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A Genuine Group of Believers
When I went off to start my freshman year at the University of California at Berkeley, I had many fears. The biggest fear was that I would leave God, my relationship with Him, and that I would forsake my fellow brothers and sisters who loved the Lord. I had this fear because I knew that growing up in a Christian family did not guarantee that I would pursue the Lord when I leave home for college. I came to know the Lord at a very young age. In phases of my teenage years it seemed as if I was burning in spirit, zealously loving the Lord (Romans 12:11), having fellowship with other believers, and reading His Word. However, despite the access to Christ available in my house, I naturally took all of it for granted. I cannot deny that I had experienced the life of God and have had intimate prayers with Him, but somehow, somewhere along the line, I lost sight of the Lord. I began to pursue my own interests, absolutely void of the Lord's loving presence, and got deeper and deeper into the pleasures of this empty world.
This was my condition at the point of entering college. I got accepted to the University of California at Berkeley, a very liberal, intellectually stimulating university. In other words, it was a very dark place to live for four years. So I prayed desperately that somehow the Lord would restore my love for Him and my heart to seek Him. Futhermore, I prayed that I would find a group of genuine believers who only loved Christ and His church. Well, to make this short, the Lord answered my prayers and got me in contact with the believers meeting in the local church. These people were genuine lovers of Christ. They didn't rely on gimmicks, but rather they simply opened their homes and their normal, healthy families to me. For four long, arduous years while at UC Berkeley these families in the local church poured out their love and care for me. The thing is, they didn't do it just to make me feel comfortable being so far away from home, nor did they care for me just to increase their “membership”. No, they did it simply to lead me to Christ, to enjoy Christ, and help me to love Him through their shepherding. It was ultimately me who saw how enjoyable Christ is; and it was me who realized that the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee has really only one concern: that Christ would grow in me. I also realized that for Christ to grow in me is not just for me, but rather for His church, His Bride, to be prepared for His return in that day. Now I no longer fear losing sight of the Lord because I have found a group of believers who are not blindly following each other or traditions and customs. They, and I, are followers of Christ for His church.
P.C. | Back to List
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