Rich Dixon is asking questions again.

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One evening during the second FREEDOM TOUR, we talked about the notion of “being sent.”

We began with this prompt:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)

A while back I spoke at a men’s retreat. One guy answered a question about fear in a brutally honest manner. “I’m afraid if I really listen to God, He might tell me to do something I don’t want to do.”

Things got quiet.

Then another guy said, “Since we’re being honest, I think it’s weird how what God wants me to do and what I want to do always seem to be pretty much the same thing.”

Things got REALLY quiet.

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Like many retreats, guys shared openly around the fire that night. They agreed that too frequently we seek to serve – when it’s convenient. We’d love to volunteer, but gotta check the vacation schedule first. Of course everyone’s welcome, but…

Some questions to ponder:

What if the real problem is that we’re afraid to listen?

What if we want to follow – on our terms?

What if we’re afraid that Jesus was serious: “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison… yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.”

What if safely following Jesus leads us to avoid God because we’re afraid of what He might say?

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Maybe we’re afraid of hearing an outrageous response like the Rich Young Ruler. Personally, I’m not so afraid of being sent to Africa.

But I think I might be avoiding that quiet voice telling me to reach out to someone around the corner who makes me a little uncomfortable.