When we look at the great men and women of church history, the missionaries, leaders, and Bible heroes who risked it all for the gospel, we can’t help but feel inspired. Consider Jim and Elisabeth Elliot who moved to South America to share the gospel with a dangerous tribe, the Waodani. Jim was almost immediately killed, speared through the heart, and yet Elisabeth returned after his death to offer forgiveness and a chance at salvation.
For most of us, this is a bravery we can not imagine. We look to Queen Esther approaching the King and asking for mercy on behalf of her people, knowing full well it could quickly result in her death. Even Jonah who initially ran from God and the danger that could come with what He had asked of him, ended up choosing obedience and facing the people of Nineveh head on.
Corrie Ten Boom chose to offer forgiveness in the face of unspeakable atrocities. Daniel refused to turn his back on the Lord and continued praying to Him despite the threat of the lion’s den. The list goes on and on of brave, risk-takers for Jesus.
But are these men and women meant to be the incredible exception for us all to applaud or the standard by which we should expect to live? Do they happen to just be superhuman and in a completely different category than the rest of us? Here at Global Catalytic Ministries we consider living in dangerous obedience to be a given from which the greatest fruit of our lives will flow.
We do not live recklessly simply for recklessness’s sake, risking our lives with no rhyme, reason, or wisdom involved. But we must always be prepared to obey whatever the cost, considering our lives, our safety, our comfort, our preferences worth nothing.
There is Biblical precedence. Apart from the countless examples of men and women risking it all for Jesus in Biblical history, we find the heart posture behind that bravery to be a Biblical command. After all, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul (Mark 8:36)? He hasn’t given us a spirit of fear, but of love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Therefore, we must join with Paul, counting all we had as loss for the sake of knowing Christ, and introducing others to knowing Him as well (Phil 3:8).
So why is it that so few of us are willing to give it all? Why do we consider those who do to be some form of super Christian, giving above and beyond what is required? Could it be because we have forgotten the greatest truth: we are safe and secure in the hands of the Father for all eternity.
Nothing can happen to our earthly flesh that can ever remove us from His covering (Romans 8:38-39). “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe” (Proverbs 29:25).
Do we not remember that we are in the middle of a war? A war in which we are key players, fighting for the eternal souls of those in a dead and dying world. When we consider what’s at stake for those around us and the ultimate safety we know because of Jesus, we can not look away from the needs of the world, no matter the cost.
This is why here at GCM we consider ourselves to be faith filled, multiplying, obedient, risk-takers for Jesus. We won’t insult God with small and safe living. Will you join us?
