Danger
The theme verse for our youth group is John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” That’s where the name XSession comes from, Jesus came to give us life in abundance, life in XSession, more than we could ask or imagine. He has blessed us with life, and as a part of defining and understanding what an abundant life in Christ looks like, we have this acronym: PLEAD Life.
The P stands for Passion.
The L stands for Love.
The E stands for Excitement.
The A stands for Adventure.
The D stands for Danger.
Each of these are aspects of a full and abundant life in and with Jesus.
This week I want to talk about Danger. Now, Danger is not typically a quality that one uses when trying to “sell” a product or philosophy or worldview or religion. There are not a whole lot of people who are going to be attracted to something that is inherently dangerous to themselves, so why are we talking about danger as an integral part of an abundant life in Christ? No, it’s not just because I needed a D for the acronym. We see throughout the Bible and throughout history that following Christ, being a Christian, living a life in accordance with what God has planned for you, is dangerous, and this manifests in several different ways.
First, we see this danger played out in the persecution of followers of Yahweh. We’ve discussed this before, but it bears reminding that it is not uncommon for Christians to be persecuted in any number of ways, from loss of comfort, security, possessions, friends, family, life, etc… If you are a follower of Jesus there is a good chance that there will be a time in your life when you will have to make a choice between God and comfort/peace/life. This is dangerous.
Second, we see this danger manifest in the callings of God. God will often call us into missions that are dangerous, from which there is no guarantee that we will come through the other side unscathed, or even that we will come through the other side. This is different from persecution, because the danger isn’t necessarily a response to our faith, but rather a part of the environment that we are being called to. God may call you to befriend someone who is dangerous, physically or emotionally. He may call you into relationships that will leave you broken. He may call you to missions in places and among people who need to see and feel and know God’s love, but who may not be ready to accept it, and who may hurt or kill you, like Jim Elliot, a missionary who went to an Ecuadorian tribe and was killed, not because he was a Christian, but because he was an outsider. Following God’s direction will often take us to dangerous places.
Finally, and this is what I really want to focus on, following God is inherently dangerous because the first step is opening yourself up, becoming vulnerable, submitting your life to Him. This is something that is talked about all the time, but do we really understand it? Do we really acknowledge what it means? I want to focus on this because it is foundational. The truth is that, if you haven’t totally and completely submitted your life to Jesus in every way, you’re not likely to really face the other two dangers. If you are not sold out for God, then when persecution comes your way and the choice is presented to you, you are going to fold. You are going to choose comfort and protection over God. If you are not committed to Him in every way, then if He calls you to a dangerous mission, you are very unlikely to carry it out. So, let’s look at what it means to submit to God and how this is dangerous, but also part of an abundant life.
When you become a Christian it is an active choice to submit to God as Lord of your life. This means that you are giving up control of your own life and placing it in His hands. We see in Luke 14:33 that Jesus says, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Becoming a disciple of Jesus means that you are willingly opening yourself up to examination and change and purification. All of this is fantastic in the end, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy or pleasant all the time. Jesus again points this out in Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” To be a Christian means to give up everything you have, everything you know, everything you are so that God can rebuild you as you are meant to be. He very well may give you back many of the things you lay down at His feet, but the point is that you lay them down.
This is scary and dangerous. Why dangerous? Well, danger is the possibility of something unwelcome or unpleasant or a person or thing that is likely to cause harm or injury. Danger is disruption and destruction and damage, but, again this doesn’t mean the end result is bad. Think of a butterfly. Before it can spread its beautiful wings and soar through the sky it has to undergo a metamorphosis in which it is torn down to DNA soup. A caterpillar must be liquified before it can be a butterfly. That’s a dangerous proposition. In order to live, to be what it is meant to be, it has to, essentially, die, and in order for us to live, to truly live an abundant life, we have to die.
In Hebrews 4:12-13 Paul writes, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
Take a moment to think about that. Imagine if your every thought, desire, joy, anger, ambition, belief (about yourself, about other people, about the world) was laid bare for everyone to see. That is the epitome of vulnerability, and vulnerability can be dangerous, but that is what God does in our lives. He exposes those things that we keep hidden, not because He wants to shame and humiliate us, but because He wants to root out those things that are killing and decaying us from the inside out.
Malachi 3:2 says, “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.”
Both the refiner’s fire and fuller’s soap were instruments of purification. They would result in something clean and pure and valuable, but the process was intense and difficult. It was unpleasant. It was dangerous, but it was worth it.
It is one thing to say you’re a Christian, but shield yourself from any danger, and another thing entirely to throw your arms open and invite Jesus to expose you, to destroy you, to remake you. I would challenge you to make the same plea to God that David did in Psalm 139:23-24.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!”
