Worth the Risk?

I heard my Pastor say a quote at church, and it said:

“It would be a shame for a Christian to die of natural causes.” 

Oof…..did that hit anyone else in the gut?? It hit me, and it hit hard. 

Think about your life. And think good and hard, and answer this question. If you are claiming to be a Christian, meaning a follower of Jesus Christ, are you taking risks for the Gospel? Are you actively seeking the Lord and asking Him how you can be spreading the truth of the Gospel.

I walk down the streets of Downtown Orlando on a Friday night and hear preaching….yet it’s not the Gospel truth.

I listen to sermons that pull and tug on your emotions…..yet it’s not the Gospel truth.

I see worship, and hear worship songs that get you “in the mood”,…..yet it’s not the Gospel truth.

Then I sit in frustration because I don’t understand why Christians are not taking a risk for the Gospel. I don’t understand why false teachings are being spread over the streets of Downtown Orlando, yet where are the true Jesus followers? Why other religions are going door to door, but we can’t even talk to our neighbor.  

We have been swayed by culture and have allowed what culture says to rule what happens in the church. We go with the flow of the world and not to the flow of God. We say “you do you”, instead of “you do God”, we are open and accepting which somehow means we can’t disagree with lifestyle choices, and a political stance means we can no longer be friends. 

Brothers and sisters this cannot be anymore. 

I’m tired of hearing “you do you”. This phrase entitles us to do our own thing, be our own person, find our identity our own way, to just be me. But aren’t we supposed to look like Jesus? If I’m claiming Christianity shouldn’t my actions be that of how Jesus would behave? So no, I don’t do me, because doing me is not enough. I need to do God. He is my strength, where my identity is rooted, and he guides my steps.

Christians should be loving and accepting, but guess what? This also means that I don’t have to agree with your life choices. I don’t believe love is love and I don’t agree with homosexuality. I realize I take a risk in saying that, but I hold the Bible to the utmost authority and the word of God rings true for me. This does not mean that I hate or don’t like someone walking in this. However I must adhere and hold true to what I believe.

I don’t claim to know each and everything about politics. No, I’m not naive to what is going on around me. I see, I hear, I observe, and I listen. What I see is such a focus on whose right and who’s wrong, and heaven forbid you have a different opinion or stance from someone else. We are so quick to point out what’s wrong in each political person of authority and cannot believe the things they say or do, yet how many of you carry hatred in your hearts?? The Bible counts it all the same. We point the finger but don’t examine our own hearts. As a believer we should be praying for our leadership no matter who is in office. Not slandering and defiling them. Yes I understand that you may not agree with or stand for the things that people are running for, but that’s why we have the freedom to vote. There will always be disagreements, imperfect people trying to lead, and stupid mistakes made. But we show grace and we trust the Lord. Easier said than done, I get it. 

There is a lot going on in our country, well let’s face it, there’s always something going on in the world. What I see are two races; the Christian race, and the non-Christian race and you can only be in one. We cannot claim Christianity, yet live a life contrary to the Bible, it just doesn’t work. If you are claiming Christianity it means that your life is not your own, your life belongs to Jesus, you will face trials, and you should be taking risks to get outside of your comfortable, apathetic, settling, complacent, bubble and speak up for the truth of the Gospel.

Now I think taking a risk can mean a multitude of things. I’m not saying drop everything and go live in a remote village, however if the Lord calls you to that by all means. Maybe the risk is small, so you start out by just simply reading your Bible daily. You invite your neighbor over for a meal, you take food to the homeless, you serve at your church, you evangelize in your area, you preach on the street, you vocalize what the Bible says, etc. The Lord has and is equipping believers to do these things, our part is to be in obedience to what he’s asked us to do.

“If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.” 

Revelation 13:10

So is the Gospel worth the risk?

Are you willing to suffer for the sake of the Gospel?