Risky Business

Risk-free living...it's what we seem to be in pursuit of in America today. We want the government to take care of us from the cradle to the grave...we load up our lives with "safety features" designed to protect us from every perceived danger...we buy things from those who promise a "money back guarantee if not satisfied." It's as if risk is the greatest enemy we face.

When it comes to following Jesus, though, there always seems to be risk involved. I'm reading in Luke for my daily quiet time right now and today my reading took me through Luke 21. Listen to what Jesus says...

"...they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name...You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me."     Luke 21:12-17

Sounds like pretty risky stuff, doesn't it? Even though I haven't experienced those kinds of risks, I have learned that following Jesus always involves some kind of risk. When we started NHC it was a HUGE risk. Susan, Heather and I left a comfy position at a large, growing church. That means we left behind our only source of INCOME! We came to a community that had a record of being a tough place to plant a church. (The year we started we counted 8 other churches who were trying to start at the same time. We're the only one still standing!) We didn't know anyone here and the only place we had to meet was in a dirty hotel ballroom where we had to clean up the beer glasses and cigarette butts from the night before.

But we knew God had called us to Durham to plant this church. We took the risk because we couldn't shake the sense of God's calling. We took the risk because we knew God would provide. We took the risk because we knew we could trust Him and he's proven himself over and over and over.

So what is God calling you to do?
    • Start a new business?
    • Join a new ministry team?
    • Step up to a leadership position?
    • Put Him first with a full tithe?
    • Change your major?
    • Stay home with the kids?
    • Join or lead a Community Group?

Maybe what God is calling you to do doesn't make sense. When is the last time God asked you to do something that made sense?

Maybe you don't have all your questions answered. When is the last time God answered all your questions before he asked you to obey?

I'm convinced God is not in the business of taking the risk out of living. In fact, I think he leads us into risky propositions to put us in faith territory.

So what risky business is God leading you into? More on this tomorrow... 

Comments

[Jan]

Wow-I am not sure what prompted you to jump into this topic, but it was sure timely for me. I am smack dab in the midst of a situation at work where I am being asked to take a risky step that just doesn't make a whole lot of sense, except for the fact that I am well aware that God put me here and I have seen no evidence that He is leading me anywhere else to do anything else. I must have said 50 times yesterday some variant of "this is crazy" or "this makes absolutely no sense." God, with His clear, detailed and magnificant plan laid out before Him, is probably just chuckling away! Thanks Dave-I needed that!