skydiving & tithing

last night i spoke at a youth group meeting at one of the larger churches in town. i spoke on Mark 5:21-43, the story of Jesus healing the woman with the problem of bleeding and His raising of Jairus's daughter from the dead. if you'll remember, this is the lady who snuck through the crowd to touch Jesus's robe, because she had faith that that was all it would take to be healed. in The Message after Jesus heals the woman and she comes forward Jesus says to her "daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you're healed and whole. live well, live blessed! be healed of your plague". "risk of faith"...what does that phrase bring to mind? i asked the youth i was speaking to that question.

the first response i got was "jumping out of a plane." now i don't think anyone would argue that that isn't a risk. that's why people do it. but i was really thinking more along the lines of risks of faith in God. i explained this to the youth and the responses that came back were "tithing", "witnessing", "talking to people you don't know", you get the picture. at the time i thought nothing of it. all of these can be "risks of faith." if you're short on cash, tithing can be a risk. we all see stepping out on a limb and witnessing to friends or people we don't know as risks at times. these are all risky propositions. but remember the first response i got, "jumping out of a plane"?

does anyone else see the problem here? when we jump out of a plane we're placing our faith in the human who packed our parachute and the guy telling you what to do as he pushes you out the door. so when we place our faith in God we should be doing even bigger things right, like...tithing???

i'm thinking in the whole scheme of things, tithing and skydiving don't really compare. yeah they're both risky but..come on..not even remotely on the same level. definitely not on a God level.

so what is a risk of faith? doing something so huge, so crazy that there's absolutely no way it can work without God. i can assure you skydiving won't be a pleasurable experience without the guy packing your parachute.

practically, what are risks of faith?

how about on a college campus? pick an entire group of people (greeks, the soccer team, the chess club, a specific sorority or fraternity, an entire floor of the dorms) and pray for and do things to intentionally reach them for Christ.

how about at work? you know that guy that comes in with the faint scent of what he had to drink the night before? go with him next time and have a coke with him.

how about every day? sit with someone in the mall food court that's sitting alone and strike up a conversation that leads to something spiritual.

what would be a risk of faith for you?

think about the risk that Christ took for us. yes, He's God and He knew and saw the big picture, but think about how much incredibly easier it would have been for Him to stay with the Father than to come to earth and be treated like an outcast and crucified. i think there's much more to this risks of faith thing that i haven't figured out yet, but i'm working on it.

this i do know, Jesus said to the woman "live well, live blessed!" i'd sure like to live like that.