No Splagna, No Glory
Today is the last day of our Vault Conference. Here’s a brief excerpt from my talk today on “No Splagna, No Glory” …
Now why is that? Why would God want us to risk? Well, it’s because God wants us to have a vital reliance on Him, and wants us to form a deep bond with Him through that dependence. Right? But if we’re playing it safe, we don’t really need God. And so of course God is going to lead us to places we wouldn’t dare go on our own.And God also wants us to risk because He wants us to be people who live lives of faith, and faith requires risk. If there is no risk, there’s no faith required. Maybe we could say it this way: Risk leads to fear, and our response to fear is faith. The other option is: Risk leads to fear, and our response to fear is RUN! But God wants us to live in faith, and so when He speaks, He asks us to take risks. This is why the most repeated command in the Bible is “fear not.” We all want to live risk free, but God wants us to live free to risk.
And also, God wants us to show the world how great God is, and how can the world see God’s greatness in us if we only do what we can do on our own?
I wonder what risk God is calling you to take? Is there a whisper you’ve been hearing? Or maybe there’s something God tells every Christian to do (share your faith, tithe, volunteer, sexual purity) that you haven’t been doing? Or there’s a big audacious challenge He’s putting in front of you?
Take the risk.