Where Does Christ Live?

Where Does Christ live? It sounds like such a childish question, doesn’t it? But think about it: where does he live? First answer everyone jumps to is “the hearts of his believers” which is true, but chew on this little insight:

CHRIST LIVES WITH THE ONES WHO NEED HIM AS WELL.

Wow. Its deep, I know. When Jesus lived on the earth, who did he hang out with? Not the Pharisees, that’s for sure. Not the hoity-toity rich snobs either, who thought they had it all. Nope. Jesus hung with the riff-raff: the scum, the abusers, the prostitutes, the murderers, the homeless people. I’ve heard it said “God loves the majority,” and while I’m not saying God doesn’t love everyone, I certainly believe he loves the underdog as well. The ones who NEED him the MOST; the tax collectors, the homeless, the prostitutes, THE BROKEN.

As Christians, doesn’t it seem logical to love those people even though we may squirm away with revulsion at the things they have done? And before we can start to love those people, (it’s not like it’s a switch we can turn on like a light) we must FIRST LEARN TO LOVE OUR FELLOW BELIEVERS. This is a hard concept for me, as the people who have hurt me the most in life have been fellow believers. I guess it just proves how, because of our sinful nature, Satan can use even the strongest believer to tear someone apart. Can you guess where this love can originate from? From helping fellow believers carry their cross when it becomes too heavy to bear. It is that “C” word we like to lie to ourselves and say that we have: COMPASSION. We are all in the same battlefield, though our drumbeats sound differently, and we may worship different from one another. We all have one very huge (the most important) thing in common: CHRIST. We all love him, and want to reach others to bring them into the kingdom.

Here’s a simple concept: compassion is easy to use. We have all been in church and seen someone--you just know by their demeanor--they are beat down. Their cross has become too heavy for them. BE THIER SIMON OF CYRENE!!!! Help them. Walk over, put an arm around them and say “let me help you carry that cross.” We need more people in the church with compassion. Christ lives in our hearts. Yes. But it is our job as his children to show that amazing love for the people he hangs with: the broken, and the lost.

By: Lacey Slifkoff