Not called to be safe
Let’s not waste our time on silly risks but plan great adventures.
“Is—is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion, the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh,” said Susan, “I thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king I tell you.”
—Excerpt from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the third book in The Chronicles of Narnia.
Like Lucy, we follow a King who is not “safe,” but good. Thus we are called to a life that is not necessarily safe, because of our identity with Christ.
This doesn’t mean looking for danger or taking foolish risks, such as letting first-time visitors serve in the nursery or giving a convicted white-collar felon the job of church treasurer. As a church, we avoid unnecessary risks, both to people and to resources.
Church elders—those “who direct the affairs of the church well” (1 Timothy 5:17)—surely must take reasonable precautions with both policies and insurance to protect the ministry. So we have security check-in for our early childhood department, order criminal background checks for new leaders, engage in an annual audit to protect our financial integrity, and require that all office doors have windows that remain unobstructed during appointments.
However, if we are averse to all risk, we won’t truly be obeying Jesus’ call to discipleship and will have a tragically anemic ministry. “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).
Rather than looking for death-defying risks (although we need be ready if God brings them our way), let’s start by taking more serious spiritual risks, by being known in our communities and our country as those who take great leaps in order to live out Jesus’ agenda. That might include opening our homes to at-risk children, giving financially until it hurts or releasing our best leaders to plant a church in a spiritually needy area.
True, we might experience loss. We might be taken advantage of or ridiculed. But, oh, what amazing adventures we will have as together we step out in obedience and watch God do His work.
Just as the farmer takes a risk when he plants the seed in hope of a crop, so we must invest ourselves for the advance of the gospel.
Just as the farmer takes a risk when he plants the seed in hope of a crop, so we must invest ourselves for the advance of the gospel. We can’t let every potential danger hold us back. “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks to the clouds will not reap” (Ecclesiastes 11:4).
We don’t know the consequences of our obedience; we only know whom it is we are following. Consider Paul’s example. He accurately predicted to the Ephesian elders: “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me” (Acts 20:22, emphasis added).
Of course, there is an eternal reward: “Rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13). And: “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12).
But there is also joy right here, right now. When we always play it safe, we miss the exhilaration of seeing God do in us what we could never imagine doing and would surely fail at, in our own strength. Rather, let’s, like David, look at the giants before us, and say, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? . . . The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:26,37).
Do we see that it is not our disability but God’s ability that we trust as we see opportunity to serve? “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13).
What risks will we take for the sake of the gospel? In the Cooperstown of the Bible, Hebrews 11, the list of God’s greatest servants introduces each with the words, “by faith,” and describes both great victory and great suffering. This is the normal Christian life—not silly risk-taking but walking the path of obedience on an adventure with Jesus.
Tom Macy pastors Faith Church in Indianapolis and is chairman of the EFCA Ministerial Association. He is excited about Faith’s role every Tuesday night in teaching English to nearly 200 internationals in the community around the church, involving more than 80 volunteers. He recommends John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life, especially Chapter 5: “Risk Is Right— Better to lose your life than to waste it.”
Not Called to Be Safe
“IS—IS HE A MAN?” ASKED LUCY.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion, the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh,” said Susan, “I thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king I tell you.”
—Excerpt from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the third book in The Chronicles of Narnia.
Like Lucy, we follow a King who is not “safe,” but good. Thus we are called to a life that is not necessarily safe, because of our identity with Christ.
This doesn’t mean looking for danger or taking foolish risks, such as letting first-time visitors serve in the nursery or giving a convicted white-collar felon the job of church treasurer. As a church, we avoid unnecessary risks, both to people and to resources.
Church elders—those “who direct the affairs of the church well” (1 Timothy 5:17)—surely must take reasonable precautions with both policies and insurance to protect the ministry. So we have security check-in for our early childhood department, order criminal background checks for new leaders, engage in an annual audit to protect our financial integrity, and require that all office doors have windows that remain unobstructed during appointments. However, if we are averse to all risk, we won’t truly be obeying Jesus’ call to discipleship and will have a tragically anemic ministry. “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Rather than looking for death-defying risks (although we need be ready if God brings them our way), let’s start by taking more serious spiritual risks, by being known in our communities and our country as those who take great leaps in order to live out Jesus’ agenda. That might include opening our homes to at-risk children, giving financially until it hurts or releasing our best leaders to plant a church in a spiritually needy area.
True, we might experience loss. We might be taken advantage of or ridiculed. But, oh, what amazing adventures we will have as together we step out in obedience and watch God do His work.
Just as the farmer takes a risk when he plants the seed in hope of a crop, so we must invest ourselves for the advance of the gospel. We can’t let every potential danger hold us back. “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks to the clouds will not reap” (Ecclesiastes 11:4).
We don’t know the consequences of our obedience; we only know whom it is we are following. Consider Paul’s example. He accurately predicted to the Ephesian elders: “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me” (Acts 20:22, emphasis added).
Of course, there is an eternal reward: “Rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13). And: “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12).
But there is also joy right here, right now. When we always play it safe, we miss the exhilaration of seeing God do in us what we could never imagine doing and would surely fail at, in our own strength. Rather, let’s, like David, look at the giants before us, and say, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? … The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:26,37).
Do we see that it is not our disability but God’s ability that we trust as we see opportunity to serve? “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13).
What risks will we take for the sake of the gospel? In the Cooperstown of the Bible, Hebrews 11, the list of God’s greatest servants introduces each with the words, “by faith,” and describes both great victory and great suffering. This is the normal Christian life—not silly risk-taking but walking the path of obedience on an adventure with Jesus.
Tom Macy pastors Faith Church in Indianapolis and is chairman of the EFCA Ministerial Association. He is excited about Faith’s role every Tuesday night in teaching English to nearly 200 internationals in the community around the church, involving more than 80 volunteers. He recommends John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life, especially Chapter 5: “Risk Is Right— Better to lose your life than to waste it.