Risk

If you want to enter the kingdom of God, you must be like a little child. What does that mean? Childlike how? Trust? What does childlike trust look like?

In a healthy family, a child can know of their parents’ love and nuturing, but when it comes to learning new things like walking, riding a bike, or rollerskating, or whatever the experience is, that child is going to have to experience bumps, bruises, scrapes, scabs and cuts. Why? Because they have to learn. The parents, no matter how much they love them and want to protect them, have to let the child learn. They can offer tips, advice, wisdom and insight, but the child has to do it. The child has to risk something personally to gain the experience.

As an adult, how often do you or I ever have a bruise, bump, scrape or scab? Who do you see wearing the casts-adults or kids? I don’t need to answer those questions for you-you know the answer. But what happens to us? Why do we get more conservative and safe as we get older? (p.s. Please don’t answer “wisdom” on this one…..) As we grow older, we tend to take less risks, we want to be safer and we avoid pain at all costs. Where is that in the Bible?

Moses was 80 when he led Israel out of Egypt. Abraham was almost 100 when he had Isaac, and over 100 when he had to sacrifice him on top of Moriah. David probably didn’t become king of all of Israel until he was at least 30, and some scholars suggest closer to 40. And after he became king, he went on to do even more great things!

Why do we play it safe the older we get? And why do we love movies of heroism and greatness (Braveheart and Gladiator, just to name a couple), but at the same time, we are too afraid to pursue anything risky? I think it is rooted in some hidden fear that Satan puts in our hearts. Can you imagine what the Kingdom of God would look like if it was led by an army of grown-ups who have the resources and the wisdom of age, but also the risk-taking trusting heart of a child? The earth would tremble.

The irony is that we want safety and security, but that’s the one thing God never promised. The beautiful promise of God involved His faithfulness and that He wouldn’t leave us or forsake us. The things we do in life that seem adventurous take some risk: Rock climbing, water skiing, surfing, investing….. What about living for God? When did that become safe?

If living for God is supposed to be the greatest “adventure” of all (thank you, Steven Curtis), then what are we risking? And if we can’t think of a good answer to that, then are we truly living the kind of life that Christ taught us in the New Testament?

We study and follow a book full of true accounts of people who lived risky unsafe lives, and yes, they sometimes screwed up. But how can we claim to follow God and not live the same kind of life?