Suppose I’m standing on the ledge of a mile-high cliff, looking over. And I do this with genuine trust in God to keep me from falling over. But my friend stands back 10 feet from the ledge, offering to me that it’s not so smart to do that with the 30mph gusts that are blowing around us. He trusts God too… but he also thinks it wise to apply common sense in that situation.

So which requires more faith: to take the risk by hanging by the edge, or to be more “conservative” and step back a few feet and enjoy the view (though perhaps a less exciting one)? My guess is that most of us would initially be tempted to say that the one who stands on the ledge is exercising more faith than the one who doesn’t. But I think that would be wrong.

Why? Because our Lord Himself modeled the principle that doing risky (or foolish) things “in faith” isn’t necessarily being faithful. At least, that’s one of my conclusions from his reply to the devil during his temptation in the wilderness:

And [the devil] took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.” … And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:9,12)

In other words, he didn’t jump. Not because he lacked faith in His Father, but because “trusting God” (which is good) is not the same as “testing God” (which is bad).

Like it or not, we are surrounded (and influenced) by the culture we live in. And today’s culture is clearly adrenaline-rush-oriented, amusement-centered, and excitement-driven. And it’s a culture that glorifies risk taking! Thus, if our lives seem boring, I think we are tempted to ask ourselves if we are missing out. Not merely on life, but perhaps even on God’s will in our lives.

And thus, we’ve begun to equate “faith” with “taking risks” and “excitement.”

A few years, when I was still single, the Lord placed on my heart a deep burden for global missions, for declaring the glories of God to all the nations. At the time, I couldn’t think of anything more appropriate than “selling all I have” and going to the unreached peoples. Anything else seemed… short of the goal.

But now, a few years later, with a wife, four young children, a house, and an office job, I’m not exactly going to be featured on “Lifestyles of the Glamorous and Exciting.” Instead, most of my days are spent working an office job to provide for my family, or caring for children, or cleaning the house, etc. And Lois could tout an even more “mundane” lifestyle, as a stay-at-home mom, where even conversations with other adults are limited to evening chats online or occasionally on the phone; and otherwise cooking, cleaning, homeschooling, etc. Add to that a tendency to be fiscally conservative (anti-debt, pay off our mortgage ASAP, buy in cash) and to be homebodies (you know where to find us on Friday night!), and we’ve found ourselves singing this song:

Do we simply lack faith? We are wise with finances, careful about time management, and we are raising a family in the suburbs. That seems to take a lot less faith than any number of believers we know who are in debt over their heads due to poor planning or living on the “front-lines” of the missions field or dangerous urban ministry. So many of those “risk-taking” believers have these amazing testimonies of God’s faithfulness in answering their prayers in time of need… are we doing something wrong by not taking those same sorts of risks? Are we living by faith or merely by sight?

And here’s my conclusion after thinking about this question.

First, it’s not whether we take risks per se that shows great faith. The person who takes risks without considering the potential cost is not commended by the Lord (Luke 14:28-30). And taking on debt (financial risk) is not looked well upon either (Proverbs 22:7). So risk-taking is not inherently an act of faith, and faith doesn’t necessarily translate into risk-taking.

Second, if the Lord delivers us when we take risks for Him is not because we had faith, but because He is gracious! God is not bound by our faith to act on our behalf. And the man who makes unwise choices and is rescued from disaster should not be commended for great faith. The glory goes to God for His merciful kindness, and the man should be admonished for his foolishness.

Third, Biblically speaking, faith in God is commended in light of resulting obedience and not mere risk-taking. For example, in Hebrews 11, a number of saints in the Old Testament are commended for their faith. But not because they took great risks (though some did), but because they obeyed the Word of their God!

What then? The real measure of faith in God is our obedience to His revealed will to us, not in the excitement level of our lives. Our lives may feel mundane. But that’s okay, if our “unexciting” lives are committed to obeying God. In the past, and even now, I’ve been really jazzed by an inspiring call to “do missions when dying is gain.” But I find it even more helpful, these days, to take to heart Biola professor John Mark Reynolds’ idea of “bloodless martyrdom”:

Married love is difficult: full of confusion and doubt. Because it is a bloodless martyrdom, designed to purge us of selfishness and show us real love it is difficult.

The concept of “bloodless martyrdom” can be applied to more than just married life. It can be applied to parenting. To homeschooling. To being faithful in my job, or being a good steward of the resources God has provided for us, such as money, house, or cars.

Furthermore, I think the concept of faith-filled “unexciting lives” is utterly consistent with the bulk of the New Testament epistles. If you examine the NT, very few of the members of the church are doing “exciting adventures.” You don’t read repeated calls to “take risks, sell all you have.” Instead, more often than not, the real work of faith, based on mere weight of repetition, is whether we Christians are faithful and obedient to God’s call in things like parenting… marriage… hospitality… ministering to the saints… loving your neighbor.

In short, I think there is a great danger in “romanticizing” the Christian life. God is not looking for His church to be made up of a bunch of risk-taking, “extreme sports” types of people. He is looking first and foremost for faithful friends, faithful husbands and wives, faithful parents, faithful children, faithful neighbors, etc.; whose faithfulness in those tasks is built upon their faith-filled obedience to the God who has called them to such tasks. Even in the face of ridicule or discouragement or boredom.

We should not be like Don Quixote who imagined that the “real life of faith” is built on pursuing great risks and “impossible dreams.” Let’s instead consider the calling he has for each of us, however simple or unexciting, and with great faith, trust Him to accomplish great things through our “small deeds” of daily faithfulness.