I’m not going to argue here that Jack Bauer is Jesus – although the show has made him out to be more of a Christ figure this season than any other. I love Jack. My wife loves Jack too. We’ve seen every hour of every season.
But I also love Jason Bourne.
Nearly 10 years later, I still get amped when I see Maximus do this.
Before Mel Gibson blew it by making some dumb comments about Jewish folk, I used to want to be William Wallace.
Here’s my theory (and I am staking everything I have on this by launching The Courageous Church):
God has placed in me (and in you) a desire to take BOLD, COURAGEOUS actions for Him. It’s deep inside of you. These television heroes stir it up in you, but they didn’t place it there. God did. Some part of you wants to do what Jack did this past Sunday. When watching it, you imagine yourself being courageous and risking it all to do something righteous.
You want to be courageous, but life, much like what we see in the Matrix, has a way of causing you to choose a very ordinary path.
Clock in. Clock out. Fill out your report. Direct deposit. Clock in. Clock out. Fill out your report. Direct Deposit. Automatic bill pay. Clock in. Clock out. Fill out your report. Three day weekend.
But here’s the thing – being courageous is not some new fad on television. You could throw the Bible up in the air and point your finger at the page it lands on and I BET YOU find a courageous man or woman taking risks for the Lord. I won’t call roll, but I will suggest to you that no one exhibited more courage than Jesus.
Read the Gospels and see for yourself. Do you really think that God placed the excitement and courageous urge inside of you so that you could go out and buy the collector’s edition DVD of 24? I don’t.
Two questions:
1. If God really placed the courageous urge inside of us, why are most of us sitting on it?
2. What is one badass thing that you would like to do if #1 wasn’t in the way.
Let’s talk about it!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
If you haven’t yet, check out John Eldredge’s book “Wild at Heart”. It’s all about this topic man. He uses the Gladiator scene as well.
I for one am tired of sitting on my laurels. Going to church every Sunday, singing some songs, and living by doctrine contrived by the suits isn’t cutting it for me. Ready to live out my faith and actually be what Jesus intended me to be.
i love jack.
jack could whoop jason bourne with one hand tied behind his back. william wallace? maximus? no match for jack!!
Could NOT agree more Shaun, thanks for pushing us all forward!
Shaun,
The only answer to your question is, the degree to which we fail to display courage in our daily lives is a direct reflection of the degree to which we fail to trust and have faith in God’s love for us.
We treat the dreams and opportunities God has for our lives like we are insurance actuaries. “God, I’m willing to take the risk to go to church on Sunday and tithe, and I even might do some weekend service projects if it only costs me minimal amounts of time, those are all within the level of risk I am willing to take for You. But plant a church, long term missions, or alter my career path??? No, that is just too risky..how would I (fill in the blank) if it didn’t work out?”
As Erwin McManus has said, “we treat faith like a noun, not a verb”. We talk about it, treasure it, share it, but all too often we place a limit on just how much faith we are willing to DO.
I am not suggesting everyone has to display the courage it takes to do what you are doing in planting a church. God doesn’t call everyone to plant a church or take an equally huge step of faith.
But He does ask each of us to have the courage found through trusting His love everyday. He does ask each of us to have faith in the fact that in every aspect of our lives, if we are following His will, only the right thing can happen.
And that takes real courage!
I love Jack, William Wallace And Jesus. I want to be Peter on Heroes too!
If I could do anything – I would use the word badass on my blog. Then I would be badass!
Looking forward to seeing what badass things Courageous Church does!
Reading this is perfect timing today–God really working this exact thing in me!! It’s still all coming together so have to get back to you with the specifics of #2!! ;)
@Chip “I am not suggesting everyone has to display the courage it takes to do what you are doing in planting a church. God doesn’t call everyone to plant a church or take an equally huge step of faith.But He does ask each of us to have the courage found through trusting His love everyday. He does ask each of us to have faith in the fact that in every aspect of our lives, if we are following His will, only the right thing can happen.And that takes real courage!”
U r so right on w this! I am on the church planting journey and to all around it looks like I have great courage…yet I cower in fear @ the everyday things God pushes me to do. I think trusting God in the everyday is often tougher…
#1: Fear
#2: Get some things off my chest, in the most loving way possible. :) All about the timing though.
Great post!
Hi Shaun,
(Too funny, Chip! re: using the word badass on your blog)
Two things I would (with more courage) like to do are, 1) play my Christian rock at, say, full blast to WAKE UP a couple neighbours – figuratively speaking, of course … and 2) install about a 400 watt amp in my car, complete with all the various woofers, sub-woofers and (who is that guy woofers). I guess there are 3 things with the 3rd being to answer people at work honestly when they ask me why I am always so joyful…that one would really be gutsy – I would be fired for the mere mention of Jesus’ precious name – and that would defeat the purpose to live full, joyful lives as a testimony to God’s love and the finished work of Jesus … for the world and for me!
Rock on, Shaun…
***update on your wife and baby girl, please
Blessings in Christ,
from Robert Kaye in BC, Canada
Thank you so much for sharing this. You have no idea how badly I need to read this. As I stand at a great crossroads in my life and struggle to put my feet BACK onto the RIGHT path, reading this helped reinforce what I already know to be true and reminded me of what I SHOULD be doing. God is so good and I’m thankful that you wrote this, Shaun. I really needed to read this.
Ebony
p.s. Please keep us posted on wife and baby and thanks again!