Francis Chan on Risk and Security

For those of you who haven’t seen this video of Francis Chan talking about risk and security, it’s a must-see for parents and youth workers. (If you’re reading this via email or in a feed-reader, click here to watch the video.)

Here are some interesting quotes from Francis on our lives and faith:

“I’m just gonna have my nice little family. We’re just gonna keep to ourselves. We’re going to live in a gated community. I’m gonna home-school my kids, make ’em wear helmets everywhere….”

“You just live your life in the safety of ‘I don’t want to do anything crazy for God.'”

“Your greatest prayer is, ‘God, I would love to die in my sleep and not even feel it… and then just go up to heaven.'”

His basic premise is this: Living a life of safety as a Christian is not a life of true faith, and we would be foolish to think that God is pleased with it.

To make his point, Francis asks if we can imagine God saying on Judgment Day: “Wow, well done. Well done. You lived the safest life possible. You didn’t slip; you didn’t fall…”

That’s not the life that God has called us to.

It’s not the life that Jesus lead, not what he called his disciples to do, not how his church was built… and not how we’re supposed to live, either.

How does this challenge you today?

How could you live a life that is more than “the safest life possible”? How could you challenge your students (or your kids or friends or neighbors) to step out of security and into the deeper life of dependence on God?

For an adventure full of faith and risk, consider a mission trip with Adventures in Missions. Find out more about our youth group trips.