Good to Great in God's Eyes - Take Great Risks, Part 1

Did you ever wonder why God uses some people more than others?

I mean, what makes the difference? What's God looking for in you and me so that He can greatly use us? Today we'll tackle that question, and the answer from Scripture just might surprise you. Stay with me. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip's our Bible teacher for this daily discipleship program, Motivating Christians to Live Like Christians.

I'm Dave Druey, and we're in the middle of our series, Good to Great in God's Eyes. Now in this program, Chip highlights the next practice great Christians have in common, and it might not be one you immediately think of or frankly want to think about. If you're ready to learn more, turn in your Bible to Hebrews chapter 11, and let's join Chip for his talk.

Two people, let's say they both have the same IQ, they both know the same amount of the Bible, they both come the same kind of homes. Why is it that God uses some people a lot more than He uses others? Why is it when you talk with some people there's a sense that, you know, when they pray that God's answering vivid, specific prayers, and they have these amazing stories of supernatural things that occurred, and I think over time we think, well they must be in a special category, and I'm just a regular Christian. I want to suggest that every Christian's life is marked by windows of opportunity that demand a radical step of faith in order to follow Christ and fulfill His agenda for their life. We're going to get down to why God in fact uses some people way more than others, and you're going to find it's not because they know more.

It's not because of the kind of home they came from necessarily. Listen carefully. Every Christian, your life is marked by windows of opportunity that demand that you take a radical step of faith in order to follow Christ and fulfill His purposes for your life. And what makes that step radical is that they always involve significant risk. There's little times where God's going to bring an opportunity, and it may be in your marriage, it may be in your career, it may be with regard to your finances, it may be with regard to a relationship, and there's a little window, and He's going to say, in order to obey me, in order to follow me, in order to do exactly what I want you to do, this is what you need to do in this situation.

And everything in you is fearful. Oh boy, if I do that, God, surely you don't want me to do that. And it's this little window of opportunity, and it takes a radical step.

And the reason it's radical is because you say to yourself, you know what, if this doesn't work out, this relationship could fall apart. If I do that, I would be leaving all my family back here, and our family's going to move to this new place. If I do that, that may ruin my career possibilities in the future.

If I do that, I won't be able to pay my bills in three months. God, you don't want me to make a radical step up with my finances. But listen carefully. Where there is no risk, there is no faith.

Mark that one down. Where there is no risk, there is no faith. And where there is no faith, there is no power. And where there is no faith, there is no joy. And where there is no faith, there's no intimacy with God. And where there is no faith, there aren't those supernatural miracles. And where there is no faith, there is no reward. And And get this one down, where there is no faith, there is no pleasing of God.

Think of that. In fact, where there is no faith, what you do get is hollow religious activity, moralistic rules, and dead orthodoxy. And the reason a lot of kids growing up today and a lot of you went through some very difficult times is that in many, many organizations and in many, many churches, they can run nice programs and they can talk about God.

But over time it becomes religious activity and the focus is on do this, don't do that, do this, don't do that, lots of rules. But there's not power. There's not the presence of God. There's not supernatural vivid miracles occurring. There's not the sense that God is moving. People's lives aren't changing. Because I've got news for you. You can actually pastor a church without faith.

And you can run all the programs. And you can have people meet and so you have activities and meetings and mornings and committees and Bible reading and hollow prayer meetings. But without faith it's impossible to please God. And without faith there is no power. And without faith there is no reward.

And without faith God isn't pleased. And so we're gonna talk about what is a common denominator of great Christians. Great Christians think great thoughts. Great Christians read great books.

Great Christians pray great prayers and dream great dreams. And one thing great Christians do, all through scripture as you go through this book you will find whether it's Moses or David or Esther or Deborah or Peter or Paul, God brings windows of opportunity and each one of them took a radical step of faith. And that radical step of faith meant that if God didn't show up, Peter was gonna fall through the waves. If God didn't show up when Paul returned after persecuting the church, he was gonna die.

If God didn't show up, Esther was gonna knock on the door and the king instead of holding up the scepter would have said, sorry Esther. Every person's life that is greatly used by God, that experiences God in powerful ways, takes great risks. Great risks. How in the world do you live out a life of great risks when down deep in our heart we're human? And you know, there are some of you with a personality that you know, you have bungee jumped.

You have jumped out of an airplane. I mean, your portfolio is all the high risk stocks and the idea of bonds just sort of nauseates your stomach, you know, you just, you wanna take great risks. But for most people, risks are scary. God's calling on our lives, if you wanna be a great Christian, it always demands we take great risks. And what I wanna do is I wanna prove that from scripture. I wanna give you some Old Testament examples, I wanna give you some New Testament examples.

