The Christian mission in your fandom.

I'm copying this from a different blog that I post to. Give it a read.

I’ve been in a couple different Christian fandom-oriented groups before. I would stick around for awhile, become a known person in this group, and make a lot of new friends. Once these groups started to face hard times however, I was quick to leave and not really show my face again. From the fallouts of these different ministries, I’ve run out on quite a few different people all because the safe haven created by them came to no longer exist. Or just in general, people changed drastically and I couldn’t cope with it.

This has happened twice to date; instances where I joined a Christian fellowship group for different fandoms online and then abandoned them and the people I met within them. I’ve since then not wanted to get involved with a fandom group / forum / network that had the Christian label on it because I’ve feared dealing with more fallouts.

Something about that, tonight in particular, struck me as very wrong.

If I look back, and I’m honest with myself, I have to say that I was much more interested in being loved because of common interest and calling it Christian fellowship than bearing the burdens of the people around me and equipping others (or being equipped myself) to do legitimate ministry. I wanted to celebrate that I could be a Christian and a huge fan of whatever instead of using what I loved as a platform to disciple people and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ (I’ll get back to that in a moment).

So much of (at least my own) mentality in being involved with a fandom has revolved around being safe, comfortable, loved, and all the while obsessing over whatever it is I’m a fan of.

What exactly is wrong about that state of mind, you may wonder? Simple: It’s a complete waste of your life.

I said it. Read it again. Then buckle up for what’s next.

There is no merit in spending all your time being comfortable and geeking out over whatever floats your boat with a group of people in the supposed name of Jesus. I'm not knocking being in a fandom of any sort, but when all you're about is your fandom and being with people in that fandom, it gets to a point where it isn't Christian fellowship anymore–it turns into idolatry.

I think at this point I’ve probably made somebody angry, and if I haven’t, awesome. Let’s dive into this a little bit more. If a group of people, or you as an individual claim Christ as your Savior, then there are a few things that are true (among many others):

1.) You have been saved by a holy God through the sacrifice of his only son. (Romans 10:9, John 3:16)
2.) You have been given a free gift of grace, and through this have access to a personal, intimate relationship with your Creator. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Ephesians 3:12)
3.) You are called to, by that gift of grace and that relationship, live as a living sacrifice for God (Romans 12:1-2)

And this is a really big one right here:

4.) You are called to go and preach the gospel by which you were saved to all the nations (Romans 10:14-17).

Evangelism should lie at the heart of anyone that claims to follow after Christ, and to tell the truth, that’s scary for me. Terrifying even. I don’t like doing evangelism at all. I don’t like taking the risk of being hated for telling people about Christ, especially when it comes to people that I want to innately like me because I’m into the same stuff that they are.

In the end though, what’s really worth it: Gaining a few friends based on common interest (all the while being afraid to even touch the gospel with a 39 1/2 ft. pole), or gaining real brothers and sisters in Christ based on the truth of the gospel and the salvation we’ll share for eternity?

I struggle with this, and probably will every day… heck, I pray that I do…and that I pray that at the heart of everything that I and my brothers and sisters in Christ do, they strive with all they are to worship God alone, and trust in Him fully for the grace and strength they need to be a light to the people around them… be they otakus, bronies, furries, whovians, or anything else.