The Danger of Silos in Your Life

Some people think it’s easy to be a Christian in our culture. I don’t. In fact, for the same reasons some people think being a Christian is “easy,” I find it hard.

I probably should explain.

In the typical American way of thinking, people would define me as:

  • a husband
  • a father
  • a pastor
  • an editor
  • a woodworker
  • a Christian

And all that is true. But if I were living in a country hostile to Christianity, I would be labeled:

  • a Christian

Period. Everything else would be colored by the fact I choose to follow Jesus. Perhaps I would lose my wife or my rights as a father. I might be an unemployed editor. All because of my allegiance to Jesus.

Do you see the difference? In our American culture, being a believer is seen as just another category in my life. A silo. And what makes the Christian life hard is the fact that it is easy to let my relationship to Jesus be just another silo in my life—a part of my life that doesn’t necessarily effect the other silos in my life.

I have several friends on Facebook who often post Bible verses … or praise Jesus for something in their lives … or share some inspirational meme or post that invites you to click AMEN if you agree. Unfortunately, their next post might be a hate-filled rant about Muslims, politics, gun control, or their opinion of Alabama football … or some photo that is “too funny not to share” even though it is demeaning to women.

For them, being a Christian is just one of many silos by which they separate the different parts of their lives. Sad. That is a far cry from the life we are called to live in Christ. We are called to have one silo—our life in Christ—and everything else is to be poured into that single silo.

Catch the singular nature of life as described by the Apostle Paul:

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory…. And whatever you do,whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:3-4,17).

Creating silos with our lives is nothing new. Many Jews returning to Jerusalem after exile did the same thing. Nehemiah was working with the people to restore the walls of Jerusalem; they were working to rebuild the city of God’s temple, the place where God’s glory was to be on display. Building the walls for God’s glory was great, but their treatment of each other was inconsistent with that. They were taking advantage of one another, and that never brings glory to God. They had created silos in their lives, separating their work for God from their treatment of each other. (See Nehemiah 5 to read how Nehemiah led them to change their tune.)

Christian, join me in this: let’s only allow one silo in our lives—that of a faithful follower of Jesus Christ—and let everything else be poured into that one silo. Everything in our lives—and I do mean everything—needs to reflect Jesus Christ and bring honor to Him.

For a printable version: click here.

This post supports the study “Protect” in Bible Studies for Life.

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