Community: Responses to Insecurity (Part 1)

Insecurity sucks. It breeds loneliness and attacks sense of worth. Have you ever felt super excited or passionate to do something, and then you go around your group of friends to tell them, but as you go there, you just can't share anymore? It's like the atmosphere totally shifts and you can sense the lack of care that the others around you have. As a result, you start to doubt yourself, and you think that the thing you were excited and passionate about isn't really that big of a deal.

Community is a double-edged sword. It can either build you up or tear you to pieces. That's why community is such a big deal, and that’s why there is such a battle over experiencing authentic, transformational community.

Like I said previously, for myself, I have become increasingly unsettled by seeing the insecurities, not only in myself, but also, in seeing the insecurities in others. Why? Because if I am insecure and the people that I am around are insecure than we are just hiding away from each other and remaining in isolation - so in truth, we aren't really being a community. This breaks my heart because individually and corporately we are not living up to the fullness that God desires and has in store for us.

What I see in myself and in others is that I become passive and begin to suffer from unbelief. I don't step out into what God has for me because I begin to doubt that what He says will really happen. So with that, I have had two recent revelations.

The first one stems from a devotional reading I had this morning:

If one is to speak mightily for God, then one must walk humbly with God. Courage for Christ is a direct result of security in Christ. Prayer intensifies our fellowship with God. It is in that fellowship that the believer experiences the depth and width and height of the love of God. The Christian can face the gates of hell if he has been before the throne of heaven. Fear flees when one has basked in the perfect love of God.

The part that really rocked me was the part that stated "Courage for Christ is a direct result of security in Christ." Wow! So basically, I am passive and lack courage because I am insecure of who I am in Christ. How is this remedied? By spending time with God of course. But I think we can dig into this thought a little more.

As I was talking to my brother tonight, he said something I found pretty profound. He said that if we don't spend time on something, we become insecure when we actually have to do it. Say for instance playing the piano or any hobby or interest you might have. If you don't spend time playing and practicing the piano, when you actually have to play, you will be insecure playing it because you haven't spent time doing it. We are uncomfortable with the things that we don't do. This goes for people too. If we don't spend time with people, we are less likely to open up to them.

So then how do we think it works with God? Why are we struggling with fear of the impossible? Why don't we believe God for big things? Well, we are insecure of the things that we don't spend time with. If we don't spend time with God, how will we have confidence that He will come through for us.

This revelation really rocked me because I have realized how the enemy has attacked my use of time lately. I have put everything in front of God. As a result, I have increased fear and insecurity because I haven't spend time with God. So instead of growing in faith, I grow in fear because I think we really do fear the unknown.

Which leads me to an interesting quote that I saw tonight as well:

The number one sign of a religious spirit is passivity, and the number two sign is a poverty mindset - Graham Cooke

This quote is so crazy. When we become passive and face unbelief, we have lost our passion and devotion to God. Instead of having a passionate relationship, we fall into the one thing we all want to avoid - a religious, legalistic spirit. But when we don't step into faith, we are passive. When we don't believe that God will show up and do things we live in a mindset of poverty forgetting that we have access to every good thing that the Father has!

My friend Lauren has some amazing things to say on this idea. Why don't we believe what God says? Why do we base our faith on experiences? When we base our faith on experiences, we become insecure because we don't always see good results, and likewise our faith is based on unstable circumstances. But our faith isn't dependent on circumstances. Our faith is in God, who is always faithful and wants to show up more than we want him to show up! Read Lauren's Blog for more profound truths about this:

http://laurennanson.blogspot.com/2009/11/im-confused-but-im-not-budging.html


So the first profound truth for me is that confidence comes from being with and knowing God. We don't believe for big things and don't step out to see the impossible because we haven't had daily revelation of the majesty of God and His profound love for us. But just knowing God and praying is the first step. We still have to actually step out and do it.

This leads me to the second revelation. One of the most profound truths I have realized in my life is this idea that we have a God-sized vacuum in our life and we have a people-sized vacuum. We can't substitute one for the other. We need to have both. So when it comes to community, we need each other to combat the insecurity we face day to day.
In my next blog, I will examine the ways that people influence the way we experience God and ourselves.