Dangerous Territory

Eugene Peterson, famous for translating The Message version of the Bible, served as a minister for many years. He was at a Red Cross bloodmobile to donate a pint of blood, but before inserting the needle the nurse asked a series of questions to see if there was any reason to disqualify him as a blood donor.

The final question on the list was, "Do you engage in hazardous work?" Peterson immediately answered, "Yes." The nurse looked up from her chart, surprised because she knew he was a minister. She smiled, ignored his answer, and marked "No" on her questionnaire. She said, "I don't mean that kind of hazardous."

It is hazardous to be a Christian. Jesus didn't say, "Play it safe and follow me." He said, "Take up your cross and follow me"—and a cross is definitely not safe.

It's dangerous to be a Christian because our leader is a controversial figure. Jesus said, "If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:20). It's dangerous to be a Christian because the devil doesn't give up easily. He's "like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). It's dangerous to be a Christian because faith leads us to go the extra mile. Anyone can love those who are good to them, but Jesus said, "Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back" (Luke 6:35). That's risky business!

Serving Christ was so hazardous for Paul that he described his adventures as an apostle by using the word "danger" eight times in one verse: "I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers" (2 Corinthians 11:26).

Wanted: Bold Believers

Where are the courageous Christians unwilling to settle for the status quo? Where are the bold believers who refuse to limit serving the Lord to what happens inside the church's four walls? Do we dare to take the love of Christ onto the streets and into the marketplace?

In The Externally Focused Church (Group, 2004), Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson tell about Vaughn McLaughlin, who moved to a depressed area of Jacksonville, Florida, to start a church. He encountered racial hatred and opposition of all kinds, but today his church sponsors a Christian academy for school-children, a basketball program for inner-city youth, a prison ministry, a nursing home ministry, free car-repair services, and a team of 250 volunteers who just "look after things in the city," even if that means sweeping the streets. McLaughlin asks, "If you and your church picked up and left, how would the city feel? Would your city weep? Would anybody even notice? Would anybody care?"

Even in the dangerous city of Babylon, the Lord told his people, "Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper" (Jeremiah 29:7).

It's time to get outside the walls of our church buildings and make a difference in the communities where we live. Our fears say "it's dangerous out there," but Jesus says, "I'll be with you." Self-protection says "stay," but Jesus says "go." And the most dangerous place of all is the territory called disobedience to God.