I want you to see that this isn't something that superstars do. I want you to see this is the normal Christian life. Let's look at the Old Testament. Old Testament examples of great risk takers, Abram. I call him Abram because he wasn't Abraham until after he believed.

What does he do? He leaves his home, his land and his family. Would that be scary? I mean, when we read in the Bible and Abraham went out from, I'll tell you what, it wasn't like that for him. I mean, he had a home, he had a family, he had security and invisible God gives him a voice and says, Abraham, I want you to leave this and I want you to go, where do you want me to go?

I'll let you know later. He took a risk. He believed that the invisible promises of God were more real than the visible reality that he lived in.

He leaves. Or take Moses, he returns to his home to deliver God's people. Can you imagine the risk that he felt? The last time he was in Egypt, he'd killed someone and they had a contract out on him, reward for Moses, dead or alive. Forty years later, God says, Moses, I want you to deliver my people. You had the right idea, you did it in the wrong way, I want you to go back. And he's going, what?

I mean, you're kidding. And then when he does go back, instead of being greeted with, oh, we're so glad you're here, what happens? He took a great risk and early on it didn't look very good. Or you take David, he fights a giant that others refuse to face. I mean, yes, he's young, yes, he's idealistic, but there were hundreds of other people in the army that looked at that giant about nine foot tall and they said, hmm, yes, he's your insult in God's name and character and I wish someone would do something about it.

But not a single person stepped up to the plate and took the risk of his life. You know, I think there were probably a lot of guys that had learned to use a slingshot in Israel. In fact, they were adept at it, but it wasn't his accuracy with the slingshot, it was his heart that said, you can't talk about my God that way. And so he took a radical step of faith.

He put his life on the line and he didn't even do it in someone else's armor, he had to do it the way God made him and he stepped up and a giant fell and the rest is history. Or finally, Esther, she confronts evil in the highest position of authority. And we read through that and we think, oh, yeah, that was really great and, you know, she was a beautiful woman. You've got to remember the culture. I mean, it's easy to get a new wife back then. I mean, the guy's got a harem of hundreds of women and when he didn't like, remember the last queen?

She had a bad day and she's gone. And so Esther, she risks her life to save her people. The point I want to make is all through the Old Testament, what you find is great risk is a part of radical steps of faith.

And if for some reason you think, well, maybe that was the Old Testament and God's economy has changed, let's look at New Testament risk takers. Peter, I mean, we read through those gospels and it seems so natural and Jesus is walking on the beach and he says to Peter, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. And Peter drops his nets and follows him and we think, oh, that's a nice story. We go into the next verse. Peter's dad's thinking, wait a second, Pete, you're going to do what?

What do you mean? I've been building this business and, you know, James and John, they dropped their nets and you know, Peter's wife, you know, later we learn he's married. He's going, hey honey, what's this deal with this itinerant preacher?

What do you mean you're going to be gone from home for weeks at a time? Peter left his security. Peter left his financial base. Peter confronted his fears. Peter confronted the status quo of a religious establishment that said anyone who follows this itinerant rabbi preacher is going to be cast out of the synagogue. You think that's a radical step? You think it's risky?

You better believe it is. Remember Paul returns to those he sought to kill to obey God's call on his life. Remember the Damascus road? He comes to Christ. Then he preaches very briefly and then they lower him in a basket. And then remember he goes back and the apostles, I mean, he's been killing them.

He was not like a welcome visitor. If it wasn't for Barnabas, they would have not even seen him. And then after he goes back and meets the apostles and confronts that, then he returns and God gives him this little time in Arabia where he does apparently some very personal counseling to prepare him for his ministry.

And then there's a time of waiting and Paul returns, are you ready, to Tarsus. Guess where Tarsus is? That's where he grew up. He was a Roman citizen. He was wealthy. He was taught by the supreme of the supreme rabbis, Gamaliel. And for a period of years, he lived in the city where everyone's thinking, Paul, you're a fool. I mean, you've learned under the best rabbi and now you're a follower of this sect. You see, sometimes risk means leaving, sometimes risk means returning.

The third example is Jairus. He fights the religious status quo and lays his reputation and career on the line to seek help for his daughter. I mean, you would be cast out of the synagogue. This isn't just a Jew, here's a leader of the synagogue and he takes his career. He's going to ask help of this man named Jesus. The religious leaders have already said, anybody who messes around with this guy named Jesus, you're out of here. But he's desperate and he's heard his words and he believes his promises and he's seen his power and he takes all of his life and he puts it, literally, you know those poker things that they have, you know, on TV now, used to be like ESPN, now it's the Travel Channel. I mean, you can watch poker like on four stations and they're all playing this Texas Hold'em. What's the big moment?

