Jesus heard him again trying to lie to Peter. Real spiritual warfare surrounds every good man He wants to use. So He got real. He told Peter and His disciples exactly what was going on. He wanted them and us to know the very real risks we take to follow Him. It means giving up the life you may have expected you’d live to live the one God calls you to live.
What’s more, Jesus makes it clear to His men that all the energy they might spend trying to eliminate risk would actually work against His purposes in their lives. Jesus knew that very shortly the chips would be down for His guys, and the only true option would be to bet it all. It could not have been a more desperate situation, so He made it plain: Take risks for Me and you will find life. Hedge your bet and you will lose it all.
Tension. Unpredictability. Letting go. Adrenaline. Oh yeah, baby. Jumping off of things is in our DNA. It took me about two seconds to come up with my short list of things I used to love jumping off. The roof into a cold pool. Trampolines. The swings. A pogo stick to Billy Joel music, eight hundred and fifty seven times in my parents’ garage. Over Calabasas Creek with my yellow Schwinn. Into mischief for the simple thrill of it. How about you?
Our fathers or mothers looked at us and said, “What were you thinking?” We said, “I don’t know.” And that was the truth: there was no explanation! We were boys. We were stretching the limits of our courage, testing the limits of our abilities, risking injury for the rush of what was on the other side of the experience. We lived for that freedom and risked life and limb naturally. What a great life purpose!
It’s not a mystery that Jesus used a little boy to answer the spiritual significance question: “Who’s the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Imagine being a first-century man looking on, wondering the same thing: “What can I do here that will make me significant up there with God?” Jesus looked at His guys and knew exactly what message to send.
He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2–4)
What would this mean to you? What qualities would you as a man need to recapture from your boyhood to shape your masculinity in Christ right now? Eager to trust. Eager to risk. Eager to “jump off.” Risk is in the DNA of every man, put there by God and for God. You may have misplaced it, neglected it, misused it, but it is time to get it back. It is time to do something great for God with it right now. This means committing to the four principles of RISK for every God’s man.
Here they come…
Right View of God