My university friends and I were on a short but enjoyable holiday after the semester had ended.

Sitting on the floor of a railway station in Malaysia, I listened, captivated, as my university classmate shared about the significance of his and his brothers’ names.

His parents had chosen their names according to John 14:6 where Jesus proclaimed that He is the way, the truth and the life. So my friend and his brothers had the names, 明道 (Way), 明真 (Truth) and 明生 (Life). The Chinese character “明” was added to signify brightness and light.

I thought those names were beautiful because I’ve personally found it so rare to meet “cradle Christians” (believers raised in a Christian family) in my generation – with a Chinese name and with Biblical meaning as well! So I had been pleasantly surprised to hear that, because throughout our friendship for the last 2 years, I didn’t know he was a Christian.

But then the bomb dropped. “It doesn’t mean anything now. I don’t attend church anymore anyway.”

To be fair, we weren’t considered close friends.

We were just a group of individuals who were thrown together for a class project and had thankfully worked well together. And from there the friendships blossomed. While we would catch up over meals in school occasionally, our conversations had never gone as deep as emotions or spirituality until this trip.

I remember feeling this wave of regret washing over me as the train pulled out of the station and headed for home. I didn’t imagine I’d have such a heavy feeling weighing over me, but I put it down to the sheer nonchalance he bore on his face when he verbally disregarded the destiny His name once called forth.

I also felt regret because I knew I was partly responsible. While he had made a conscious choice to walk away from God, I knew I had the opportunity and responsibility to restore him (Galatians 6:1) to Christ. But in 2 years of knowing him, I didn’t do anything.

I hadn’t pushed deeper in our talks despite having sensed there might have been a chance to have a spiritual conversation. I never asked hard or inconvenient questions when more opportunities came. I just nodded along to the superficial conversations that dominated at lunchtime.

It was as if when I was in school or anywhere outside of church and ministry, I didn’t have to be that Christian.

So where did that leave me? I realised I had been simply compartmentalising my faith.

I was tempted to rationalise that I was not any less a Christian for not having reached out to my friend. Or that my reaching out may not necessarily have stopped his backsliding.

The clearer truth is that I shouldn’t be any less Christian in school than I am in church. What happens in church doesn’t just stay in church. It shouldn’t. The entirety of my life must be lived on the principles of His Word – everything I do must be done to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

So the direct consequence of not living my faith out 24/7 was failing to honour a God who is with me 24/7 – who expects me to be His child and disciple 24/7.

In my wilful disobediences, I saw that I had been compartmentalising my faith. Essentially, there were some aspects of my life I felt the Lord didn’t have to be in. What pride! I was simply relying on my own human strength. I had basically been telling Him, “God, don’t worry about this. I got it covered.”

But none of us have got it covered. And this is the scary part: God has the sovereignty to withdraw His covering or presence from us if He wishes.

I never asked hard or inconvenient questions when more opportunities came. I just nodded along to the superficial conversations that dominated at lunchtime.

In the Old Testament, there are many accounts of the Israelites stubbornly doing wrong in the eyes of the Lord. Yet they would still head into battle against their enemies expecting the Lord to give them victory. Needless to say, they would suffer heavy losses.

So my compartmentalisation simply was a reflection of my prideful and ungrateful self. Yet the Lord was merciful enough to spare me from experiencing those heavy losses, instead restoring me like He did with Israel, time after time.

Living in the wings of such a God, how could I be anything but thankful? And if we are truly grateful, we would want others to share in the eternal blessing we’ve received from God. Faith, hope and love must be shared with everyone around us.

So let us hang tight to Colossians 2:6-7: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

The infinite God cannot be compartmentalised – let’s live in Him and live Him out!