Which Route Would You Take?

Looking at the sign in this picture, which route would you take?

I doubt that any of us would choose to go ‘The Wrong Way’, so that leaves us with a choice between and ‘Adventurous’ or ‘Scenic’ route.

Tomorrow morning we will be looking at the theme of ‘Daring Greatly‘ at Orchard Baptist. During the past week, as I have been thinking this through, I came across this picture and it occurred to me that most churches might take the scenic rather than the adventurous route as a part of their journey.

The Bible is full of adventurous tales as disciples step out of boats onto the water, the Jews head out into a desert to find freedom, David fights the fearsome Goliath etc.

In contrast, churches are often very safe places where members are often afraid of taking risks. Have you ever heard any of these things said in church?

‘We have never done it that way before’

‘We once tried something like that but it didn’t work’

‘We don’t have the resources to take that on’

If these or similar statements dominate our lives or the life of churches then we have really lost touch with who Jesus is and what following him means.

If our faith doesn’t ever involve taking risks, then we aren’t living as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Jesus says to his disciples:

‘You feed that crowd of 5000+ people’

‘You go off on a journey to tell people about me, but don’t take any food or money with you’.

‘Come and  follow me and I will teach you how to fish for people’

Jesus’ 12 disciples were far from perfect, but they were willing to take risks as they followed their master. May Jesus give us the courage to listen to and to obey what he is saying to us, even when it involves us taking a risk.

The great news is that we are never alone. As we join in with Jesus’ grand adventure, we will can, and should, rely on him to equip, strengthen and guide us.

So what are we waiting for? Let’s be willing to take risks as we follow Jesus, we might make mistakes along the way and things could be far from perfect, but that is okay if we are trying to follow where Jesus is leading.