Episode 265: I’m Talkin. . .Involved

I’m talking episode 265 for May 14th, 2023.

This is Joel from the I’m Talking microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week, we’re talking involved.

Involved is not a very complicated word.

I think we understand what it means, but it does present its unique set of challenges.

And I think about the world in which we live.

It’s often hard to get people to be involved.

They want to count their costs before they get involved.

They want to know what the commitment is.

They want to know what it might cost in terms of resources.

They want lists of pros and cons, and they want to know who else is involved.

Most of the time, it’s questions to figure out how they can get out of being involved.

And other times, it’s good questions so that they are involved in the right things.

And then the flip side of that is people love to get involved in things that don’t concern them.

They want to be involved in someone else’s business, or they want to be involved in community things where they don’t even live, or whatever the case may be.

And therein lies the challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

As Christians, the word involved is of ultimate importance.

We are not allowed to sit on the sidelines.

We are not allowed to pull ourselves out of the world and not be involved in the world.

That’s where God has put us, where God wants to use us.

And in addition to that, we are also called to be involved in our local church.

And we can’t judge those people.

We can’t decide we don’t want to be involved in church because those people are hypocrites, or whatever the case may be.

We can’t quit.

We have to know that others who call themselves Christians are not perfect, just as we are not perfect.

We need to show the world how people who are imperfect, who don’t always get along, because they love the Lord, because they call on the name of Jesus Christ, can love each other enough to be involved and do something special.

We know that it’s going to take resources, it’s going to take time, it’s going to take money.

We do all the things that the world does, try to count the costs, try to pro and con the list, try to, and it goes on and on.

But we, as Christians, do not have that choice.

It’s very hard for me.

I like to sit in my own home.

I like my own stuff.

I don’t like to be uncomfortable.

This is always a challenge for me.

I know that God has gifted me with certain things, and I need to be involved.

And my nature is to not be.

That may be the case for all of us.

But in order for us to fill this year’s objective, where we’ve started, is to challenge Christian listeners to live sold out for God’s glory.

We must be involved.

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast.