Stand

“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.”  1 Corinthians 16:13

Standing sometimes causes me trouble with editors and the authors whom I edit. I will have a scene in which Joe is sitting in his favorite chair. A sentence or two later I say he walked across the room to look out the window. Editors will object because I don’t tell the reader he stood up first. Authors object when I cut out their reference to Joe standing. I maintain that Joe cannot walk without standing and everybody knows that. Like Joe, Christians cannot begin their journey of faith until they stand, and standing is one of those Christian things that are simple to say but not always as simple to do.

Think about what has to happen for a person to stand. First, there must be something solid beneath you upon which to plant your feet. How firm a foundation are you trying to stand on? Jesus said, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock…” (Matthew 7:24). The foundation is not solid because you heard it’s solid. It’s solid because you’ve tested it.

A person must then get themselves upright. In my stories, I do tell that a character stood, if how they managed to stand conveys a message of its own. Was it a struggle requiring all their strength? Did they leap to their feet ready to do battle? Two temptations are common to man. When knocked down, it’s easier to stay down, and when an object is at rest it tends to remain at rest. Standing means leaving a place of comfort for one of trial.

Rising to stand requires motivation that produces effort. We used to sing for people to stand up and tell it if they loved the Lord. In many people, that started an internal war between love and fear. Victory was determined by which motivation won out. Only the Lord and the person fighting the battle knew the answer.

Standing fast asks of us persistence and consistency. Christians may be losing their desire for both. One of the most valuable attributes anyone can have is to simply show up every day. If that is lacking today it is because the church has taught people showing up is no longer necessary. The church, as a body, refused to stand fast by its word. By our actions, we delivered the message that all the faith and fellowship Christians needed was available on Facebook and television. It is surprising how fast and how well people learned.

Standing, as we have seen, is an action. We are not born into the faith standing up. It is a deliberate act of faith. When asked, we are expected to express our faith and tell people where we stand. However, we must never forget that faith without works is dead being alone.

Maranatha