“Cage of Fear”

from the book "Wild Goose Chase" by Mark Batterson

Sunday, November 21, 2010: 1 Samuel 13:22-14:23

Introduction: Today as we end our “Wild Goose Chase” series, and we are going to talk about the Cage of Fear. A few years ago, two psychologists from the University of Michigan, William Gehring and Adrian Willoughby, did a study published in Science Magazine. Volunteers wore an electrode cap and they engaged in a computer simulated betting game and the electrode caps recorded changes in brain electrical activity in response to winning and losing. With each bet the medial frontal cortex showed an increase in activity, but what intrigued researchers was this – they found that the medial frontal negativity showed a larger dip after a loss than the rise in medial frontal positivity after a win. MEANING, that during a string of losses, the negativity registered in the front portion of the brain dipped lower with each loss. So, in essence, each loss was compounded by the previous loss. The significance of that is this – neurologically speaking, losses loom larger than gains.

I wonder if that is why many of us approach the will of God so defensively; we have the mentality of “better safe than sorry.” I wonder if that’s why the church is often more known for what we’re against than what we are for, because we are playing defense instead of playing offense. I would suggest that we need a paradigm shift. We need to quit playing not to lose, and start playing to win. We need to FEAR missed opportunities more than making mistakes. That’s what this cage and this biblical story is all about.

I. Advancement over fear - (1 Samuel 13:22-14:23)

a. Jonathan’s plan- Read 1 Samuel 13:22-14:23 ... A very important statement by Jonathan comes in verse 6, when he says: “Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf; for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving…” We might say that Jonathan had a sanctified medial frontal cortex. He did not let his fears dictate his decision. His desire to advance the kingdom, so to speak, was greater than his fear of failure, and his attraction to gain was greater than his aversion to loss. Jonathan was not playing defense. He was playing offense. He courageously climbed the cliffs at Micmash, and picks a fight with the entire Philistine army. Jonathan had a daring plan.

Now, if you were to run this by a General, he would tell you that it was the worst plan ever, because Jonathan is basically exposing himself to the enemy in broad daylight. Jonathan knows that God will give him a sign by what the Philistines say to them. If they say, ‘Come up to us,’ that will be the sign that the Lord has given them into his hands. Jonathan is very courageous here.

Illustration- I think I’ve said it before, that I have a fear of heights. One time when I was climbing some rocks with a friend of mine, we came across this gap in the rocks that looked difficult to get across. So my friend used the rope we had to help lower me down to the next rock so that I could then jump across. We took our time making sure that we were being safe, and of course since we were high up there was definitely fear involved! Finally I made it across safely, then my friend simply hopped down to the next rock and jumped over!! He made it look so easy, and actually it wasn’t as difficult as it had looked; no fear was needed.

In a much scarier scenario, Jonathan is preparing for a real battle: he is outnumbered, he is outgunned. What gave him the courage to go on the offensive and how did he know it was God’s will? I think it is impossible to know exactly what thoughts were in Jonathan’s brain, but this verse does reveal Jonathan’s courage.

If we were to take up Jonathan’s courage as a church, it would not come from education, because we know what we believe and what is important. We even KNOW what God wants us to do: tell people about the saving love of Jesus Christ.

I also don’t think that it is a lack of resources. You want to know what I think is the most lacking? Guts. Courage. Faith.

We don’t have the same kind of faith as Jonathan. The faith that led him to climb the cliff, to engage the enemy, and to realize that we are involved in something that is a matter of life or death and that we are called to live courageously, even dangerously for the cause of Christ. Now our lives aren’t on the line like Jonathan’s was, but that shouldn’t give us an excuse to be passive.

b. Playing offense- God is calling us to play offense, and this story should inspire us to this end. This story should remind us that God wants us to have daring plans, and He will back us in our plans when they are in line with His will. The concern shouldn’t be with how bold it is, but rather if we believe God is behind the plan. Sometimes the most daring plans come to us because they are from the Holy Spirit; they are part of this Wild Goose Chase we are called to be on.

We see at the end of the story, in 1 Samuel 14:23, that one person, Jonathan, creates a tipping point for the battle: “So the Lord gave Israel the victory that day..”

This should tell us that the will of God is not an insurance plan, it is a daring plan. I think more often than not, the will of God will involve a daring decision, a difficult decision, sometimes a dangerous decision that might even seem unsafe and insane. But the fact that the Wild Goose has prompted you to do it helps you to see that it is indeed a wise decision.

