Happy fall yall!
If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Amber, and I’m the director of SoulfulMOTION. If this is your first newsletter, you better buckle up… it’s gonna be a bumpy read for many of you. In October, I typically write about something that aligns with what’s happening in the world. And we’re in October, so Halloween, scaries, and fall are typically on the list.
So, here we go.
First, I have a question for you: Are you scared?
Like really… Are you scared?
There’s so much about the world that we live in right now that feels scary. To start, I’m a black woman, and I’m the leader of a Christ-centered fitness ministry called SoulfulMOTION Fitness… and that’s scary to me right now. Right now, people are so divided, Christians as well, that it doesn’t even seem as though we live in the same reality. What’s even scarier, is that we don’t seem to even believe in the same Jesus that we all proclaim to serve. Like our bibles are telling us two different things. People struggle to have a genuine conversation with another person, without judging each other, putting up their prideful shields, and determining whether or not they’re “good” or “bad” based on if they’re left or right, black or white, gay or straight, etc. I truly believe that the last days are near. And,
This.
Is.
Scary.
In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus speaks about the future, as he tells the disciples about the end times. He says:
10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.
11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.
12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.
13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24: 10-13, NLT)
Seems like we’re currently living in verses 10-12 right now, but specifically verse 12.
It’s because we’re all triggered.
I came across a sermon series by Michael Todd recently. And although he can be controversial to some, I thought this message was so incredibly true. As a people, our capacity to engage with people who are different from us is extremely low, and this makes it difficult to complete God’s calling on our own lives individually and for the Kingdom, as we all think our way is “right”. Listening to Michael’s message was incredibly hard. I’ve recently had more and more thoughts of quitting SoulfulMOTION. Just being done. It’s too hard to do this work with people who:
- Don’t want to understand other people’s perspectives
- Have and live a one sided gospel
- Preach their Christianity, but are racist and don’t know it
- Can’t empathize with people live differently than themselves
I had had enough of people.
But this sermon really broke me.
Mike says that “Our lack of emotional capacity is shrinking our calling.” Whoa. This is me. And this is you. This is us, as a country.
People no longer have the emotional capacity to even sit with someone and have a conversation about our differences. So how can we expect to make change for the Kingdom of God? God’s call to us is to go and make disciples of ALL THE NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy spirit (Matthew 28:19). How can we do so when we don’t even have the capacity to speak and say hello.
If I were to quit SoulfulMOTION, I wouldn’t be obedient to God’s call on my life. And if I never grow and mature in my emotional capacity, SoulfulMOTION will not grow, and be what God has in store for it. My hard truth: I have hindered the growth of SoulfulMOTION because I don’t want to always engage with people who don’t understand the hardships of black and brown people. I want what’s comfortable. I want to be around people who understand that there’s a war going on and people are starving. I want to be around people who understand that regardless of your sexual identity, you are STILL GOD’S CREATION, and JESUS LOVES YOU. I don’t want to go past Alpine because I think people are racist and know nothing about black people (my own biases).
We (including me) HAVE to be able to welcome people in, regardless of our own triggers and lack of maturity, in order to bring people to Christ. Isn’t that the point of being Christlike?
Unless you are Jesus himself, your own biases have triggered some type of response to what is happening in America, and around the world today. However, I challenge you to grow in this season, as hard as it is. And believe me… I know. Some people may not even want to be a part of this commUNITY anymore because this newsletter was too triggering. And that’s okay. It just means their heart posture wasn’t ready for growth and maturity in Christ.
Hebrews 6:1-3 says, “So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding (NLT).” YOU ALREADY KNOW THIS STUFF.
It’s time for us to grow, and keep our thoughts on maturity in Christ, so that we can do his will for the Kingdom of Heaven. “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and REASONED as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11, NLT). It is childish for “Christians” to think that we do not need to continue the hard work of love, fellowship, and engaging with people who don’t look or think like us. It’s the hardest thing that I ever have to do, but if this is the hardship that I have to endure to be in right standing with God, I’m good.
I thank God for this word in these scary times. And grateful that I’ve learned that if you never do anything hard, you’ll always be weak.
SoulfulSQUAD, will you challenge yourself to grow in your emotional capacity and maturity, as you watch the world around you getting crazier and scarier? For two things can be true at the same time: God’s word is truth and love, AND we all THINK we are being like Jesus. We’re just people, and we get it wrong all the time. Now I’m NOT telling you to go somewhere and allow people to spit hateful rhetoric at you. But I am challenging you to meet someone new at SoulfulMOTION. Talk to someone, ask them where they’re from, what brought them here, etc. The more that we are able to communicate, the better off we will be as a commUNITY. Our diversity is our strength, and I’m praying that one day the world understands this as we look to disciple ALL NATIONS. I’m grateful that SoulfulMOTION is a little slice of heaven’s diversity here on earth.
I pray that you are blessed.
I pray that the Holy Spirit convicts you where needed.
I pray that you feel God’s love more than ever as you learn to mature, because he loves you.
I pray that you develop the emotional capacity and maturity to go where God has called you to go.
And know that this message is just as much for me, because I’m just a person with feelings.
Thank you for your continued support and grace.
And I hope that you don’t quit on me and SoulfulMOTION…
Because I won’t quit on you.
Blessings.
