{"id":10,"date":"2008-05-29T12:50:03","date_gmt":"2008-05-29T19:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.deserthillspc.org\/?p=7"},"modified":"2008-05-29T12:50:03","modified_gmt":"2008-05-29T19:50:03","slug":"the-safety-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/messofpottage.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/29\/the-safety-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"The Safety Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. — John 10:10 (nrsv)<\/cite>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; … in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. — 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 (nrsv)<\/cite>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When we read Paul’s litany of troubles in 2 Corinthians, it reminds us how easily we misread Jesus’ words in John 10. Jesus came to give us new life, and have it in abundance. It will be a good life. But it will not necessarily be an easy life.
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\nBut while our lives may not be easy, we are assured they will not be miserable. Jesus prayed that the joy of his disciples would be complete (John 17:13<\/cite>). The fruit of the Spirit, Paul tells us, include love, joy, and peace (Galatians 5:22<\/cite>).<\/p>\n

You may have heard the saying, “the safest place to be is in the center of God’s will.” I find that thought comforting. I’m an engineer by training, and we hate risk. We invented words like “margin of error” and “tolerance” and “latitude” and “safety factor” to describe how we try to box in and contain danger. I confess this saying played a role in my decision to leave my “safe” career developing computer software and go to seminary to pursue ordination.<\/p>\n

This saying is a comfort — but is it true? In his book Chasing Daylight<\/em>, Erwin McManus rejects it:<\/p>\n

I want to reiterate the fact that the center of God’s will is not a safe place, but the most dangerous place in the world. God fears nothing and no one. God moves with intentionality and power. To live outside God’s will puts us in danger, but to live in His will makes us dangerous.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When I read that, I felt like McManus had thrown a bucket of cold water on my head. It made me wonder where in my life I might have confused a place of safety with the center of God’s will. I also wonder where we as a church, or a denomination, make the same mistake. Where are we being timid, when God’s will is for us to be bold? What risks are we avoiding? Where is our concern for safety keeping us from having a life in abundance, as Jesus offers?<\/p>\n

Your leaders here made a “risky” decision three years ago. Instead of calling another part-time interim pastor, they decided to call a full-time pastor. They didn’t know how fast attendance and giving would grow, and they did<\/em> know our financial reserves would only pay for a few years’ difference. But they obeyed God’s call to do something “dangerous” and called me as your pastor.<\/p>\n

Where else are we called, as a church, or as individuals, to “live dangerously?” I’d like to know your thoughts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. — John 10:10 (nrsv) Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; … in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and … Continue reading »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[8,15],"class_list":["post-10","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-bible","tag-church"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/messofpottage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/messofpottage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/messofpottage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messofpottage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messofpottage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/messofpottage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/messofpottage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messofpottage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messofpottage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}