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I had to laugh out loud last night as I was returning home from Wednesday night services. Right in the middle of the longest bridge in the world, the Causeway over Lake Ponchatrian, I got the punch line to one of those little jokes God tells me all the time to keep my spirit light and agile. I am a “security guard�! I even have a special license to provide “security�.

What about my calling? God has specifically called me to teach people to live a life of danger and intrigue in the name of Jesus Christ. All I can say is that God has a sense of humor, and I love that about Him.

Stop rolling your eyes. I don’t see myself as some kind of James Bond for Christ. In reverence, I have a deep and profound respect for the missionaries and their families who put themselves in the wake of great physical and spiritual danger. As a matter of fact, it is from their faith and courage that I take on the task of waking up the everyday Christian to the responsibility we have to risk our security and comfort to take stand for Jesus no matter what the cost.

I don’t think anyone gets to the heart of the problem better than Erwin McManus in his chapter on risk in Seizing Your Divine Moment: Dare to Live a Life of Adventure.

Long before September 11, I made it my personal mission to crusade against a long-standing Christian cliché. In An Unstoppable Force, I lament that it has become an accepted part of pop theology that the safest place to be is in the center of the will of God. I’m not saying that this statement is ill-intended, but it is misdirected and misinformed.
I have often thought about the motivation behind this statement. Maybe it was a concerned father or mother trying to comfort a small child. After all, when our children are afraid of the dark, don’t we try to comfort them with a sense of safety? Or maybe it was concerned parents watching their teenager run off to college. A sort of subtle warning, Get out of God’s will and you’ll be in big trouble. Whatever the motivation, the result has brought more damage than good. If the safest place to be is in the center of the will of God, than an appropriate measure of God’s will is the test, Is it safe?
The inversion of this framework has clearly affected our Western faith. We have concluded that God promises safety. Those who are outside God’s will, will experience danger. You cannot have risk and guarantee safety. Our pop theology has eliminated the place for risk and insulated us with a comfort-and-security theology. This view runs counter to what is found in the Scriptures. I want to reiterate the fact that the center of God’s will is not a safe place, but the most dangerous place in the world. God fears nothing and no one. God moves with intentionality and power. To live outside God’s will puts us in danger, but to live in His will makes us dangerous. When we begin to seize our divine moments, we do not begin to live risk-free, but instead become free to risk.

There has never been a time in my life when things were less secure. There has also never been a time in my life when I was so sure of God’s character. My family didn’t risk everything we have because of who I am. We embraced uncertainty for who God is, and His purpose for our lives. The badge is there to remind me to thank Him for providing for my every need. Praise God!