Called to Play it Safe

(This is a third and final post on thoughts I have after reading "A Holy Ambition" by John Piper. The other posts are here and here.)

"The price is suffering, and the volatility in the world today against the church is not decreasing. It is increasing, especially among the groups that need the gospel" (Piper 120).

Suffering. Ah, suffering. Let's be honest. When I think about being a missionary, I don't think about suffering much. I mean, I think about the kind of suffering that involves giving up: American comforts, owning a home of my own, living close to family, owning a pet dog, attending my home church, having access to grocery stores and restaurants and Auntie Anne pretzels. Yes, I think of that type of suffering often. And I don't want to minimize how hard all of those things will be to give up... to leave for years at a time. But that type of suffering is only a fraction of the type of suffering that Jesus went through. That Paul went through. That many missionaries and many native believers in foreign countries are going through this very minute as their bodies are brutally beaten for the gospel.

Piper talks about Americanism...
"It's the absorption of a consumer, comfort, ease culture that is permeating the church. And it creates little ministries and churches in which safe, secure, nice things are done for each other. And little safe excursions are made to help save some others" (122).
... and this mentality has certainly seeped into my mind. I like safe, little ministries. I like safety. I like serving God while feeling safe. The best of both worlds, right?

But Piper (and ultimately the Lord) reminds my heart that suffering is necessary, though I try to deny it. "...suffering is the means and not just the price." Suffering is the means to get the gospel to the nations.

Maybe I won't have to suffer in any ways more brutal than the ways I listed in the first paragraph. But I must be willing. We all must be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel. If we really believe it, why would we not be willing?

John Piper wrote a paragraph that really caught my attention. He says, "Paul's self-understanding of his mission is that there is one thing lacking in the sufferings of Jesus. The love offering of Christ is to be presented in person through missionaries to the people for whom he died. And Paul says, 'I do this in my sufferings. In my sufferings I complete what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. [Col. 1:24]' Which means that Christ intends for the Great Commission to be a presentation to the nations of the sufferings of his cross through the sufferings of his people. That's the way it will be finished. If you sign up for the Great Commission, that's what you sign up for" (124)

Am I ready to sign up? To be honest... I'm not sure. But I have signed up. So I trust that God will help me in my weakness.

"Jesus died in our place so that we might escape the wrath of God, not the wrath of man... Don't ever elevate safety in missions to the point where you assume that if one of our missionaries is killed we have made a mistake" (Piper 136).

So, no... I wasn't really called to play it safe. I wish I was sometimes. But when I read the Bible, I just can't find any justification for living a life where I play it safe.