Living Dangerously

Super Glue your fingers together.

Smash a penny on a railroad track.

Burn stuff with a magnifying glass.

Not particularly constructive activities … but fun.

Especially if you’re a kid.

According to one book, these are three of the 50 dangerous things parents should let their children do. The book’s title? Not surprisingly, it’s Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do). In response to the overprotective and excessively worried style of parenting that seems to dominate today’s culture, authors Gever Tulley and Julie Spiegler are urging moms, dads and kids to live dangerously!

So go ahead: Lick a battery! It will teach you about shock and electric currents.

When done properly, these activities help children explore the world around them, learn problem-solving techniques and expand their creativity.

So live dangerously – but don’t burn down the house.

The prophet Jeremiah, however, isn’t just taking a little risk and exposing himself to a little danger: He’s taking a huge risk when he buys a field during the siege of Jerusalem. In the 32nd chapter of Jeremiah, the Chaldean army is surrounding the city and the prophet is in prison. In the middle of all this upset and uncertainty, Jeremiah takes the unexpected action of purchasing a piece of land in his hometown of Anathoth.

Perhaps the book of Jeremiah should be subtitled Fifty Dangerous Things (God Should Let a Prophet Do).

So what’s going on here? The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah through a cousin named Hanamel, saying, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours” (Jeremiah 32:8). Hanamel is offering Jeremiah a piece of land that seems to be worthless because the Chaldeans are about to crush King Zedekiah and the Israelites and take them into exile in Babylon. But Jeremiah jumps at the opportunity — the Lord speaks to him and says, “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land” (v. 15).

Jeremiah takes a chance and makes a risky investment. Why? Because the Lord has spoken to him. He does a dangerous thing because God has promised that the land of Anathoth has a future, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Sure enough, the people of Anathoth do eventually return, after the exile (Ezra 2:23). God’s Word is revealed to be reliable, trustworthy and true.

What looked risky turns out to be right.

If we’re going to follow in the prophet’s faithful footsteps, we need to take some risks in response to God’s Word. So what are the dangerous things we should be doing as Christians today?

Social justice, perhaps?

These are fighting words in American politics today, but they’re grounded in the Word of the Lord. Near the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus launches his ministry “to bring good news to the poor” (4:18). Then, at the end of his ministry in Matthew, Jesus denounces the Pharisees who neglect “justice and mercy and faith” (23:23). This focus on social justice can be found in the Old Testament as well, such as when God commands us through the prophet Isaiah to “seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (1:17).

The Word of the Lord is a dangerous word. It often requires speaking the truth to power, as Jeremiah does when he says, “King Zedekiah of Judah shall not escape out of the hands of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hands of the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 32:4).

No wonder King Zedekiah locks Jeremiah up and is tempted to throw away the key.

But the prophet is compelled to say what he does, because the Word of the Lord is clear. And the same is true for us. Our challenge is to take God’s Word seriously and then work for change in a nonpartisan way.

Because we take the Bible seriously and are required to uplift the poor, our actions will always be focused on issues of social justice. But we know very well how difficult — and even dangerous — this work can be. Uplifting the needy is one of the 50 dangerous things every Christian should do.

There are other challenges as well, including making a significant financial investment in the ministry of the church. Notice how Jeremiah puts his money where his mouth is, like a church member making a pledge to the 2020 stewardship campaign. He weighs out the money to his cousin Hanamel, 17 shekels of silver. “I signed the deed [to the field at Anathoth],” says Jeremiah, “sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales” (vv. 9-10). Then he gives the sealed deed of purchase to a man named Baruch, in the presence of Hanamel and a group of witnesses, and he orders Baruch to put the documents in an earthenware jar for safekeeping (vv. 11-14). The whole scene is about as exciting as a real-estate settlement.

But here’s the honest truth: Making a financial investment in ministry is just as risky as working for social justice. It may not be as dramatic, but it’s every bit as dangerous. When you put your money into the mission and ministry of the church, you don’t know what the future holds. But you show the same faith Jeremiah did when he bought a field based on God’s promise that “[h]ouses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land” (v. 15).

Making an investment in God’s future is another risk that Jeremiah took — and that we should take as well.

Here are some dangerous activities we might engage in:

• Sit in the front pew (you have to start somewhere!)
• Make sure the mortgage is the only monthly cost that exceeds your charitable giving.
• Spend time on a regular basis with a friend who doesn’t know Jesus.
• Don’t complain about any area of your church unless you’re willing to serve there to help create change.
• When people gossip with you, ask them if the person they’re speaking of would be comfortable with what they’re sharing.
• Commit to reading the whole Bible in a year. It will change you.
• Tithe your income; give 10% back to God.

The good news is that when we live dangerously with God, we don’t find ourselves diminished, depleted or destroyed. When we take the Word of the Lord seriously and make a risky response, we advance God’s will and grow closer to both the Lord and each other.

You don’t have to burn stuff with a magnifying glass in order to get fired up. Instead, listen for God’s Word, and step out in faith.

And remember: Faith is like electricity. You can’t see it, but you can see the light.