They do. I'm all in. You know what a radical step of faith is? It's saying to God, I'm all in. I'm all in with me and my family. I'm all in with me and my finances. I'm all in with me and my future. I'm all in with my reputation. Lord, I'm all in.

And what do you know? When they push those chips to the middle of the table, they start dealing the cards and there's great risk and there's great reward. And what you find is that Jerry has said he's all in and then you have the woman with the issue of blood. And if we had time to study it, when she reaches out and touches his garment, she violates so many cultural norms, a woman reaching out, touching a man, a very private culture. And then remember what it was? She was trembling with fear. And then Jesus begins to question what's going on. And I mean, even in our day, but can you imagine in that day and she's going to explain, well, I sort of had a female issue and I've experienced the healing.

There's such humility. There's such a radical step of faith. But I think behind it is her sense that what? She had expended all of her money. She had tried everything else.

She's desperate. Radical steps of faith often aren't taken because you come to some noble godly moment in your life where you want to be God's man or God's woman. God often brings these windows of opportunity at times where you are desperate and you don't know anywhere or any way to go. And what you think is for bad, God means for good. And he causes you to say this, you know what? I want you to take a new job. I want you to deal with this marriage issue. I want you to go to counseling. I want you, yes, I really do. I want you to take this amount of money that has become your security and I want you to give it away. I want you to stop what you're doing and I want you to get your family around the table and talk about the real issues.

I want you to own your stuff and face that addiction. And I mean to tell you, it is people who take a radical step of faith that God greatly uses. And the reason most of us don't is radical steps of faith are risky, very, very risky. There's a couple observations I'd like to make.

Number one is pretty obvious. Faith involves risk, right? And number two, risk looks very different in different people's lives. You know, if you think of risk or faith, we always think it's stepping out. But from those examples, sometimes risk means you leave. And for some of you, God may say, you know what, that's an unhealthy relationship or that's not the right place for you and you need to leave.

But for others, risk is what? It means your return. It means you face the broken relationship with a mom or a dad or an ex-mate or with one of your kids. And for others, it means you fight. Like David, you step up and fight. And for others, it's confront. And you either confront someone else or like the woman, you confront your own issues at a very deep level. And so we got to be careful thinking that faith is always something out there. Radical steps of faith, what they have in common is God's clearly defined will and they always involve risk.

The other observation is what I've observed is that all great risk takers have three things in common. And this is very encouraging. And I wish you could see your face right now.

And this is good. I mean, God is speaking. You know, when I look at faces and, you know, the brows that are going, oh, man, should I leave?

Should I go? But boy, you are messing with my mind today. I just wanted to hear God's word in my mind.

That's God. Don't fight it. Okay? Here's the thing that risk takers have in common. Number one is fear.

Does that help you? Those emotions that you're feeling and thinking, risk takers all have, they fear what might happen. People who take great risks, Esker didn't, you know, she wasn't at the door going, okay, come on, come on, come on, I got to go talk to the king, got to get this done because, you know, I got my hair done at 230. She was scared to death.

Peter didn't drop his nets and go, oh, this isn't a big deal. Part of us didn't go back to his hometown. That woman, it says she was trembling with fear. Fear and faith are not antithetical.

I will tell you at least my personal experience, the greatest steps of faith I've ever taken, I was scared to death. You know, the greatest thing that said, the most common thing said, Old and New Testament, get out your concordance or now you can do it on computer and find the little phrase fear not or be not afraid and what you'll see is, God says to his people through angels or directly more over than any other thing, fear not, fear not, fear not, fear not, why? Because we're afraid. It's okay to be afraid. It's not okay to allow your fear to paralyze you from taking the step of faith. The second thing that risk takers have is not only they're afraid, they have faith to step out in spite of their fear. They do it.

They're afraid, but they do it. But the last part is very encouraging is they not only have fear and faith, but they have favor, God's reward and God's blessing on their life. You know, we often quote the first half of Hebrews 11 six, without faith, it's impossible to please God, right?

That's true. And then it explains a little bit about what faith is as that verse goes on. For he that comes to God must believe two things. And on this one, we usually quote the first half of it and like, you know, some verses you memorize part of it and that last part may be that important.

