Life Alert®

If you’ve ever watched any TV, you have very likely heard this phrase, “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”®  It’s the phrase registered to Life Alert®, a company that provides a way for people at risk of suddenly becoming disabled while alone to contact emergency services.  The service is primarily targeted to seniors at risk of stroke or heart attacks.  When they fall and can’t get up, all the subscriber has to do is press the button on their device and emergency services will be dispatched.

I think there are a lot of others that could use a service like this too.

How often do we see a sports team do well all season, just to fall apart in the playoffs?  They stood together all season, but ultimately fell apart under pressure at the end.

How often do we see families start out strong, but eventually fail?

How often do we see an organization or company fall apart and close shop?

There are countless examples of times when a group of people, whether a sports team, a family, or an organization may have started out strong, but ultimately failed.

You’ve probably also heard a quote by Aesop written many, many years ago.  It was true then, it is true now, and it will be true in years to come:  “United we stand.  Divided we fall.”

Sports teams fail.  Organizations fail.  Families fail.  Simply put, any group of people put together for any reason is subject to failure.  Each may succeed for a time.  Each may thrive for a time.  However, in many cases, each can also fail or fall apart.

Why?  Just as Aesop said, if we are divided we will fall.  Put any group of people together and eventually someone is going to start to think differently and that rift in the structure of the group can not only cause it to fall apart, but can also cause it to loose effectiveness and integrity.  I don’t believe that is cause for doubting the intention of the group or the purpose, but rather a symptom of humankind.

Would you be interested in joining a group that had dissemination among its ranks?  Would you like to be a girl scout if all the girls in your group were self serving and snotty?  Would you join a team or organization if you knew they weren’t a cohesive group?  Would you want to be part of a family that wasn’t working well together, but was comprised of selfish people?

We all fail, don’t we?  None of us is perfect and so we are all at risk of being the person that brings the group down.  In the examples I have shared here, it has become acceptable for failure to occur.  We even expect it because we have learned that no group can stand strong together forever.  Don’t you agree?

There is one group, however, that receives a terrible amount of scrutiny because of this natural, human flaw.  The Church.  Those who follow Jesus are supposed to be so perfect aren’t they?  It seems that there is no excuse for human flaws in this group, and yet there are.  We are all only human after all, aren’t we?

The problem with division in the church is that the world looks at us Christians as a bunch of screw ups just like they would the girl scout group or the team or organization that fails.  Why would anyone want to be a part of that?  Even worse is that many Christians become so arrogant and boastful, but then a moment later fail.  When they fail (and we all will), the integrity seems to be gone.

Even Jesus had something to say about division in Matthew 12:25, “But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.’”


Do you ever wonder why it has been so hard to convince others of God’s love, His truths, and goodness?  It’s simple.  God and His love are perfect and yet, as His representatives, we are far from it.  How many kinds of Christian churches are there today anyway?  Too many.  Many churches have taken the Holy Bible and plucked from it only what they want to believe or what they want to hear.  This has formed religion and religion is counter to what Jesus taught us.  Did Jesus say we need to say a certain prayer a hundred times before He would hear it?  Did Jesus say there was any other way to eternal life in Heaven except through Him?  And yet there are Christian religions that have taken the Truth and tweaked it to fit their needs and their comfort zones.

For anyone reading this, I want to apologize on part of all of us Christians who have failed to live up to what we are supposed to be and to what God has called us to do.  We are human and we are flawed, and we fail.  People are people:  good and bad.  For me, all I can say is that I believe in the entire Holy Bible.  I don’t subscribe to religion, but rather to the Truth and to growing closer in my relationship with Jesus.  The Truth was written plainly for us, but people have messed it up, and I have messed it up.  As I wake up each morning, my goal is to practice being a better follower of Jesus than I was the day before and not to condemn anyone else for being a failure too.

Despite failures on sports teams, families, or organizations, people still find a way to believe in them.  I pray tonight as I write this that people will find a way to look past our failures and our divisions and believe in Jesus too.

If we remain divided we will fall.  If, as Christians, we can come together and let religion go, then we can come one step closer to standing, and if we can do that, then those around us will see that being a follower of Jesus isn’t such a bad thing after all.  Don’t be a proud and arrogant Christian.  Don’t be a religious Christian.  Be real.  Be honest.  Be humble.  It is ok not to be perfect and it is ok to let others see that.  The Father may see us as perfect through what Jesus did, but people on Earth will not.

Today, wake up and be a good example to those around you and work to bring the church back together.  Love, forgive, and be kind.  When you fall, pick up the Bible and learn how to be stronger.  Let God’s word be your Life Alert® button.