As a high school soccer coach, I encounter certain opposing teams who can be quickly addressed and dismissed. Their coach may be a man of character, knowledge, and skill. Their roster may be filled with sharp men who have a great heart for the game and a tremendous work ethic. However, knowing my team in comparison to their’s, when it comes time to play ball, they are not deemed to be dangerous. Seeing them on the upcoming schedule does not put the fear of God in my life.
However, there are some programs that demand my great respect. Why? It is because they are intense, fierce, and motivated winners who are coming our way and cannot be ignored. They are shrewd, competitive schemers who must win or go down swinging. They are dangerous and worthy of fear. They have dominated other programs, and they have come to my stadium to do the same.
Well my friends, I wonder how those opposed to Jesus Christ look at us? Do they dismiss us as no threat, or do they see us as motivated, skilled, relentless and dangerous? Do they know that we and our church are a threat to their Christ-hating neighbor-slaying, devilish way of living life?
In Acts 17, Paul and Silas were sharing the Gospel of Christ in Greece, and they were doing so in the face of severe opposition. Seeking to stop the momentum of the church, certain Jews went to the civil authorities and proclaimed:
These men, who have turned the world upside down, have come here also. (Acts 17:6)
The Christ-haters in Greece were filled with fear. They knew they could not could easily address and dismiss Paul, Silas, and the church. These Christians were too competitive. They were too driven. They were shrewd disciples seeking to make more disciples, and they had come to town to win. They were leaders seeking to make more leaders, and they wouldn’t take no for an answer. Paul, Silas, and the Church were viewed as a serious threat to the pagan kingdom in their vicinity. They were deemed to be dangerous.
Oh friends, may this be said of us and our churches. May we not be non-factors. May we not be considered a sub-par, junior-varsity program. May we be so intense, motivated, driven, skillful, and unrelenting that the world knows our name, sees us coming, knows we will not go down without a fight, and considers us to be very dangerous. Let us be salty salt. Let us be blinding light. Let us put on the armor of God and march forward without even considering retreat. Let us be dangerous disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and be used of him to take the world by storm.
Unfathomable Grace 