Safety First?

Dirty Jobs, with Mike Rowe was one of my favorite shows.  Week after week Mike joins in doing the jobs that civilized society needs, but doesn’t like to talk about.  Sewer technician, Pig wrangler, Horse inseminator, Livestock Recycler, etc.  Fascinating stuff.  Mike tells the story of being 100 miles off the cost of Russia in the Bering Sea in thirty-foot seas with a crew of Alaskan Crab fisherman.  An unimaginably dangerous environment.  Some of the men are hauling in “crab pots” while other guys are busy with sledgehammers knocking ice off railings, equipment and the deck.  If this isn’t done, the ship will become top heavy and capsize! 

Mike comes in off the deck and heads up to the wheelhouse.  He walks through the door, looks at the Captain and says, “OSHA!?”  The Captain laughs and replies, “Its not my job to bring these men home safe.  Its my job to bring them home rich.”  Wow.  Let that idea crash over you for a moment.  If safety was the first priority of an Alaskan Crab Fisherman then he should never step on the boat.  Safety and fishing for crab are mutually exclusive.  The captain isn’t trying to be careless or cavalier about the lives of his crew.  He understands though, that his primary job is to provide them opportunities to become the best fisherman they can be.  Danger is inherent in what they do.

I hear Jesus saying the same thing. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:35)  Jesus’ primary concern is not my safety.  His invitation is, “come and die.”  Come and give all that you have for others.  To be a follower of Christ and to be concerned about my safely is a contradiction.  Again Jesus says, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  His job is to make me the best fisherman I can be.  If safety was my primary concern, then I should have never stepped into this boat of faith.

How many times have I felt God’s leading in a certain direction, and my first response has been one of fear.  Of questioning my own safety, my own perceived status, my own comfort.  That has to drive Jesus nuts.  He has stated so clearly and in so many ways that this journey of faith will not be easy, comfortable or safe.  What it will be—if I enter into it fully—is challenging, transforming, exciting, heartbreaking, passionate, world changing and dangerous.  I’m tired of living life with my main axiom of faith being, “Safety First”.  What does this mean going forward?  I’m not sure, but it begins by saying yes much more than no to the stirrings of the Spirit in my heart and mind.