Dangerous Wonder (by Michael Yaconelli) - Part I

Dangerous Wonder: The Adventure of Childlike Faith

* Devlin knows how to listen and how to dance. He is not just gentle, loving, and compassionate, he is also wild, crazy, and incredibly creative.

Introduction

* It was the voice I heard deep inside - a warm and loving voice, a living, believing voice, a wild and dangerous voice. Every time I heard that voice, I recognized who it was: God.

* There is, deep within all of us, a voice. It speaks to us continuously, knocking on the door of our consciousness. When we are children, the voice is very loud, shattering our awareness with overwhelming clarity. Its loudness is not like a train or jet engine. It shouts to us with a whisper. It is like the wind breezing through a field of daisies, scattering their petals across the sky into a flower snowstorm. It is like a thousand flutes echoing in the middle of the forest. This voice of our childhood is the voice of wonder and amazement, the voice of God, which has always been speaking to us, even before we were born.
One sad day, we are aware of an absence. We can no longer hear the God-voice, and we are left with only silence - not a quiet silence but a roaring silence.
We did not want to stop hearing God's voice. Indeed, God kept on speaking. But our lives became louder. The increasing crescendo of our possessions, the ear-piercing noise of busyness, and the soul-smothering volume of our endless activity drowned out the still, small voice of God.

* The death of the soul is never quick. It is a slow dying, a succession of little deaths that continues until we wake up one day on the edge of God's voice, on the fringe of God's belovedness, beyond the adventure of God's claim on our lives.

* ... my heart began to dissipate, and I could sense the beginning of a wild and new way of living. I was full of joy and fear at the same time because I knew that if I listened to this Jesus and followed Him - if I, like the disciples, left my fishing or my tax collecting - He would lead me into treacherous territory, where every day would be an experience of danger and wonder at the same time: an adventure of dangerous wonder!
I was correct. Five years ago I decided to start listening again to the voice of Jesus, and my life hasn't been the same since. He has not been telling me what to do, He has been telling me how much He loves me. He has not corrected my behavior, He has been leading me into His arms. And He has not protected me from the dangers of living, He has led me into the dangerous place of wild and terrifyingly wonder-full faith.

* ... when we reclaim our childlikeness, we stumble upon the presence of God - and we are amazed to find the place all children know about: the place where we once again can hear the whisper of Jesus. Jesus always recognized children because they always recognized Him. When we find the place of dangerous wonder, our souls come to life and we sense that we are on the brink of a great and mysterious way of life.

Chapter 1 Dangerous Wonder

* What moments! What holy moments! To be in the presence of God, frightened and amazed at the same time! To feel as if you are in the presence of Life itself, yet with your soul shaking in both terror and gratitude.
I want a lifetime of holy moments. Every day I want to be in dangerous proximity to Jesus. I long for a life that explodes with meaning and is filled with adventure, wonder, risk, and danger. I long for a faith that is gloriously treacherous. I want to be with Jesus, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.

* What happened to radical Christianity, the un-nice brand of Christianity that turned the world upside-down? What happened to the category-smashing, life-threatening, anti-institutional gospel that spread through the first century like wildfire and was considered (by those in power) dangerous? What happened to the kind of Christians whose hearts were on fire, who had no fear, who spoke the truth no matter what the consequence, who made the world uncomfortable, who were willing to follow Jesus wherever He went? What happened to the kind of Christians who were filled with passion and gratitude, and who every day were unable to get over the grace of God?
I am ready for a Christianity that "ruins" my life, that captures my heart and makes me uncomfortable. I want to be filled with an astonishment which is so captivating that I am considered wild and unpredictable and ... well ... dangerous. Yes, I want to be "dangerous" to a dull and boring religion. I want a faith that is considered "dangerous" by our predictable and monotonous culture.
What I meant by "ruins" is a holy disruption where Jesus turns my life upside-down in order to make it right-side up.

* Our entire culture has become dull. Dullness is the absence of the light of our souls. Look around. We have lost the sparkle in our eyes, the passion in our marriages, the meaning in our work, the joy of our faith.

* Sin is more than turning our backs on God, it is turning our backs on life! Immorality is much more than adultery and dishonesty, it is living drab, colorless, dreary, stale, unimaginative lives. The greatest enemy of Christianity may be people who say they believe in Jesus but who are no longer astonished and amazed. Jesus Christ came to rescue us from listlessness as well as lostness; He came to save us from dullness. Our culture is awash in immorality and drowning in dullness. We have forgotten how to dance, how to sing, and how to laugh. We have allowed technology to beat our imaginations into submission and have become tourists rather than travelers. Television dominates our time, alters our values, numbs us to life in all of its wilderness. We have been stunted by mediocrity.

* Christ is the Dream Giver who wants us to listen to His dream for us so we can run like children in the fields of His grace. Trouble is, the fields are full of obstacles - obstacles that deafen us to God's dreams for us and keep us from an adventurous faith.

* Predictability and faith cannot exist. What characterized Jesus and His disciples was unpredictability. ... There was no Day Time(TM), no strategic plan, no mission statement; there was only the eager anticipation of the present moment.

* Take surprise out of faith and all that is left is dry and dead religion. Take away mystery from the gospel and all that is left is a frozen and petrified dogma. Lost your awe of God andyou are left with an impotent deity. Abandon astonishment and you are left with meaningless piety. When religion is characterized by sameness, when faith is franchised, when the genuineness of our experience with God is evaluated by its similarities to others' faith, then the uniqueness of God's people is dead and the church is lost.

* When our possessions possess us - imprison us - risk and adventure become impossible.

* Don't give up. Dangerous wonder is still possible for us all. You can still experience a volatile mix of astonishment and terror, awe and risk, amazement and fear, adventure and exhilaration, tears and laughter, passion and anticipation, daring and enchantment.

* Jesus was a dangerous man - dangerous to the power structure, dangerous to the church, dangerous to the crowds of people who followed Him.
Shouldn't the followers of Christ also be dangerous? Shouldn't everyone be awed and dazzled by Christians? Shouldn't Christians be known by the fire in their souls, the wild-eyed gratitude in their faces, the twinkle in their eyes, and a holy mischief in their demeanors? Shouldn't Christianity be considered dangerous - unpredictable, threatening to the status quo, living outside the lines, uncontrollable, fearless, wild, beyond categorization or definition? Shouldn't those who call themselves Christians be filled with awe, astonishment, and amazement?

* It is time to find the place where the dangerous wonder of faith can be discovered - a place landscaped by risky curiosity, wild abandon, daring playfulness, quiet listening, irresponsible passion, happy terror, and naive grace.
In a day when most of us are tired, worn-out, thirsty, and starving for life and joy and peace, maybe it is time to become a child again. Maybe it is time to quit college and take a year off to go to the mission field, or give up a secure job and go back to school, or leave the corporation because the work is killing our souls, or give up the possessions that are possessing us.
Maybe it is time to live this dangerous wonder of faith, take our shoes off, roll up our sleeves, and have "such a romp as no one has ever seen." Maybe it's time to play in the snow once again.