WHY BEING A "GOOD" CHRISTIAN MIGHT BE DANGEROUS

I couldn't believe they wouldn't let me go. My High School church youth group was going on a missions trip to Mexico and my parents said it was too dangerous. There were reports in the news of child abductions, gang violence, and other general bad stuff that parents guard against. But I still found it difficult to understand why they wouldn't allow me to go on a "Church Missions Trip." While that was a long time ago, I have never forgotten it. Before I go on, please know that I recognize that my parents had a responsibility to keep me safe and were authorities that God had placed in my life. That being said, I think they unintentionally taught me the wrong lesson. They valued my safety above all else.

But they aren't the only ones. Most of us value safety and security higher than almost everything else in life-and while this includes physical safety, it also relates to job security, relationships, and other aspects of our day to day lives. We make decisions all the time based on if it is "safe" or not. This tendency is prevalent in our work lives as well. We may decide to bring up a contentious issue with the boss only if we think it will not back-fire on us; sometimes we will not bring it up even if we know that withholding the information may be bad for the organization as a whole. Many of us have workaholic tendencies and sacrifice time with family (or other responsibilities) because we fear what might happen if we don't finish a certain task on time. Others avoid saying or doing anything that might show we are Christians because we are afraid people might be offended, think we have some kind of religious bias, or cause people to lose respect for us in some way.

Unfortunately for us, God does not agree with our sentiment that safety should come first...at least not the same way we do. Matthew 10:28 tells us not to fear those who can kill our bodies but to instead fear the one who determines the eternal state of our souls. This blatant disregard for our temporal safety shouldn't surprise us though. After all, Jesus himself came to earth with the plan of getting himself killed. In fact, I Peter 2:21 says that we should follow the example Christ set when he suffered and died for us. Suffering like Jesus did doesn't sound very safe to me. Yet, his disciples did follow his example and proclaimed the gospel until it literally got them killed. Jesus never rescinded his teaching to follow and obey him, even if it leads to danger, pain, suffering, or even death. Yet, I and many of you act like the "wisdom" of safety and security somehow Biblically trumps our obligation to follow the literal teaching of Christ. Let that sink in.    

So what should you do about this safety fallacy? I suggest starting with how you think; next time you realize you are making a decision because it is the safe thing to do, ask yourself if it is also the right thing to do. Or perhaps you are thinking of something right now that you are being "safe" about but not "obedient" to God about. If that is the case, I suggest you make a decision right now; it may make life more dangerous but at least you will have peace knowing that you chose to follow God.

Can you imagine how free and empowered you would feel if you were able to make Godly decisions, despite their danger? God has called us to be courageous and we who know Christ are now heirs to his kingdom, even if we suffer danger and death before arriving there.    

Written By: Jonathan N, April 25, 2016

To ensure you don't miss future posts, subscribe by entering your email address into the block labeled "follow by email" on the top right hand side of this page.    

Did you miss these recent posts:

DO YOU TRUST GOD ENOUGH TO LIVE LIKE IT?

DO YOU EFFECTIVELY LOVE AND INFLUENCE THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH?

HOW DO YOU SPIRITUALLY PREPARE FOR A NEW CHAPTER IN LIFE?

COULD YOUR DIET BE A WAY TO MINISTER AT WORK? MINE WAS

Image courtesy of graur razvan ionut at FreeDigitalPhotos.net