Playing It Safe

Many people like to play it safe. They like to stick to predictable routines. Do what makes them comfortable. They prefer the same confines of the known rather than venturing out into the great unknown. Only with a child of God, there are no unknowns for God knows everything. He knows every outcome. Every destination on planet earth.

Jesus calls people to risk. He calls people to bold courageous steps of faith. He calls people to take steps of faith that make your pulse quicken and your knees to quiver. He calls people to throw caution to the wind and to trust Him when He calls.

Let me say right now I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT CHASING YOUR OWN FOOLISH DREAMS CONCEIVED IN YOUR MIND YOU WANT JESUS TO FAVOR AND BLESS.

I am talking about responding to His call on your life. Many times that call leads to risky ventures and exciting testimonies if you are willing to obey. Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. It is not for those who prefer the shallow end. It is for those who want to launch out into the deep and let your nets for a catch.

I have been a pastor for over two decades. I am ashamed to admit that I have played it safe much of the time. Safely hidden behind an office. Where did Jesus do most of His ministry? Here is a clue. Not at the synagogue. He was out among the people. I have spent so much time in offices praying, planning, studying, meeting, and not winning souls to Christ.

That must change. I have played it safe and the results are evident. I cannot say at anytime have I ever given myself wholly to outreach and evangelism. I have busied myself with other activities. I have played it safe in holy huddles. I have played it safe with the already convinced more than the never heard. That is sin. It is cowardice. It is about to change. This is an all in moment.

My youth pastor taught me personal evangelism. He lived it. He taught us how to do it. Most know my testimony. I did not come to meet Jesus in a church meeting. I met Him outside the walls of the church because Eli Bernard got infected with Jesus and could not keep the truth in. He was and is a soul winner. God used Him to reach me. If the church he served had waited on me to show up at one of their events they would still be waiting. I had no interest. Jesus, eternity, the Bible and church were not on my mind until he engaged me in conversations and put those things on my mind.

I once asked Eli what I could do to repay him for leading me to Jesus and investing his life in me. Well do I remember his response, "Tell others about Jesus and how to be saved." I have done that over the years but not like I should. Not the way Jesus desires. Not the way Eli did it for me. I played it safe and come to think of it so have a lot of preachers I have met.

Not D.L. Moody. He did not play it safe. He once chased down a child he taught in Sunday school who missed his class several weeks in a row. Moody spotted the child and lit after the little one jumping from his carriage in a full spring all the way to their home, bedroom and under their bed.

He also made a commitment to not let a day pass by without talking to some soul about Jesus and salvation. He kept his commitment. Only one night he was about to get into bed exhausted from a busy day and remembered he had not spoken to one person about Jesus. A thunderstorm passed outside making the weather dismal. Moody redressed and grabbed an umbrella to find someone to talk to about Jesus. Just as he opened the door a man hurried past getting soaked with no covering from the rain. Moody ran after him offering the protection of the umbrella and talked about how Jesus does the same. Moody did not play it safe. God used him mightily.

I am tired of playing it safe. It is time to follow Jesus with renewed determination and risk dozens and hundreds of conversations with lost and unchurched people about the best news in the world. No matter where it leads. No matter who it offends. No matter who rejects the gospel and me. This is an all in moment. I don't want to go to my grave having played it safe all my days.