Saturday, June 25, 2016

Safety Over Sanctity

Just be safe. 

Those words are all too familiar to my ears. I have heard them spoken by many people from many different ages and backgrounds. The thing that really bugs me is that more often than not, these words have been spoken to me by Christians in my life. The Lord has graciously allowed me to live a very full life. From a young age He's given me a deep desire to see Him do the impossible. Over the years I have personally watched Him answer prayer after prayer in my life. One of those answered prayers, is that God has taken me out of my small town Oklahoma to proclaim the Gospel to those in great need. He has taken me to 10 different countries to serve and walk in His love. As unqualified as I am, He continues to fill me with His power for His mission. He called me as a shy and quiet girl and wrecked my life in the best way with His Gospel. He's given me a message, countless opportunities and continues to lay out every step of my path. Following Christ has been the greatest adventure. He's taken what could be a normal and natural life and given me a supernatural life in Him. Many of the choices I've made have not always been deemed the smartest for a young girl in her 20s. The thing is, I am a new creation. I cannot walk in the ways of the world and what traditional wisdom teaches. Following Christ changes absolutely everything. If we live for the mission of God, one of the things that we must surrender to God is our safety.

There are many trends in the church that I believe are flat out lies, but one of them is the lie that our lives as Christ followers should be safe. While I rejoice in the fact that this is not true of every believer or church, sadly, many many Christians have fallen under this false mindset. We've traded in real Gospel Christianity for a safe Christianity. We've traded in walking in faith to walking in fact and comfort. The church of Jesus Christ has traded living wholly surrendered to the mission of God to living a moralized version of the wold's mission. Today as the Holy Spirit was speaking to me on this subject, I had the realization that I have never had an older person in the Lord say to me before I went somewhere "dangerous" to "Preach the Gospel as long as you have breath". Or "Run with complete abandon Emily, He is so worth it." What I have heard countless times is "Be safe." I normally answer this with a comment on how I have complete trust in God and I am confident that He will be my safety. I normally hear in return "Oh I know. Just be safe! You're a young girl and this is a dangerous world". While I understand the love and sincerity that comes from the comments, I cannot help but grieve when I hear those words from God's people. I see the care and concern in their words, but even the amount of care and concern cannot mask the way that the world has compromised their mindset of living on His mission. When I read the Bible, I see absolutely nothing about safe and comfortable Christianity. I see lives that are filled risk, pain, abundance, faith, redemption, vision, passion and at the end of it all, perfection in eternity with the God who sent His Son to be hung on a tree for you and me. If everything God called us to was safe, we'd have no real need for Him. Throughout God's living Word we see countless stories of His power and might throughout the lives of those surrendered to Him. All of the amazing stories in His Word that God has used to glorify Himself and save souls were filled with risk and danger. All of those stories testify of a God that is greater in His redeemed creation, than the evil one who is in the world.

When God called Nehemiah to travel to Jerusalem and rebuild its broken walls, there was great risk, but God worked greatly.

When God sent Abraham to leave everything that He knew to follow God in a land unknown, there was great risk, but God worked greatly.

When Rahab acted in faith and hid two spies, there was great risk, but God worked greatly.


When Jonah preached the Gospel to the Ninevites, there was great risk, but God worked greatly. 

When Jonathan and his armor bearer ran into enemy territory to attack the Philistines there was great risk, but God prevailed in might and power. 


When David killed Goliath with a slingshot, there was great risk, but God prevailed in might and power. 

Most importantly, when Jesus was sent to be murdered for the redemption of mankind, His personal safety and comfort were hung on a cross along with His body. But because of His obedience unto death, millions of souls will spend eternity with Him, worshiping and delighting in the perfection of the Father. 

All of these stories and countless more testify of the power of God working through lives set apart for His mission. 

One of my favorite days in all of my life was October 14th, 2014. On October 14th, 2014 I wasn't walking in safety or comfort, but in absolute faith and that day is forever sketched in eternity. On that beautiful day I was in the bush of Africa, in a town found in the country of Uganda called Gulu. I spent this day with a sweet group of locals that I had never met before, walking on foot from mud hut to mud hut evangelizing and praising the name of Jesus to those who didn't know Him. I really didn't have a clue where I was, I didn't have my passport on me, I didn't have a phone and had no money on me. I had nothing to fall back on but the Lord. As I was walking through a brush taller than myself to get to the next hut, I asked myself "what in the world are you doing? This is not safe at all". But a moment later the Spirit washed away all my fear and reminded me of His power and faithfulness. He reminded me of the many testimonies of Saints who have given their life for the Gospel, and their testimonies, by the power of the Spirit, gave me courage. Those Saints didn't live lives of safety. The legacy they left was not a comfortable life (with a little bit of Jesus for good measure). No, their legacy's tell of complete abandonment for Jesus Christ. We can never run this race with complete abandonment for Jesus if we are trying to preserve our safety.

My prayer is that our eyes would be so locked on God and His mission, that the Gospel continuously flows out of our life naturally. If we are walking in His will and His Spirit, we are safe inside the pierced and resurrected palm of His hand. He is always there and if He notices one sparrow that falls to the ground, I certainly trust Him with my safety. I beg you, dear friends and family, please set your only hope on the mission of God and may the Gospel be your only source of power and safety. You are eternally safe in the Gospel. I beg you, leave a legacy not of safety and comfort but of power in Christ and complete abandon to His mission.

 Please don't spend your days trying to maintain your own safety, but preach the Gospel as long as you have breath. 


//For to me to live is Christ & to die is gain.//
Philippians 1:21


4 comments:

  1. I pray for the same heart sis. Thank you for your inspiration and motivation to speak the truth in so much love despite the comfort or what others would think. Chase after Him, pursue others with His love no matter where you are. Keep shining His light. Pray that His Spirit keeps pouring out of you.

    Give us your heart God.

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  2. Wow...so very true! I dearly wish for you to be bold and fearless and live in faith than to be safe and die with regrets. Be all out for Christ Sis.

    Thank you for sharing and it is truly amazing that you wrote this and we talked about the very idea tonight. God is amazing.

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  3. Wow...so very true! I dearly wish for you to be bold and fearless and live in faith than to be safe and die with regrets. Be all out for Christ Sis.

    Thank you for sharing and it is truly amazing that you wrote this and we talked about the very idea tonight. God is amazing.

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  4. Amen, Emily. God has been speaking to my heart about this very subject as I am doing an online class about persecution. We grow up living such a safe life here in the west, but we are called to proclaim the word of God and His Truth and that is not going to be safe if we are bold. Time is short and people need the Lord. They need to see a life lived for Him and be drawn to Jesus. Thank you for sharing and God Bless you in your ministry. Judy

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