Christian Fellowship

I was looking through the various news articles to try and I found one that talks about a topic that I am very familiar with, that is Christian college fellowship groups. Although it is again about Jeremy Lin, what I want to focus on is less about the basketball aspect, but rather how important it is for Christians to seek community. 

This week's article is Jeremy Lin emerges as embelm of burgeoning Christianity, which I took from CNN's belief blog. One of the main points that I took from this article was that one of the fastest growing groups of Christians are Asian Americans. More and more second generation Asian-Americans are joining Christian fellowship groups on college campuses. I have actually first hand experience with this because I am involved with one of the Asian-American Christian fellowship on my college campus. There were some quotes in particular that resonated with me.

From the article: "What's happening at the college level, for students this is a really important time and this is a really important form of community," Chen said. "It is also somewhat like an extended family for them." This is absolutely true, and I feel that the time I have spent with my fellowship has been so good. Just like this quote says, the community I have here in my college fellowship is my family away from home. The friends I have here are my brothers and sisters in Christ and my college experience would be completely different without them. They are friends that you can be real with, people that you can share the darkest part of yourself, and who respond with encouragement and love, not judgment and condemnation. These friendships that I have made in fellowship are ones that are also going to last into the future. I can see myself calling them in a few years' time after I graduated and asking them how they are, and they will probably do the same for me. 

Where would I be today without Christ? I have no clue, but it is kind of scary to imagine. I probably would have given myself over to various pursuits and made them my only desire. I would probably be trying to be the perfect pre-med who did everything he could to pump steroids into his resume to try to make himself perfect as a medical school applicant. If I had done all that, and I was still in the same position I am in now, with no acceptances yet, I would probably be ridiculously bitter. But you know what? That is not what happened. Although I did some things in the medical field, I spent the majority of my time serving in my fellowship and at my church, and it has been the best thing ever. 

I came in freshman year saying that I was Christian but who was I kidding? I didn't know who Jesus Christ was. But over these past 4 years, I have come to know and experience personally who Christ is. In the process, He has raised me up into a leader as well. Never, ever could I have seen myself as a leader, but now I understand that true leadership is about sacrifice. From when I was a freshman, to where I am now, I would say that God has really changed my heart. He has changed me from a person who only cared about himself, into a person who has learned to love and care for others. The reason I can do this is because I have been shown the greatest love of all by the Creator of the universe. 

 I am truly thankful that I took that chance 3 years ago by coming to fellowship for the first time. Now I can truly say that I have a hope and I have a future with Him, no matter what happens with my medical school applications. I have a Lord who humbled himself by dying on the Cross, bearing all the sins of humanity, in order to take me, a broken sinner. I think that is one of the crucial things about Christianity. As you grow closer to God, and if you are honest with yourself, you realize just how messed up inside we are. But there is hope and joy as a Christian understands how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

I just wanted to conclude this post by emphasizing something about Christian faith in America. People might say they are really pursuing their faith, but they are doing it alone. Maturing in Christian faith was never about doing it alone. It has always been about being part of a community because we were not made to be alone. The early church was a community, it was a place where the believers shared their lives with each other, it was a place where they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Do you call yourself Christian but haven't been to church in a long time? Have you spent time with the Bible? These are important questions to ask yourself. For any Christian, I encourage you to seek after Christian community. It changed Jeremy Lin's life, it has changed mine, and it can change yours.