We’re driving back to southern Indiana.  The kids are sleeping in the back, the sun is shining, and the wind is blowing us all over the road, seriously.  We closed on our house on Friday and got to spend the rest of the weekend with our families and some close friends.  It was a great time…we got to celebrate my sister’s birthday, we took in a movie, we got to spend a little time with some of our awesome former students and we actually got some real rest (a luxury we haven’t indulged in for a while).

One of the cool things was coming back to Windsor Road Christian Church and getting to hear my buddy, Jason Wetherholt, preach.  I’ve always been a fan of Jason, both as a person and as a preacher, and his message today was powerful and passionate, as I expected.

He was preaching out of Ephesians 6 on the armor of God and the need for preparation…that everyday is a battle.  In making one of his points, he set up a great illustration:  (admittedly, a loose quote) “What if the American government enlisted hundreds of young people with unique talents in the prime of their lives while an intense war raged…and then had them spend the next 20 years sitting in a classroom?  The media would say, “what a waste,” right?  It’s no less embarrassing for Christians to spend their time, talents, and training just sitting on the sidelines.  What a waste.”

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in training.  I have absolute respect for proper preparation and education…I work with college students for goodness sake.  But I believe that sometimes we can theorize to the point of paralyzation.  Sometimes we can study God so much that we learn tons about Him and never actually know him.  Sometimes we can get so caught up in the classroom that we forget about the war.

I don’t want to be someone who sits on the sidelines and hides out. I don’t want to spend the talent, the time, or the training I have, doing something that doesn’t impact eternity.  And I don’t want to set an example for Ezra and Calla to pursue a comfortable life, so insulated that they don’t even need God.

Crystal and I went to see the movie, “Act of Valor” in the theater yesterday…and I thought of the poem one of the Navy Seals featured in the movie quoted in a note to his son.  “When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.  Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”

I don’t want to be stuck on the sidelines…I don’t want my family to be stuck on the sidelines, because sidelines are safe.

There is nothing safe about the life that Jesus calls us to.

You’ve got to get skin in the game.

If my children don’t see me take risks for the sake of the Gospel, how can I instill in them the beginnings of a faith that doesn’t just survive, but thrives?  If all they see me do is pursue worldy comfort, how can I expect them to change the world?

I’m praying for boldness, as Paul prayed for boldness in Ephesians 6, “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains.  Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”