‘The Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.’
Matthew 11:12 NLT
Peter gets unfairly criticised. He is the disciple who denied Christ three times, but he is the only one who got close enough to Jesus to get caught. He is the disciple who impulsively cut off Malchus’s ear when the lynch mob came to arrest Jesus, but he is the only one who came to Jesus’ defence. He is the disciple who sank in the Sea of Galilee, but he is the only disciple who walked on water.
It’s so easy to criticise people from the comfortable confines of the boat. Basically, there are two kinds of people: creators and criticisers – those who get out of the boat and walk on water and those who sit in the boat and criticise the water walkers.
When everything is said and done, our greatest regrets will be the God-ordained risks we didn’t take. German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, ‘ Hell begins the day that God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do .’ Jesus said, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.’
What do you believe God is leading you to do? What is the persistent prompting of the Holy Spirit urging you to do? Do it. Failing to take a faith-based risk is like permanently misplacing a piece from the jigsaw puzzle of your life. It leaves a disappointing hole. *When we reach the end of our lives, our biggest regrets will be those missing pieces. So today, go ahead and take a faith-based risk.
Song of Songs 4-5, 2 Corinthians 9
Take a faith-based risk (2)
‘Without faith, it is impossible to please [God].’
Hebrews 11:6 NKJV
When making important decisions, especially when they can affect the lives of others, the Bible says you should do two things. First, count the cost (see Luke 14:28). That means you should evaluate and investigate, and you should seek guidance and counsel. ‘The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice’ (Proverbs 12:15 NIV).
How certain should you be before you move forward? In his book, The Next Generation Leader, Pastor Andy Stanley writes: ‘Generally speaking, you are probably never going to be more than 80 per cent certain. Waiting for greater certainty may cause you to miss an opportunity.’ What are you waiting for? A guarantee that you won’t make mistakes? That you won’t be criticised or experience embarrassment? If so, you will get nowhere.
When you have done all that wisdom demands, you must trust God and take a faith-based risk. If you don’t, you will end up living with regret. In a research study done by two Cornell University psychologists, they learned that time is a major factor in what we regret. We typically regret our actions over the short term. But over the long term, we are inclined to regret our inactions. The study found that in an average week, action regrets were somewhat higher than inaction regrets – 53 per cent to 47 per cent. But when people think about their lives as a whole, inaction regrets exceed action regrets 84 per cent to 16 per cent.
In other words, you won’t regret the errors you made as much as you will the God-ordained opportunities you missed. So, go ahead and take a faith-based risk.
Song of Songs 6-8, 2 Corinthians 10
Take a faith-based risk (3)
‘I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.’
Matthew 16:18 NIV
Gates are defensive devices, and storming those gates requires offensive measures. Think of the church as a battering ram. Instead of complaining about the culture, we need to present better options. We must produce higher-calibre films and compose more extraordinary music, write more notable books, start superior schools, and form better businesses. The old aphorism indicates we should stop cursing the darkness and start lighting some candles .
In Roaring Lambs, Robert Briner writes: ‘Why not believe that one day the most critically acclaimed director in Hollywood could be an active Christian layman in his church? Why not hope that the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting could go to a Christian journalist on staff at a major daily newspaper? Is it really too much of a stretch to think that a major exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art could feature the works of an artist on staff at one of our fine Christian colleges? Am I out of my mind to suggest that your son or daughter could be the principle dancer for the Joffrey Ballet Company, leading a weekly Bible study for other dancers in what was once considered a profession that was morally bankrupt?’
Paul didn’t criticise the philosophers on Mars Hill and tell them they were going to hell. Pointing to their altar to the unknown God, he indicated, ‘I’ve come to tell you who He is, and His name is Jesus.’ What was the result? ‘Some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter”’ (Acts 17:32 NKJV). Go ahead; take a faith-based risk and see what happens.
Isaiah 1-2, 2 Corinthians 11
