Caution: Dangerous Jesus!

At church this past Sunday, the pastor preached a safe vs the dangerous Jesus as part of the "liar, lunatic or Lord" series. The message definitely struck me as I realized this concept has been a reoccurring one for me throughout the summer.
In the first preview service we attended, Pastor Carl preached on Extreme Living. Later in the summer, during a quiet time, God gripped me with getting outside the mindset of what does He think of me (although that was important to consider as I sought to know more about who my God is) and begin to examine what I think of God. The question intrigued me and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with the Lord answering it. Reflecting on Matthew 14 when Jesus called His disciple Peter out of the boat onto the water with Him, one of the SummerLINK girls mentioned in her testimony that no one ever got to Jesus by staying in the boat. Sunday morning's message seemed to draw together and challenge me with much of what Gods been teaching me over the last couple months. Revisiting this concept actually began the night before as I read a blog entry from a friend of mine. He had this to say:

I’m not calling all Christians to sell everything they have to give to the needy (unlike Christ might) but rather for the people of God to do something. Something. So many people, in the south especially, just get dressed up, go to church, feel better about themselves, maybe tithe, maybe do a food drive once a year. I would know, I was/kind of still am one of them. I’m working on it. Christ calls us to so much more, was so much more. Christian means “little Christ” yet the majority of us look nothing like Him.

It got me thinking about how Christians, including myself, get so wrapped up in our comfortable lives and don't practice what we profess. This is where the concept of radical, dangerous living comes in. The sermon on Sunday highlighted comfort as one of four things Jesus wants us to give up (the others being control, security and success)
We were created to live on the edge, to be challenged. Following Jesus should be scary at times. Pastor Greg quoted the new batman movie when he said: You thought attacking the core of a dark underworld there wouldn't be pushback? I Peter 4:12 Consider attacks to be one of the results of following well. Ladies, to quote a facebook flair I saw recently, (it made me laugh but when I thought about it I like the concept) "Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says 'aww crap shes up!'
As I prepare for what may be the most faith-stretching experience of my spiritual walk, (support raising) this is all the more relevant. In a "build-your-own Jesus" society, "no tolerance for absolutes" culture of safe Jesuses, my Lord is calling me out of the boat, away from comfort, security, control and promised success. The Pastor also mentioned that when God calls us to live dangerously, it may take various forms. Sometimes the dangerous route is to go, for others, the safe route is to run from the challenge (and from God's calling) while the dangerous route is to stay the course. The God who spoke the universe into existence doesn't back down or back away from His children. I can be assured my God's strong enough to hold me up.