The last part's really important. Without faith, it's impossible to please God and he that comes to God must believe two things. One, that he exists. You actually live your life as though an all powerful, all knowing, loving, compassionate God actually exists and cares about you. But the second is, and that he richly rewards those who diligently seek him. Do you believe in a God that instead of his arms crossed and is down on you, that he literally is like that parent on the edge of the pool saying to the one, come on, honey, jump, jump, come on, jump in. I want you to experience the water. There's a whole new world here. God is saying to many of us, take the step, jump. I want to reward you.

I want to reveal myself. The reason God uses some people more than uses others is some people take a radical step of faith and when you take a step of faith, it pleases the heart of God. Read the gospels with new eyes. Get a cup of coffee. Get up real early one morning or if you're a night owl, stay up late and start in Matthew and read as fast as you can. I mean, only looking for the word faith and read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

It's very, it's a short novel. And just look for only one thing and you know what you'll find? Jesus has one agenda. The only time he ever gets upset with the disciples is what?

Their lack of faith. And the one thing he's teaching them, the number one agenda is I want you to trust me, my character and my word. And faith is simply doing what God tells you to do, whether you feel like it or not. In fact, especially when you don't feel like it, regardless of the circumstances, because he said it and his word is true. Great risk takers always have fear, but they operate in faith and then they experience God's favor.

And the reason people who experiences God favor is not because they're better or smarter or often know more of the Bible or come from a better home than you or don't have baggage. I mean, I think God put these people in scripture on purpose. I mean, I thought I had baggage and I didn't grow up reading the Bible. And when I read the New Testament, Old Testament, I thought, man, I thought I had a dysfunctional family. I mean, these people got real problems. But isn't it hopeful?

I mean, isn't that neat? I mean, if he can use these people, he can use us. Question for you, where do you sense God is challenging you to step out in faith? Where do you sense, as I've been talking, as the Spirit of God has been using those examples, where is it in your life that you feel maybe that not so gentle voice, not that small voice?

Where is it that you feel, as I was just sort of rattling off, it might be in a relationship, it might be geographically, it might be in your job, it might be in your finances, it might be in your security, it might be, which one of those things resonated in your heart? And you're thinking to yourself, would you just drop that on the bottom of your page for you? Because, you know, the key, the key in life as we come to God in scripture is not to get more Bible knowledge. It's to apply what we know. Life change never occurs as a result of knowing more and more and more. Life change is always a function of acting on what we know. Jesus said, if you respond to the light, the truth that I give you, I'll give you more light. If you do not respond to the light or the truth that I give you about your life, even what you have will be taken away. That's why it's a scary thing to be under the teaching of God's Word and to be in the Bible in the sense that we're held accountable.

It's even more scary not to be in the Bible and to be ignorant of the truth knowing that God will hold us accountable for truth. Well, let me propose something. If in fact God is about in every single person's life, if he really is bringing little windows of opportunity in your life and mine, and your life is really going to be determined by how you respond to these windows of opportunity that require a radical step of faith, and if that radical step of faith is going to require risk, here's the question I'd like to ask. How can ordinary people like me and you become great risk takers? Even some of us whose personalities are like, what you had for breakfast in 1973 is like what you had for breakfast now. Why change it? It's good.

I like it. It's over easy, whole wheat toast, or hey, it's oatmeal with just a little bit of this and a little bit of brown sugar, or you always buy your coffee at the same place. There are some people that do not like risk, but I will tell you that is not one of the options in the Christian life, and we don't like risk because change is scary and security issues and God understands, but where there is no risk, there is no faith, and here's the question. How could we become great risk takers? What God is going to say to you is number one, you need to refocus your fear. He doesn't say that you don't have fear. He's going to say you need to refocus your fear. He's going to say you need to rejuvenate your faith, and then you need to recall his faithfulness. End of Hebrews 10 and all of 11, that's basically all he's going to say. If you want to become a great risk taker, refocus your fear, rejuvenate your faith, and then recall his faithfulness, and when you do that, you'll gradually, progressively become a great risk taker, and what we know is this is a practice that all great Christians have in common.

So let's jump in. Refocus your fear. Hebrews 10, beginning at verse 38, follow along as I read. The context is a group of people that are adverse to risk. In fact, they're so adverse to risk is they've accepted Jesus, you know the name of the book is Hebrews, right, for Hebrew Christians. They're born-again Christians following Jesus, but they're Hebrew Christians, and they have found Jesus as the Messiah. He's wonderfully changed their life, and they're beginning to walk with him, and things are going really, really well, and persecution comes, and the price tag for following Jesus is getting higher and higher and higher and higher, and so there's some people.

