(cc) Adam Baker, 2007.
Last month we concluded our 75th anniversary celebration; this month we begin our 76th year together. It is a dangerous passage.
The great danger of anniversary years – advanced anniversary years, in particular – is that agencies (and people sometimes, too) begin to think “old.” (I put “old” in quotation marks as the concept has nothing at all to do with chronology. I am talking about perspective.) The “old” may conclude, “Oh, we are so impressive! We have surely learned how to do things!” Or, “Oh, we have become so wise through the years!” Or, much worse, “Once, it is true, we were reckless and risked everything – but now we know better! We have reached the time of life to consolidate our accomplishments. God is not pleased with recklessness, after all.”
But he is.
God did not use Moses until he made him reckless. Can’t talk, Moses? No problem. Poorly equipped? You’ll make do. And he did! (Exodus 4:12)
God employed a reckless David, too. Underpowered, are you, against raging, giant Philistines? Off with your helmet and breastplate – and grab a few pebbles from the brook instead. That should do the trick. And it did! (1 Samuel 17:40)
Paul was irrepressibly reckless – and with God’s direct encouragement, it seems. Were you shipwrecked, dear Paul? Beaten? Weak? Misunderstood? Perfect! And it was. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
God seems to love a little bit of reckless. It is the perspective of gospel innovators and entrepreneurs. It is the perspective of missionaries and Kingdom adventurers – who haven’t yet “learned the ropes,” or “settled down,” or celebrated too many anniversaries. They haven’t grown “old” in their perspective or learned the limits of the possible. They insist on taking a chance when given the opportunity. They take God and his promises seriously.
It is this little bit of reckless that atrophies, sometimes, as we celebrate our many years of faithful service. Our appreciation of security, stability, and routine increases as we age, sometimes, while our tolerance for risk decreases. Our lives become complacent. It seems to us the natural progression of things.
Risk tolerance needs exercise, like a muscle – and especially at birthdays and anniversaries.
Think of Paul – a missionary success story if ever there were. Yet near the end of his life, after many anniversaries of his calling, the Great Apostle could say:
“I do not consider myself to have ‘arrived,’ spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. But I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me…. I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal….” (Philippians 3:12-14, Phillips)
If God remains at work in our lives – well, we never quite “arrive.” We remain a bit breathless and underpowered until the end, with much to learn and much more to experience. Rest does not follow our anniversaries, exactly. While there remains a road ahead, unrest drives us forward. Stability is not our reward, precisely. Risk is the currency of our calling – for as long as our calling is current.
So shouldn’t we be satisfied with our accomplishments through the years?
Let me reference Ralph Winter at this point:
“Never concede to doing something so small that it could be accomplished entirely in your lifetime. Be a part of something that began before you were born and will continue onward toward the fulfillment of all that God has purposed to accomplish.”?[1]
Ralph Winter, for his part, continued to “go straight for the goal” until his final days. It reminds me of something William James once said: “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.”
Sometimes, I do not doubt, it is appropriate to pause, to rest, to reflect on one’s experiences, and to celebrate – and we have done so for a while. But today is not such a time. Today is a time to press on.