No one wants to be him.

Did you watch The Band of Brothers? Then you know exactly who I am talking about…Captain Sobel. You see, when we are first introduced to Captain Sobel he is a tough no nonsense company commander who is responsible for shaping up one of the best companies of airborne troops to date. But as the series wore on he turned out to be inept in the field. In fact, he became so distrusted that his men refused to follow him. He was not welcome in the band of brothers.

Nobody wants to be Captain Sobel. Nobody wants to be left out.

But many of us come into church feeling like we are one vote away from elimination...why is that?

Why do we sometimes feel that we are on the fringe at church. And I am not talking about the clothes you wear, or the car you drive, or any of that stuff. I mean you just feel like you have nothing in common with the rest of these people in the room.

In 1 John 1:1-4 the apostle John is reminding his readers that there is only one way to have eternal life. It is through Jesus Christ. John says that when you go to the “source” of eternal life you will find real fellowship with others who also at the source. So the question is….are you connected to the source? Church may be a lot of things but at its core it really can be only one thing, a community of people who are trusting Jesus Christ for eternal life.  Don’t confuse the programs of the church for the reason the church exists.

You don’t have to be Captain Sobel. You don’t have to fear being cut from the team a few minutes before you are sent into battle. You can be part of the band of saints who follow hard after Jesus Christ. Just make sure you are connected to the source of eternal life.

Community Question:

How can churches engage those on the fringe of their church communities?