They're called Judaizers. They're coming around and saying, I'll tell you what, part of that Jesus stuff is okay, but what you really need to do is come back into Judaism and be a Jew first and follow all these rules, and if you can kind of fly under the radar as a Jew, then you don't get all this persecution, and the writer of Hebrews is talking about how God feels about people that want to sink or slink back into religiosity and moralism and hollow religious activity as opposed to living by faith. Listen to what God says in verse 38 of chapter 10, but my righteous one will live by, circle the word, faith.

It's the only way. That is the organ of relationship with God. My righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him, but we are not those who shrink back and are destroyed, but those who believe and are saved. You've been listening to part one of Chip's message, Take Great Risks. You'll be right back with his application for this teaching from his series, Good to Great in God's Eyes. Are you tired of living the status quo Christian life? Are you looking to get a fresh infusion of faith and spiritual passion? Well join Chip in this 10-part series as he shares 10 specific practices every great Christian has in common and how you can put these attitudes and routines into action. If you're ready for a genuine spiritual breakthrough, then don't miss a single message. For more information about this series or our resources, go to livingontheedge.org, the Chip Ingram app, or call us at 888-333-6003. Well I'm joined in studio now by Chip, and Chip, there's a lot of people listening who are really worried about what's going on in our world, I mean war, recession, political unrest. So where can we find stability and encouragement right now?

Well Dave, this is nothing new. In the first century, Christians suffered through actually much worse, but it's new to us. But as you read the scriptures, what you find is they were absolutely committed to God's Word, and they were absolutely committed to doing life in community. You know, they would go to the temple courts and hear God's Word taught, but then they would meet house to house. And it wasn't just a small group.

I mean they shared a meal, they did life together, they supported one another, they encouraged one another. And so this is the season now as things have opened up where we need to move back to let's meet together. And whether that's in a small group of church or opening your home, I just cannot encourage people enough to say, I have to get this back into the rhythm of my life.

And what we've done during this time is to discount all of our small group resources. We have a very clear pathway of how people can grow through small group studies. So I can't encourage you enough to get back into community. Dave, could you help people know exactly what steps they can take with us at Living on the Edge to get some of our small group resources to start their group this fall? Be glad to, Chip. Well, to get plugged in with our growing library of small group resources, go to livingontheedge.org or call 888-333-6003.

And let me tell you, these tools are so easy to use. Chip provides the teaching and you'll have time to discuss what you've heard with our helpful study guides. So if you're not in a small group yet or aren't sure what to study next, let me encourage you to check us out. And as Chip said, for a limited time, we've discounted all of our small group resources. Again, to learn more, visit livingonttheedge.org or call 888-333-6003. Tap listeners, tap special offers. Well, Chip, as we wrap up this program, talk to the person out there who doesn't like taking risks or stepping outside their comfort zone.

In fact, they try to avoid risk at all costs. At what encouragement and challenge do you have for them? Well, there are different personalities, Dave, but I think all of us feel anxious and feel challenged, fearful and overwhelmed, especially when the Holy Spirit nudges us to take a risk.

And sometimes it's one really big one. Are you really willing to move across the country or change jobs? I think more often it's smaller things like are you willing to sit down with your teenage son or daughter and confront something you suspect and you realize there's going to be a big blow up? Or are you willing to talk to a friend where you see them drifting out of concern in their marriage or in a situation and you love them and you care about them?

And the risk is, wow, if I bring that up, if I confront them, even if I do it nicely and do it well, it might blow the whole relationship up. The fact of the matter is where there is no risk, there is no faith and where there is no faith, you can be a good, nice moral person. You just can't be one that pleases God because without faith, it's impossible to please Him.

And so life is filled with risk. And so it's coming to the point where I recognize I'm anxious, I recognize I'm fearful, and then I get a conviction. I may need to go to some friends or mentors or counselors to get clear on what I need to do, but we all come to a point, if you want to be a good Christian, let alone a great Christian, where we have to take some risk. The Bible is filled with the stories of men and women who obeyed God not knowing what the outcome would be, and you and I will be no exception. So I would just encourage you to be honest with the Lord.

Be like that man who said, Lord, help me in my unbelief. He's gentle. He's caring.

He understands. God will give us faith as we lean in and say, I'm scared to death. I'm anxious about this.

What if this or that might happen? Nevertheless, I'm willing to step out. And here's the one question, where do you need to step out today? Talk with your Heavenly Father and then act. As we close, I want you to know that as a staff, we ask the Lord to help you take whatever your next faith step is, and we'd love to hear how it's going. Would you take a minute and send us a note or give us a call?

Either one is easy. Email us at chip at Living on the Edge dot org, or give us a call at triple eight three three three six zero zero three. Well I'm glad you've been with us. Until next time, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.