A Renunciation of Always Playing it Safe

Dear Friends,

It’s amazing how innovative people become when there’s no back door and no option to quit. Whether you know it or not, Main Street Baptist Church has leapt forward into an arena previous unexplored…a dramatic presentation open to the community during the Easter season. We’ve just never done a play like “Baggage Claim” before, and yet we committed to doing it before we even had a cast! To me, jumping into the dark and trusting that God will catch us is very exciting stuff.

One of the primary factors that contributes greatly to the success of any church or ministry is a “come hell or high water” commitment. When people say, “We’re going to birth something great or die trying,” when people have no plan B, no diversification strategy, no escape route, and no back door the juices get flowing.

I think that when people leave themselves the option to quit if it gets too rough, it switches off the innovation mechanism. When there is an escape route and people happen to run headlong into the kind of severe frustration that has the potential to spark a breakthrough concept, they have a tendency to start figuring out how to get out instead of how to fight through. I seriously feel sorry for people who miss the blessings and breakthroughs born only by perseverance because they constantly keep one hand on the back door.

May we all learn to take our hand off of the back door…at least in areas where we truly believe God is leading. I guess that’s why contingency plans make me nervous…if we’re ever not sure that God is in something, shouldn’t we wait until we are? What business does any church have in playing it safe? Our business is to follow God, and whoever said that was safe! Sometimes “playing it safe” is the least responsible thing we can do! Think about it.

Your pastor,

Ernest