WWJD (But Like Actually) – Natalie Shreve

Welcome to my blog! For my first post, I am going to jump straight into conviction. So fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the read.

A very important question that I have for you is; how comfortable are you as a Christian? If the answer is that you’re very comfortable, then you answered wrong. Here’s why:

In the New Testament, we are provided with a recollection of Jesus’ life; His birth, His miracles, His preachings, His words, His actions, His crucifixion and resurrection, etc. In John chapter four, Jesus sat with a Samaritan woman to talk to her, even though Jews and Samaritans avoided each other and it was frowned upon for rabbis to talk to women alone. Jesus did it anyway and treated her with love and respect, transforming her into a powerful witness.

In Mark chapter one, Jesus was approached by a man with leprosy. In that time, people with leprosy required isolation and if someone were to touch a person who was infected, they became legally “unclean.” But Jesus willingly reached out and touched this man, healing him and restoring him.

In Luke chapter five, Jesus was invited to have dinner at a tax collectors house. Tax collectors were considered corrupt traitors and going to have dinner with them essentially meant supporting their behavior. Jesus went, treating the man with kindness, using the social gathering as a means to share His mission and encourage him to repent and follow the Lord.

There are so many other stories of this kind of behavior from Jesus in the Bible, but the message is simple. Being a Sunday protestant, going to our small groups with people we are COMFORTABLE with, inviting people who are already saved to Bible studies, are all good things but have not yet reached their full potential.

Jesus is calling each of us to step beyond our comfort zone. Approach those who make you feel uncomfortable and shower them with the kindness of God. Befriend people that judgmental Christians would stare at (it’s part of the fun.) Invite these people to Sunday service, to weekly small groups and Bible studies, and to spend quality time with you.

You could be the reason someone who is living a tough lifestyle comes to Jesus. You could also be the reason someone doesn’t come to Jesus because you walked past them with fear and/or judgement in your heart.

One thing that I have learned is intentionally going out of your way and showing everybody, no matter who they are, kindness and respect and God-like love goes a lot farther and makes you feel closer to Jesus. Your comfort zone is a wall that needs to come down. It’s not about you; it’s about who you can plant a seed in, it’s how God can USE you for His glory.

I’m not talking about walking up to a chilled out stranger in a park. I’m talking about recovering addicts, those who are LGBTQ+, homeless individuals, atheists, young people and old people, literally anyone who has a breath and was created by the same God as you (that’s literally every human being on the planet btw).

I hope this encourages you to step out of your comfort zone. Don’t be comfortable. Don’t do it because it benefits you. Don’t make excuses. Be a light to those who are in extreme darkness. It will make you feel amazing and you will have ACTUALLY fulfilled God’s calling of being the church even if you’re not in a church building or surrounded by church-goers.