A Church of Risk

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now: There is a massive difference between how Jesus discipled the Apostles and how the Church tends to its flock today. Follow me on this:

Jesus tears onto the scene and announces a revolutionary message: that the Kingdom of God as the Jews know it has arrived. He challenges the pharisees — the corrupt and hypocritical old guard — in verbal sparring. He preaches with a conviction that stirs the established order. He combats the evil powers of the world by casting out demons. He is constantly pushing the barrier.

He then asks a few men and women (about a hundred or so) to follow him. He asks them to leave behind anything that might tie them down to a physical location (family, friends, property, status, etc.) and brought them town to town. He and his disciples functioned basically as a mobile unit. This mobile unit went alongside Jesus. They saw him preach, heal, pray, and live. They shared a deep and intimate life with him. And then he asked them to do the same! He asked them to preach, heal and live just like him.

Summary: Jesus pushes himself to the limit. He encounters the chaos and stressors of the world and pushes up against it. And then brings others to that same limit.

But what do we do in our churches today? We invite people to a lecture hall… and bore them with our speech. We reduce “follow me” and “sell everything you have” to bland spiritual statements. We actually try to remove everything that might challenge us. Modern church sometimes just feels too… safe.

While Jesus was always bring his disciples into harms way and the perils of the world, modern churches tend to want to isolate people from the stresses of existence. Almost acting as an escape mechanism from the chaos of the world.

What did Jesus do? He always brought his disciples to their breaking point. The point where their familiar met the unfamiliarity of the world. He brought them to cast out devils. And what happened when they failed? He said that they did not fast or pray. He brought them into a storm and when they despaired, what did he do? He said that they needed faith. Finally, he led them on the way of the Cross — Christianity’s symbol of the existential suffering and evil of the world. X marks the spot after all. The weight of the world is on his shoulders. Christ takes on and confronts the sin of the world. And his disciples desert him. And what does he do? When he comes back, he redeems them and asks them to do the same. To confront death and suffering and evil nobly and die for Him.

Notice: Jesus doesn’t coddle his disciples. He always brings them to their breaking point — their limits. The result? His disciples always fell short. But he would always be by their side to redeem them and save them and their faith.

Also notice: Big difference from modern churches.

And thus the question: Is Jesus bringing you to the limits of your faith? Is he doing that constantly?

And the subsequent question: Are you bringing others to that limit?