I like the way that the 20th century missionary C. T. Studd said it. He said, “Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” The church needs more people with this viewpoint. When did we start believing that God wants to send us to safe places to do easy things? Where do we get that? We make a false assumption about the will of God when we think like this. I think we’ve assumed that it should get easier the longer we follow Christ. I want to suggest that some dimensions do get easier the more you practice spiritual disciplines: it is easier for me to tithe now than it was in the beginning. It is easier for me to trust some of those crazy promptings of the Holy Spirit now than it was then.

But I think spiritual growth prepares us for more dangerous missions, to do more daring things for the cause of Christ, and it shouldn’t get less adventurous, it ought to get more adventurous. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Can I suggest that many Christians seem to operate with the exact opposite modus operandi? Perhaps the Lord won’t act on our behalf. So we spend our entire lives at the foot of that cliff, we just don’t have the guts to climb it, because what if God doesn’t act on our behalf? Well, you’re going to be there a long time and nothing exciting is going to happen and I wonder if that is why a lot of people are bored with their faith.

II. Overcoming our Fear to defeat the Enemy- (1 Sam. 14:2-23;Matthew 25:14-30)

a. Being active- God is calling us to be active, and when we are active, God will bless that activity. Jonathan was active, and we see how God blessed him. But on the other side you have Saul, his father, who is being passive. You’ve got Jonathan climbing cliffs, and take a look at what his dad is doing. 1 Samuel 14:2: “Meanwhile, Saul and his 600 men were camped on the outskirts of Gibeah, around the pomegranate tree at Migron.” What a study in contrast! I think what Saul didn’t do is just as significant as what Jonathan did do. His son is climbing cliffs; engaging the enemy, Saul is sitting under a pomegranate tree on the outskirts of Gibeah. What’s wrong with this picture? The Philistines control the pass at Micmash, and as the leader of the army of Israel, Saul should have been fighting back instead of kicking back. But he is on the sidelines instead of the front lines.

This isn’t the first time that Saul is sitting back and letting someone else fight his battle. Saul was head and shoulders taller than anybody else in Israel, Saul should have been the one out on that battlefield fighting the kingdom’s battles, but he was a spectator. I think, instead of playing to win, Saul was playing not to lose and he was content with letting others fight his battles for him.

I think many Christians are a lot like the Israelites who told Moses to climb the mountain and talk to God for them. They want someone to seek God for them, to do the work of the Kingdom for them. There are too many passive Christians. Church plays an important role in the spiritual rhythm of our lives, and it is an important time of gathering, and praising, and being empowered by God. But God’s ultimate dream is not that we just sit here each week and worship. God’s dream for our lives as Christians is that once we are recharged spiritually, we go out and live out our faith. We engage the enemy. We take the offensive.

I think there is a little Saul in each of us. There is part of us that wants God to defeat the enemy while we are on the outskirts of Gibeah under pomegranate trees. ‘Do it for us’ we say. You should PRAY like it depends on God, and WORK like it depends on you. Sometimes you’ve got to get up and do something, and if we don’t do anything, nothing is going to happen. EX. I’ve heard many of you say to me that I give fine sermons, and that it is too bad that there weren’t more people in church to hear it. But how many visitors do we have each week? Not that many. We all need to be working hard to bring visitors to church every week to hear God’s message!! That is one way that we can take the offensive.

b. Taking a step of faith- If Jonathan hadn’t climbed the cliff, engaged the enemy, picked a fight, the status quo would have remained. We’ve got to take that little step of faith as Jonathan did. God wants to say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But if you remember the passage in Matthew 25, Jesus says it to the two servants who use their talents and gain more, not to the servant who buried it and did nothing. The servants risked losing what they had so that might gain more. The servant who buried the talent was fearful of losing what he had. God wants us to put our faith into action.

We have a choice to make. Are we going to sit under a pomegranate tree on the outskirts of Gibeah or are we going to climb a cliff?

SO, let’s get practical for a minute and talk about some of the ways we can climb the cliff. This is where I want to be really careful because in the midst of the Wild Goose Chase, I have no idea what cliff God is calling you to climb. I can imagine it is a daring plan, or maybe even a dangerous plan. It will start with those little promptings from the Holy Spirit, and will require you to be obedient to those little promptings. These promptings will ultimately lead you to a cliff that you will need to climb, as Jonathan did, and there you will meet the Wild Goose at the top.

