Our Main Character Moment
“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” - 1 Corinthians 12:27
“Main Character Moment” is a phrase that has taken Instagram, TikTok, and social media by storm. In essence, it is based on the idea that you, the individual, are taking control of your own life, focusing more on yourself and putting your needs, wants, and desires first. This idea could not be more contradictory to scripture and, frankly, dangerous to our Christian walk.
When we accept the gospel message, not just the ‘ticket to heaven’ soft gospel but the life-to-the-full, transformative gospel message, we give up the right to be the main character of our lives. Jesus and His story became the main character, and our lives the supporting storylines. Suddenly the priority isn’t my life, my career, my ministry. It’s Kingdom life, Kingdom career, Kingdom ministry, etc. It isn’t about how does God fit into all of this but how do I fit into God’s plan and story. The gospel isn’t just your ticket to heaven. It is so much more than that.
I didn’t always have this perspective It took moving to Washington, DC, working as a senior staffer for a member of Congress to teach me that it isn’t about me. It took being face-to-face with the pursuit of power and influence to choose to find a church, to choose to surrender my job, and to choose to follow what the Lord was putting on my heart to do which was to start an intern ministry in a city that has more interns than any other city. The other choice was what the world would have considered success but wouldn’t have fulfilled. Being the main character is fleeting.
As anyone who has been in their career for a while can tell you, many place their identity in their career and what they do from their 9 am to 5 pm. People ask me all the time if I ‘love’ what I do for work. The answer should always be yes, because of how it helps the Kingdom story. I love what I do not because it fulfills me; I love what I do because I get to make the Kingdom known as a supporting character in the amazing story of Jesus. Knowing that my story is a part of the Kingdom story frees me to be truly happy for the successes of others because -news flash- it’s not about me. As a disclaimer, this is not to say that we should neglect ourselves and not take care of ourselves mentally, physically, spiritually, or emotionally. However, we must be cautious of how quickly ‘self-care’ can turn into putting ourselves before the Lord.
We don’t know how our individual storylines end in the grand scheme of the story of God but we take comfort in knowing who wins in the end and who has already won the battle. Revelation 12:10-11 says, And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”
This mindset allows us to surrender our careers, our hobbies, and all aspects of our life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. When we are so in awe of what the gospel has done for us, we seek to do is please Him and support His story. That is how we have our “main character moment.”