Risky Faith

We are saved only by grace alone through faith alone. But faith that saves is never alone. We are saved and called by God to the work of spreading His kingdom on earth as in heaven. We have not been saved to just sit around waiting for heaven. Church is not meant to be a cruise ship for the saints as we wait for eternity. The church is meant to be a lifeboat going out rescuing those who are drowning. And drowning people don’t need to know the Hebrew word for drowning, they need a lifejacket. Often we can get bogged down in deep theological debate between churches over secondary issues when what the world needs (and what God desires) is that we live out the grace He has first shown us. And we are not meant to be mere spectators. We are called to be active participants. Each and every one of us has a role to play in advancing the Kingdom. We cannot afford to leave it to somebody else. We need to step out of our comfort zones.
It is time to start taking risks. When the way we live our life doesn’t require the Holy Spirit to come through for us something is drastically wrong. Often we play it safe. We don’t take risks. We hear the stories in Sunday School of Bible characters who did bold things in faith, like Daniel in the lion’s Den, like Noah building the ark, like David slaying Goliath, but then we grow up and we become more concerned with just getting by and trying to be good people. We think that all God wants for us is to keep us safe and protected. But that isn’t true. All through the Bible we see examples of people who face struggles and hardships as they followed God and yet saw great fruit as they served Him. It is like CS Lewis said of Aslan “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good”. We can trust that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. But sometimes He will call us to take risks and to face some opposition for the sake of the Kingdom. A ship in a harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are made for. They are made to cross oceans. We too have been made to metaphorically cross oceans by living out our faith with burning passion rather than being lukewarm in the comfort of a harbour.