You can’t do this today
You and I have become increasingly aware how easy it is to catch a disease.
Immunity, however? Not so much.
You can’t catch immunity from anyone, but you have to have a strong immune system if want to overcome diseases.
Spiritual. Of course, I’m going to make a spiritual point here.
While people can catch the hope of the Kingdom and glimpses of Jesus in your life, they must be developed into disciples with strong spiritual immune systems.
Jesus prepared His disciples to go into a world full of spiritual pathogens.
Most churches don’t.
The traditional church is not set up to make disciples and the organized institutional setting simply cannot do so. Strong disciples develop through personal mentorship and spiritual coaching.
You cannot take a bottle of something and suddenly have a strong immune system.
Similarly, you cannot read a book or go to a church service and suddenly be spiritually strong enough to face anything.
Immunity develops through a series of wise choices.
The physical human immune system strengthens each day with proper rest, sunlight, life-giving foods, and perhaps supplements that restore areas of previous damage.
If you live in a moldy environment, drink toxic products, and overeat, you cannot expect to be ready to resist the common cold.
I met a young man who went into a spiritually toxic country.
There were no churches or other believers that he knew of.
The internet and other forms of communication were closely monitored, so he could not fellowship much with other believers.
Many believers could not survive months of that, but this young man overcame the oppressive forces and began bringing others into the kingdom.
The Muslim country would have thrown him out if he had held church services or baptized anyone.
When new believers wanted to be baptized, he let them jump in the local pool while he reclined at the edge. They would swim by him and he pushed their heads down, one at a time, calling the name of the Lord over them.
Jesus told his developing trainees, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.”
Living for God is dangerous. We need a strong defense system or we will get chewed up.
Would your faith fail if you were quarantined away from other believers? Or would you build a church right were you were?
Immunity is not a passive system but a very aggressive process. Study it and then see how it all applies spiritually.
What do you think helps strengthen a person’s spiritual immune system? Please share your thoughts!