“On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret…”

Luke 5:1

It was almost eerie. We were out—which we had been already, but most people were still anxious and respecting space. Not on this night. We were packed in like sardines. The auditorium was packed. Deanna and I were there to listen and support our Emery as she participated in the tri-county honors chorus. Hundreds of middle schoolers from the region gathered to sing their hearts out and blow us away with their talent. It was an awesome night, and our girl did amazing.

But the most surreal aspect of the evening was the crowd. This was the first big space we had been in that was filled to capacity with people since the COVID pandemic began. There was no social distancing going on this night. Parents were clamoring over one another to get good seats for the show. The place was packed. It was a little unnerving. And not because I was worried about the pandemic—it had very little to do with that piece. It was unnerving because it had been a couple of years since I had been in a room with over 1,000 people. It had been a minute since I was one of the crowd. It felt foreign.

What was your first experience, post-pandemic, with a crowd of 1,000 or more people? What was it like? Were you anxious or unnerved?

Since that night, I’ve been in a few crowds. But not nearly as many as prior to the pandemic. It might be my age, and it might be from the residual of the “stranger danger” messages that COVID brought to us all. Regardless, crowds don’t interest me as much anymore.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in crowds. Sporting events and concerts. Conferences and graduations. Being in the crowd is part of life—it’s part of the human experience. And I’d argue that it is part of the fullness of your faith expression as well. It is powerful, formational, and important for your soul to experience a faith-focused event with at least 1,000 other people at some point in your journey. Large crowds singing praise and hearing the Word of God together do something to your spirit that the same experience with one to two hundred people just doesn’t accomplish.

In fact, there is an entire study of faith experiences that articulates the fullness of spaces and people within the journey with Jesus. Proxemics is about studying space and communication and the way that people interact in four distinct physical spaces: intimate, personal, social, and public spaces. It’s how we all know the proper way to act in the grocery store and why you can turn around and celebrate with strangers in the stadium at the big game. It defines why you are comfortable sharing your darkest secret with the smallest group and how you move from being acquaintances to becoming friends. These spaces impact every human as we navigate life. Laying this filter over your faith explains why it is important to have interactions in these spaces for the fullest of your faith experience. Discipleship triads; life groups, mission teams, and Bible studies; worshipping communities; and arena conferences—all of them play a role in your overall journey. A simple inventory is to assess how connected you are to these different spaces and to make a plan to grow in an area you are lacking.

Back to the crowds… If you have not encountered Jesus with thousands of others in the same room,seek out an opportunity to do so. Worshipping Jesus in the crowd stirs something.

And…

The crowd isn’t enough. The crowd is the entrance; it’s the starting line. You can’t remain in the crowd. Jesus invites you to step closer. He invites you to move from the mass of people to the meat of meeting Him. His invitation to you is to join His team. While His team has billions of teammates, the miracle of Jesus is that He invites you into His squad—and His squad is never crowded. You are not one of the masses when you walk with Jesus. You are one of the marked. Marked by Christ. Marked with Mercy. Marked for Mission. Jesus invites you to step out of the crowd and into the mystery of being His disciple.

Today’s verse begins with a crowd. As chapter 5 continues, Jesus encounters Simon Peter and calls His first disciples. In these verses, there is a crowd and there are a few. All are invited to hear Jesus’ teaching. Come and hear. Come and see. Get a taste of all He offers. But don’t stop there. You are invited into the deeper water. You are invited to draw close. To engage.

Jesus never condemned those who wanted to learn as they sat in the crowd. But, neither did Jesus use the crowd sitters to change the world. Abundant life—His promise for you—is part of walking with Him.

It is scary to step out from the crowd. When you are one of the masses, you can hide. Hiding from the light often feels like a safe move—no one wants to be exposed. No one wants their worst revealed to anyone, let alone the Lord. Why? Because the world often leverages our worst to hold us back and keep us down. The world is brokered on weaknesses and strengths, and we are all programmed to hide our brokenness so we are not abused. It’s why the crowd is comfortable. It’s why it was more comfortable to be a wallflower at the school dance. It’s why we work hard to not be noticed in new situations. It’s why we all struggle with imposter syndrome—we don’t want others to learn the truth. Staying in the crowd seems safe.

But you were made for more. And Jesus doesn’t play the same games as this fallen world. The invitation into His light is not to gain an edge over you. His few are invited in to be a part of something more. Something bigger. Something world-changing.

So, how do you step out of the crowd into the marked? For starters, read the rest of the Scripture for today’s verse: Luke 5:1-11. Your story is different than Simon Peter’s. But, your story is the same. Put yourself in Simon Peter’s shoes and listen to Jesus.

When was a time you stepped away from the crowd and into something more?