You’re gonna do what?!

Reckless Obedience was the theme of my church's recent men's advance*. The phrase Reckless Obedience doesn't really make sense to us. Most of us would admit we live safe lives, and most of us would feel we live obedient lives. We aren't wildly irresponsible or defiant. We aren't careless or uncontrolled in our living. There is order and safety built in to our everyday lives, and we find comfort in that order and safety.There are of course exceptions, but that is true for the majority.

So when someone explains a reckless idea the natural response is, "You're gonna do what?!"

It's that same kind of "You're gonna do what?!" that is said by Merlin in the movie Top Gun when Maverick is slowing down to bring the enemy jet closer.

Merlin: "What are you doing? You're slowing down, you're slowing down!"

Maverick: "I'm bringing him in closer, Merlin."

Merlin: "You're gonna do what?!"

When David, the shepherd boy was going to go up against Goliath, the giant Philistine with simply a sling and five smooth stones I'm sure there were more than a few, "You're gonna do what?!"

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were going to the fiery furnace trusting that God would save them I'm sure there were more than a few, "You're gonna do what?!"

When Jesus told Peter to put down his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane and that he was indeed going with his arrestors I'm sure there were more than a few, "You're gonna do what?!"

When I heard the story of a missionary who said he was willingly going back to the Philippines to stand up against those who had placed a fraudulent arrest warrant on his head there were a few, "You're gonna do what?!"

When a friend told me he was selling his house, quitting his job, getting out of debt, buying a small piece of land, building a new small home himself, growing his own food, and living off of the land, I said, "You're gonna do what?!"

There are countless other stories I could come up with. I'm sure you've heard a few, or you're living a story like that yourself. But the reason we automatically respond with "You're gonna do what?!" is because when someone explains their reckless obedient story all we focus on is the reckless part. Reckless = irresponsible, wild, thoughtless, defiant, uncontrolled, hasty, careless. That is all we see.

That is all we see because of the safety meters we have set up in our lives. Anything that spikes that meter to the reckless level sets off our "You're gonna do what?!" mechanism.

What if David had chosen safe obedience?

What if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had chosen safe obedience?

What if Jesus had chosen safe obedience?

I guess we'll never know because we know how those stories ended. But what we don't know is the ending to our own stories. I have lived 29 years with my safety meter close at hand. It might be time to get a little reckless.

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*At Mosaic we use the term "men's advance" instead of using the more common term: "men's retreat". It is a simple word swap that is trendy, yes, but has significance to us during these specific weekends. We physically "retreat" to a far away location but as leaders and men our goal is to "advance".