Danger

Danger

For some reason, God keeps bring to mind the word, danger.  For months, the word has recurred in my thoughts, as though God were trying to get through to me.

I know that God had called me to more than a life of safety and comfort.  But, for the most part, that’s the life I live.  But he calls me into battle. 

Just this week I stumbled across this hard-hitting quote from missionary martyr Jim Elliot. 

“We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are ‘harmless,’ and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are ‘sideliners’ -- coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!”  --Jim Elliot

And so we dive into Danger at Crossroads. 

There are different kinds of danger.  Some danger we can avoid.  Wisdom leads us to make good decisions and escape this danger.  In Proverbs we read, “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it” (27:12).  Sometimes God calls us to avoid danger.

Other danger we can’t avoid.  We have to face it.  It sneaks up on us and surprises us.  We deal with these kinds of dangers in daily life—from road rage to pink slips.  Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble; but take heart!  I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  Sometimes we must face danger.

Then there is the danger we need to pursue.  “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood,” Paul told the Ephesians, “but against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).  Danger is around the corner for any faithful follower of Jesus.  “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).  Jesus himself went directly into danger, following the Father step by step.  Sometimes God calls us to seek danger.

Here we go.

Avoiding Danger:  Wisdom for Avoiding Trouble

January 10  Trouble with the Government  (Exodus 2)

January 17  Trouble with Sin  (Genesis 19)

January 24  Trouble with Deception  (Colossians 2)

January 31  Trouble with Traps  (Acts 23)

In February, Facing Danger:  Wisdom for Handling Trouble

In March, Seeking Danger:  Wisdom for Making Trouble

A Deeper Christmas

Christmas is for children, folks often say.  It's about toys, Santa, and smiles on children's faces.  It is about giving and receiving.  It is about chilling out in a busy world. 

For some adults, Christmas is about reliving childhood. 
Or it may be about trying to experience what they missed in childhood.  We need to suspend our adult cognition if we want to enjoy Christmas.  Believe in Santa, flying reindeer, and Christmas magic.

Jesus does call us to become like children, trusting fully in the Father.  But his call to childlikeness doesn't mean giggly, air-headed belief in snowmen who come alive.

He wants to bring us to faith that is like a child's in its simplicity, but rich with a knowing wisdom.  This wisdom comes through experience, hardship, frustration, failure and success.  It comes through trial and error.  It comes through prayer and fasting.  It comes through experiential knowledge of the scriptures.

A deeper Christmas experience comes only when we embrace the mystery of the arrival of God himself as a helpless child.  In this child, he continues to reveal himself, as Creator, Master, Shepherd, and Judge. 

Through means that baffle human minds, God himself comes to his hurting, broken creation to restore hope, to unveil the mystery of this creation, and to express his tender love for us.

Unto us a Child is born.

Forgive Me for Praying

When I pray, I feel like I am not accomplishing anything.  I get distracted.  I fail to pray for the obvious concerns, in which I really need God's intervention.  I forget to ask him for wisdom.  My mind wanders.  I fall asleep.  Sometimes I really connect with God, but too often I do not.  Or at least I don't feel like I connect.  Here I am, a man who struggles with narcolepsy, doing work with my eyes closed.  Now that's a recipe for problems.

I believe that prayer is essential to the work of the kingdom of God.  But I feel guilty when I "work" without producing anything.  I would rather put dates on a calendar, make a list of sermon titles, look up words in the original language, even read a book.  Those things look much more productive than prayer.  And I have something to show for it.  That makes me feel better about myself.  It feeds my addiction.

But God tells me over and over that life is all about relationship.  He wants my relationship with him to deepen.  He is much less concerned about my production.  Jesus reminds us that the most important thing in life is to love God with all that we are.

Dallas Willard says that ministry leaders should, above all, live a life of satisfaction in the Lord.  If I am satisfied with Jesus, then life has a whole new electricity.  There is freedom, excitement, and joy all around me, when I'm already satisfied in him.  Production can freely flow, when I'm satisfied in him.

But production is only a byproduct.  When I grit my teeth to produce, I become frustrated, uncreative and dull.  I keep his life from flowing through me.  Prayer is the key to my satisfaction in Jesus, even though it looks unproductive.

But I feed my production addiction, and limit the power and presence of God in my life.  I need to get over feeling guilty about prayer, so I can really be with Jesus.  I can ask him for wisdom, let his power flow, and grow in my satisfaction in him.  Sounds like what Jesus had in mind all along.