Life Support - Our Faith: Relational, Authentic, Intentional

By: Seth Andrews

It was my first day on shift and I quickly realized my new career wasn’t going to be easy. I walked into the station, having just given my resignation to my church – I was leaving the “ministry”, for a job as an EMT. There I stood in the station, surrounded by a totally new world.  No longer was I sheltered by the walls of my church office. I was now in a world, where my faith would be challenged daily.

And so from my first shift until today, I find myself in a station or should I say a world, surrounded by profanity, immorality, skepticism, drug and alcohol abuse, depression, divorce, suicides, and burnout. After five years, I’ve come to the realization that the Christian life is often counter to the very culture of our profession as First Responders. I don’t mean that you cannot be a Christian in this environment; what I mean is that it is difficult to maintain a deep and growing faith in the face of the dysfunctional world we see and are submersed within.

It is not a culture where you can easily survive on your own. I discovered this after spending four years drowning in a sea of loneliness, cynicism, and a faith that grew more timid each day - call by call. It wasn’t until I shared my feelings with other Christians on my shift that I realized it was time to challenge the culture and to seek to change the culture around me. But this isn’t the sort of thing one person can acomplish alone.

Christianity is relational. God created us to be relational from the very beginning.  In Genesis 2:18 God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Mankind exists for community and relationship. Since this is true, I find that we as believers cannot thrive in a secular culture without being in relationship with other followers of Christ.

You may be having regular devotions and prayer time, even reading the Scripture between calls… This is a good spiritual discipline we all must have. But what I have found is that it is simply not enough. I need to be engaged with co-workers who keep me accountable and who encourage me to work toward Christ-likeness. I currently am developing a group of co-workers that plan to spend time together off shift. We want to spend time sharing our faith, studying Scripture and encouraging one another in ways that help us live out our faith in the First Responder culture.

Christianity is also relational in that we are called to win others to Christ. If we want to see a cultural transformation in the First Responder community, then we must introduce Christ to our community. I think it is easier for us to do the old “invite your partner to church” than it is to seriously engage them in a spiritual discussion.

Often we find ourselves spending at least 1/3 of our lives with our co-workers, yet never engaging them in a relationship or conversation that goes beyond the job, sports, or hobbies. We rarely, if ever, get to the spiritual and emotional level. However, God calls us to build bridges and relationships. These relationships should be intentional and authentic.  We must open ourselves up spiritually and emotionally to reach our First Responder community. Don’t look to your peers as projects for evangelism. Love them. Invest in them. Build lasting relationships that are genuine and purposeful.

I think God is challenging us as First Responders to not only deepen our faith, but be engaged in our culture. As afore mentioned, Christianity is relational! It is not a faith we live out in solitude. I am challenged each shift to seek out co-workers for the purpose of building Christian community; a network of disciples. I am also challenged to build authentic and intentional relationships with my hurting and lost peers. My faith is no longer a static belief system. My faith is a relational movement of God through my First Responder culture. Is yours? Oh and about me leaving the “ministry” five years ago? I have discovered - I didn’t leave the ministry. I simply found a new one!