say or post about how you dislike another’s political party or college team or even what type of music is played at their church.

Choose INTENTIONALLY to encourage, uplift, speak the Name of the One who unites us  –  Jesus  –  around His Cross and His Kingdom.

Affirm others who give, serve, pray.

Amplify their heart for the lost, hurting, hungry, or homeless.

Ignore their fashion choice or educational preference.

I dare you to center the next four weeks (from whenever you read this) on choosing silence over those things that have no eternal value, and stepping forward in speaking and posting support for those people and places that point others to Christ.

I dare you….

[Rev. LoriJo Schepers has been in ministry for several decades, serving as pastor, on-air personality for a local Christian music station, and currently as Executive Director of Barnabas Ministries. She has been a writer since she could hold a pencil, her first publication at 15. She shares more of life and faith on her blog  HopeScribe. She has four grown children and three special granddaughters. Her contact: lorijo@barnabasmin.org]