Appropriate Kingdom Risk

Although materialism may be at the core of the issue, it seems to me that most Christians today are afraid to risk for the God's Kingdom. I'm not talking about being stupid or foolish, but honest to goodness "leaps of faith" that move a culture of "easy believism believers" to act on what they claim to believe. Certainly, much of the inaction is simply from immaturity and spurious doctrine. But as Christians become more biblically and theologically grounded, there should be an obvious pattern of risk taking based on those strong foundations. Mature Christians should simply be risk takers who get beyond their basic, human fears and follow the example of Jesus regardless of the perceived loss. "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth," (I John 3:18). It is not, as some seemingly believe, the words that matter. It is the action that validates the core of truth. Do you act on what you really believe?

The insurance and investment industries have become the cesspool of creating and magnifyign the "what if?" culture of today. We are taught to fear the slightest possibilities of what could happen and the financial catastrophies that would ensue if we are uninsured or have not "saved for a rainy day." Certainly there is precedence. Medical emergencies do wipe out family savings. Fixed incomes in old age rarely do provide adequate resources. And with just a few anectodal such testimonies, we find ourselves playing it safe and retreating from any potential dangers for fear of what could happen.

As a former "ropes course" instructor, I discovered how fearful so many are today. Even with all the assurances of the best equipment, trained leaders, and the example of the early risk takers, no amount of coaxing could convince many of the participants to walk the elevated pole, ride the zip line or jump from the "pamper pole" to the trapeze. Simple knowledge is not enough to overcome exagerated human fear. Simple "belief" in God and the Scripture is not enough to thrust the so-called Christian into risking to love someone who may not love back. The result...we live in a "christianized culture" of what one author calls "Christo-pagans." There is a lot of religious verbage, but little faith-action.

Yet it is in the action that faith grows. Godly risk builds confidence, even when things don't end up as we hope. Each time we move beyond our human fears to sacrifice, love, encourage, and build-up another, we find we can do it again the second time with more ease. Over time, bold compassion becomes a way of life.

So what is it you should be doing today to act on your faith? When are you going to start?

27 Years In the Inner City

"I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet," as the Bible language says it, but I have learned a lot about this "upside-down" Kingdom of God in the midst of our lives in the urban streets of Waco. What I thought I knew about truth, values, and what matters most has been severely upended through these twenty-seven years among the lower income and marginalized. From a zealously religious adolescence, I felt confident in my piety and self-righteousness. Now from my "past-mid-life" view, I feel like I know less than ever. Yet, somehow in this lifelong journey, the joy of living has gone deep and real.

In these random paragraphs, I hope to share what I have had to unlearn and where I still travel in the dusk between darkness and light. I hope to engage in random thoughts that may be worth a few minutes of your reflection time and may cast a prism light of insight that will mature us all. I am simply a pilgrim not a prophet. But the journey leads toward the Kingdom.