Let me give you some ways that you can be practical in living out your spiritual adventure…

Sometime next year we will be doing a Small Group Leaders Training. This is a great way for some of you to help move forward our small group ministry. God is calling some of you to be leaders of these small groups. We will make sure you are completely prepared for leading a small group. This may be a daring call for you, but God is right now prompting your heart to get involved in this way. OR, maybe God has prompted you with a ministry idea, but you are fearful of it, because you don’t know how it can happen. You need to share it with me, or one of the elders, and let us move forward in making it a reality in our church.

A second way to be on the offensive is to TITHE; to give 10% of what God has given to you. I want to tell you from experience that life is so much more exciting when you tithe, and when you see how God not only provides for you, but blesses others and the church through your giving. It is fearful to give so much of our money away, but that is what makes it exciting. It turns your life into a spiritual adventure, and in this adventure, God will take care of you.

A third idea, is what I mentioned before; bringing people to church. Maybe you asked someone to come, and they said “no,” and you haven’t asked them again. Or maybe one person said no, and you decided to stop asking. I guarantee you, that there are many people you come in contact with every week who need to get right with God, and who need to get back to church. It might require you to drive them, or to call and remind them on Sunday. That is your faith in action.

As we are approaching the end of the year, it is a good time to reflect where we have been challenged, and where we have struggled, and where we have been blessed. It is important to set some new spiritual goals for your life. Pray first, and let God lead you to the goals He wants you to have.

Let me give you one last word of encouragement. I know you some of you are sitting here thinking, ‘I’m not Jonathan. That’s a great story but that’s not me.’ Well, there’s someone else in the story, it’s the armor-bearer, and that’s what I love about this story, without the armor-bearer, Jonathan can’t do this. It says that Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me, the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.” And Jonathan climbed up using his hands and feet with his armor-bearer right behind him, and together they wreak a little bit of havoc for the kingdom.

Here’s what’s great, not everybody can be a Jonathan, but you can be an armor-bearer, you can be part of what God is doing. We are part of the greatest dream ever dreamed. We call it The Great Commission: ‘Go and make disciples of people everywhere.’ Are you involved in making disciples? You can be!

You are part of something bigger than you can even imagine, because you are a child of God, and as such you are part of God’s Kingdom. You fear keeps you from engaging in the battle we face. I think that a lot of our fears are subconscious, we’ve never defined them, and the first step is actually defining what we fear. Then once we have acknowledged what that fear is, we ask God to help us overcome that fear, and take that step of faith. Again, this puts us on a wonderful spiritual adventure.

The enemy is a fear-monger, it is one of his primary tactics, but perfect love casts out all fear. So what we need to do is grow in our love relationship with God. When we do this, God will release us from our fears.

Conclusion: Henry James once wrote a story titled The Madonna of the Future. It was a story about an artist who devoted her entire life to a single painting, and when the artist died, it was discovered that the canvas was still blank. She never finished because she never started./ Lord Acton, a 19th century historian, was a prolific thinker, authoring numerous lectures, essays and reviews, but he never published a book. In fact, when he referred to his life work, he had a title, he called it “A History of Liberty.” Many have described it as the greatest book that was never written. In the words of Daniel Borstein, Lord Acton was always discouraged by the imperfection of material. He always delayed his unifying work by the promise of new facts and new ideas still to come. Borstein said Lord Acton knew too much to write, and thus his life work, the culmination of everything he had learned and experienced became a Madonna of the Future.

Here’s my question – what is your unpainted canvas? What is your unwritten book? What God-given dream is collecting dust? What God-ordained passion remains caged? What fear is keeping you at the bottom of the cliff? I have no idea what your Madonna of the Future is, but here’s what I do know, you will never finish what you don’t start. That’s what this series is about. Too many people get stuck in the cage of responsibility, the cage of routine, the cage of assumptions, the cage of guilt, the cage of failure, and the cage of fear.

So take the first step so the Wild Goose Chase can begin for you. God is inviting you into the reality of what you life can be. Jesus is saying to you, “Come, follow Me.” He says this to invite us into a life changing relationship with Him, and He says it to invite us on this Wild Goose Chase. I want to encourage you to say yes to the spiritual adventure God has for you, and start walking that path today. I want to challenge you, you’ve got to climb the cliff, you’ve got to accept that invitation, and I want to invite you to do that today. Amen.