Following God is dangerous, yes, but not following Him, not submitting to Him, not allowing Him to transform you is far more dangerous, and God loves you and wants you to have an abundant life, and the danger has a purpose.
The P stands for Passion.
The L stands for Love.
The E stands for Excitement.
The A stands for Adventure.
The D stands for Danger.
Each of these are aspects of a full and abundant life in and with Jesus.
This week I want to talk about Danger. Now, Danger is not typically a quality that one uses when trying to “sell” a product or philosophy or worldview or religion. There are not a whole lot of people who are going to be attracted to something that is inherently dangerous to themselves, so why are we talking about danger as an integral part of an abundant life in Christ? No, it’s not just because I needed a D for the acronym. We see throughout the Bible and throughout history that following Christ, being a Christian, living a life in accordance with what God has planned for you, is dangerous, and this manifests in several different ways.
First, we see this danger played out in the persecution of followers of Yahweh. We’ve discussed this before, but it bears reminding that it is not uncommon for Christians to be persecuted in any number of ways, from loss of comfort, security, possessions, friends, family, life, etc… If you are a follower of Jesus there is a good chance that there will be a time in your life when you will have to make a choice between God and comfort/peace/life. This is dangerous.
Second, we see this danger manifest in the callings of God. God will often call us into missions that are dangerous, from which there is no guarantee that we will come through the other side unscathed, or even that we will come through the other side. This is different from persecution, because the danger isn’t necessarily a response to our faith, but rather a part of the environment that we are being called to. God may call you to befriend someone who is dangerous, physically or emotionally. He may call you into relationships that will leave you broken. He may call you to missions in places and among people who need to see and feel and know God’s love, but who may not be ready to accept it, and who may hurt or kill you, like Jim Elliot, a missionary who went to an Ecuadorian tribe and was killed, not because he was a Christian, but because he was an outsider. Following God’s direction will often take us to dangerous places.
Finally, and this is what I really want to focus on, following God is inherently dangerous because the first step is opening yourself up, becoming vulnerable, submitting your life to Him. This is something that is talked about all the time, but do we really understand it? Do we really acknowledge what it means? I want to focus on this because it is foundational. The truth is that, if you haven’t totally and completely submitted your life to Jesus in every way, you’re not likely to really face the other two dangers. If you are not sold out for God, then when persecution comes your way and the choice is presented to you, you are going to fold. You are going to choose comfort and protection over God. If you are not committed to Him in every way, then if He calls you to a dangerous mission, you are very unlikely to carry it out. So, let’s look at what it means to submit to God and how this is dangerous, but also part of an abundant life.
When you become a Christian it is an active choice to submit to God as Lord of your life. This means that you are giving up control of your own life and placing it in His hands. We see in Luke 14:33 that Jesus says, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Becoming a disciple of Jesus means that you are willingly opening yourself up to examination and change and purification. All of this is fantastic in the end, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy or pleasant all the time. Jesus again points this out in Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” To be a Christian means to give up everything you have, everything you know, everything you are so that God can rebuild you as you are meant to be. He very well may give you back many of the things you lay down at His feet, but the point is that you lay them down.
This is scary and dangerous. Why dangerous? Well, danger is the possibility of something unwelcome or unpleasant or a person or thing that is likely to cause harm or injury. Danger is disruption and destruction and damage, but, again this doesn’t mean the end result is bad. Think of a butterfly. Before it can spread its beautiful wings and soar through the sky it has to undergo a metamorphosis in which it is torn down to DNA soup. A caterpillar must be liquified before it can be a butterfly. That’s a dangerous proposition. In order to live, to be what it is meant to be, it has to, essentially, die, and in order for us to live, to truly live an abundant life, we have to die.
In Hebrews 4:12-13 Paul writes, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
Take a moment to think about that. Imagine if your every thought, desire, joy, anger, ambition, belief (about yourself, about other people, about the world) was laid bare for everyone to see. That is the epitome of vulnerability, and vulnerability can be dangerous, but that is what God does in our lives. He exposes those things that we keep hidden, not because He wants to shame and humiliate us, but because He wants to root out those things that are killing and decaying us from the inside out.
Malachi 3:2 says, “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.”
Both the refiner’s fire and fuller’s soap were instruments of purification. They would result in something clean and pure and valuable, but the process was intense and difficult. It was unpleasant. It was dangerous, but it was worth it.
It is one thing to say you’re a Christian, but shield yourself from any danger, and another thing entirely to throw your arms open and invite Jesus to expose you, to destroy you, to remake you. I would challenge you to make the same plea to God that David did in Psalm 139:23-24.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!”
Following God is dangerous, yes, but not following Him, not submitting to Him, not allowing Him to transform you is far more dangerous, and God loves you and wants you to have an abundant life, and the danger has a purpose.
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