Where to begin… Where to begin?
I guess I could begin with how most of the students in my
high school disliked me, how most of the students in my high school hated the
arrogant and womanizing manner in which I carried myself, how most of the
students in my high school saw a cocky and flirtatious boy pretending to be a
man. I could start my story with the blatantly arrogant and lustful sinner that
I use to be. I could easily recount my days before college of going to church
on Sunday, leading Bible studies on Wednesdays and lusting after women all the
days in between. I could do it you know, for those days of masquerading as a
man with everything together weren’t that long ago. The pain I inflicted upon
others in my selfishness and the loneliness I inflicted on myself, I could tell
you that story.
But I won’t.
Because for me, my story doesn’t start with a sinner in the
darkness; my story begins when a sinner found himself to be transformed into a
saint by the blood of the Lamb and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
For you see, my story definitely may have a prologue
rivaling in length to the ancient Greek poems, but the real story doesn’t begin
until I found a community of men and women who had been set free from their sin
by the power and love of Jesus. It was through this group of faithful and
loving men and women that I began to gain a deeper understanding of the
character of Jesus, and began to feel a fiery passion inside my heart that the
flames of the Enemy can never extinguish. When I came to Baylor, I had been
walking fairly straight for over 2 years. I even had spent my senior year of
high school leading other students in Bible Study. I had long since given up
the idea of being arrogant or being known as a flirt, but I still was fighting
the feelings of isolation and loneliness. To me, it felt like I was the only
one around for miles that was trying to live a life for the purposes of Jesus.
I was falling to one of Satan’s more subtle tactics: believing a lie.
Coming to Baylor was the fresh breath of community that I
needed. In Life Group for the first time I felt like people cared for me more
than just for my leadership skills. I found more than a community in Life
Group; I found a home. A home that has helped usher me into the presence of God
on a regular basis. While I by no means am perfect, the 2 wonderful and
powerful years that I have surrounded myself with my friends met in Life Group
have drawn me closer to the heart of He who is perfect.
Because of the very tangible love of Jesus that has been shown
to me, I intend to continue my story by church planting in Boulder, Co in order
to show Him to those who have become jaded to the Gospel, and I plan on doing
this in the very same company of men and women who I am with now. The Gospel was
never meant to be solely an experience felt by you and by God, but by the rest
of the world. My experiences being a member and now leading a Life Group have
taught me the importance in laying down your life for the sake of His.
Without community its hard to withstand the waves of the
Enemy
We were created to be refined by one another
If you’re wondering how to stay afloat, then you need to
find a community who will pursue Jesus at all cost.
Even David had his Mighty Men.
Merely,
Chris Gerac
“As
iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17, NIV
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