RISK IS THE KEY TO THE CHRISTIAN LIFE


Christianity is not supposed to be safe,” Erwin McManus, senior pastor of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, Calif., told 1,500 youth ministers at the 2005 Purpose Driven Youth Conference.

“Have you ever had this restlessness in your soul that there was more [to this life]?” McMannus asked the audience. “That you are not supposed to just exist, just pay the bills, just manage the store, just hold your ministry job. That God has entrusted you with an army that is supposed to live an unreasonable life of acts of devotion to him?”

Using the text of 1 Samuel 13:22-14:14. he told those in attendance that people who change the world make tough choices and show the initiative to act.

Scripture is laid out on a framework of the power of choosing, McMannus said. From the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve are told not to choose to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life to the nation of Israel, humans are constantly being entreated to make a choice.

McMannus added, “The more we take responsibility for our choices, the more we understand the deep texture of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.”

Focusing on the passage in 1 Samuel, McMannus looked at how Jonathan courageously slipped out of the Israelite camp while Saul was asleep and climbed to meet a Philistine garrison.

“Is it possible that those of us who are in charge of the movement of God are like Saul?” McMannus asked. “If someone were going to dynamically and passionately follow Jesus Christ, would they have to go while we are asleep?”

Jonathan had to make a tough choice, he told the audience. He had to choose to climb and meet the Philistines when the odds were stacked against him. The whole success of Jonathan’s mission started with one choice.

Then, McMannus said, Jonathan took the initiative to make something happen, noting that he climbed to meet Philistines even though his manner of attack left him vulnerable.

“Is it possible that the only thing that we are lacking to accomplish the extraordinary things God has for us is the courage to advance?” McMannus asked.

He noted that often the best advice he can give people who wrestle with doing something for the kingdom is “to just do something.” For example, he explains, believers know that God wants them to share their faith and shouldn’t be paralyzed by the choice of with whom they should share it.

He noted Jonathan’s enigmatic statement, “Perhaps, the Lord will help us.”

McMannus believes Jonathan understood that anytime a person engages in something significant, there is a risk.

McMannus finished his message by estimating that a majority of young people are looking to be a part of a ministry that takes risks. He pointed to his own Los Angeles church as an example, where the average age is in the mid-twenties. The church has no membership, because people were not interested in joining an institution but were looking to join a movement.

He said: “People want something to bleed for, to sweat over, to weep about.”

-Tobin Perry

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PDYM RESOURCES

PDYM Training Kit
This kit of materials contains a 60-minute video featuring Doug Fields talking about his approach to youth ministry. It also includes one facilitator’s guide with complete instructions for the youth ministry professional and one participant’s guide. Additional workbooks can be purchased to use with multiple leaders or volunteers.
[click here for more info]

Power Play 2
You loved the first one so much we made another. Wrap your meaty paws around twenty more off-the-wall, interactive trivia games. Use these slide shows to kick off a weekly meeting, provide a break during a message or bust them out just for kicks. They work slick in Media Shout® or with other popular presentation software like Keynote® and PowerPoint®. And you can use all the games as-is or customize them to tie into your message, reference inside jokes, or refer to locals. No matter how you use them, these hysterical questions will get your students laughing and interacting in seconds.
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