So, I will confess that reading Chasing the Lion (the Bible study taken from Mark Batterson's In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day) has not brought out the most comforting thoughts since thus far it has centered on the risks God has called us to. This morning I was reading the parable of the talents from Matthew 25. You know, the one where the Master gives the first servant 5 talents, the second 2, and the third one. And then he goes away. Each of the servants had to decide what to do with what had been entrusted to them. The first two invested it wisely and doubled what they had been given. The last, well, he buried it to "keep it safe." When the master returned, he was thrilled with what the first two had accomplished. He said "well done!" and he trusted them with more because of their faithfulness. The last one though ... he was furious with. He asked why he hadn't at least put it in the bank so it would have earned interest. And he took his one talent (about 20 years' wages) and gave it to the first servant ... called the last servant "worthless" and threw him out. YIKES. I think I identify MUCH too closely with the third servant ... the one who played it safe. I probably would have had the wisdom to put it in the bank ... or at least most of it ... but I don't know that I would have taken the risks to multiply it. Same thing with my life some days. I am much more comfortable playing it safe with the gifts God has given me. Support raising or stepping out in faith with no real plan ... well, I just might have to be medicated.
Batterson makes the case that God has called us to take risks with what we've been given. There was no sure return on each servants' investment ... other than maybe putting it in the bank for the little it could/would make. Each investment came with a risk that they could lose it all. However, it appears from this parable that the biggest loss was doing NOTHING! He goes on to say that faithfulness requires RISK. We can't just be faithful NOT to do things we know are bad or wrong. We have to be faithful to DO what God has called us to. Love is risky. Leaving is risky. Relationships are risky. Going is risky. Opening your heart or home ... risky. Opening your mind and heart .. risky.
I just picked up David Platt's new book, Radical ... I know, I know ... I am, pretty sure I know what direction he's going in as well and I'm pretty sure they they are ganging up on me with RISK. Platt says ...
We are giving into serious temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and begin twisting Him into a version of Jesus that we are more comfortable with ...
- a nice middle class Jesus
- a Jesus who doesn't mind material security and would never call us to give away everything we have
- a Jesus who would not expect us to forsake out closest relationships so that He receives all our affection
- a Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, who for that matter wants us to avoid danger altogether.
- a Jesus who is fine with a devotion from us that does not infringe on our comforts, because after all He loves us all just the way we are.
Hmmmmmmmm ...been playing the "what if ..." game in my head lately. You know, the one that keeps you up nights thinking, What if ... I never get married, do I still live here away from family? What if ... I DO get married, what do I want to do with my life? stay at home? go back to teaching? What if ...I go back to school? Where would I find the time or money and would it put me any place different than where I am now? What if ... I needed to sell my house ... would it sell right now and what would I do if it didn't? Yeh, told you I'm not a big risk taker ... calculated.
And to be bound to a God who says, leave it all and follow me. Don't wait. Don't say good bye. Don't look back. Do it. Thinking.
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