LIVING ON THE EDGE

Did you know that Christ-followers are supposed to live on the edge? Yes, we are!

If we really are pilgrims (ones who journey in a foreign land)—and that’s what the Bible says we are (1Peter 2:11)—then we are to live life awaiting instructions from Him on where to go and what to do. Living on the edge doesn’t mean living foolishly and doing bizarre things, it means living with a willingness to follow His instructions at any moment.

One of my favorite cops-and-robbers movies is “Heat.” It’s one of the few times Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro shared a movie. In the film, DeNiro (the bad guy) says that a successful crook needs to be ready at any moment to drop what he is doing, walk away, and start a new life somewhere else. This, he says, is the only way to survive as a criminal.

This is a mindset (not the criminal part) that Christ-followers need to be more attuned to. When God opens a door for us, do we really consider responding or are we so tied down that there is no way to follow that command? Are we capable of living on the edge?

The writer of Hebrews said, “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight…” (Hebrews 12:1). We are instructed to lay aside anything that hinders our forward progress. Can we do that? Are we doing that?

Very possibly the clearest example of “living on the edge” is seen in the life of Abraham: “Abraham, when he was called to go…obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). There was no visit to MapQuest to get a travel plan, no map to follow; there was nothing but a word from the Lord. “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

Try to imagine the conversation that went on between Abraham and Sarah after he explained why he taking down the tent. “What do you mean we are moving? Who said anything about moving? You don’t know where we are going? How can we be leaving if we don’t know where we are going? Have you been sipping from the jug again? Abraham, I like it here, this is a nice neighborhood. We have a lot of good friends and family here. I don’t know about this moving—and what is this talk about descendents as numerous as the sand on the seashore? Have you been taking those blue pills?”

Has God ever spoken to you like He did to Abraham? If you say no, it’s very likely you are not listening.

We talk about living on the edge and the picture that tends to come to mind is standing at the rim of a precipice—one wrong step and it’s over! This is poor imagery for a Christ-follower. Our edge doesn’t pertain to a cliff…it’s the edge of obedience, the edge of stepping out in faith. Obedience is the fruit of trust, and trust is built on relationship…knowing Him.

Carol and I were living in Santa Cruz, CA, when we graduated from college. I was very fortunate to have invitations to be assistant pastor at several churches. One of them was from a church just outside Monterey, CA. I mean, how cool is that, to live and be in the ministry in one of the most beautiful and laid-back areas of the country! But when we prayed about the invitation, God clearly said, “No, that’s not for you.”

For six or eight weeks we prayed and prayed about what we were to do. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God had called me into full-time service. Finally, we heard the still small voice say, “Go east.” When you live in California, there’s not much immediately to the west. About the same time as we heard the Lord say that, a friend called and asked if we would fill in for a pastor for two weeks at a church in New Jersey.

California to New Jersey…that meets the requirements of “go east.” And so we obeyed. We packed just about everything we owned in our unair-conditioned Chevy and drove to New Jersey, in the heat of late July.

I know what you are thinking and I agree. In the natural, it wasn’t a very smart thing to do but we weren’t trying to be smart, we were trying to be obedient and step out in faith.

We had a great time in a small township in northern New Jersey and while we were there, another invitation came, this time from Denver. We were asked to move to Denver and help lay the foundation for the Teen Challenge ministry there. It was while we were in Denver that David Wilkerson asked us to come to New York and join him in his fledgling crusade ministry. We moved there and the adventure was on big-time. (Carol and I laughingly call our life’s journey Dave and Carol’s Excellent Adventure).

It’s now 44 years later and the adventure is still on. We are all strangers and pilgrims (and some of you are stranger than others). This earth is not our home, it just happens to be the place we are stationed for service—and our normal state of life is to “live on the edge.”

God’s talking—are we listening?

“Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.”
Corrie ten Boom