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| AP PHOTO RICK BOWMER |
Nik Wallenda walked
across the Grand Canyon – well, not really. He walked across the Colorado
River. But that in itself was an amazing feat.
As was his explanation for taking such a risk:
“
No, I don’t believe that God’s invisible hand is holding me up on the
wire,” he wrote. “But yes, I do believe that I am strengthened by the
steadiness of my faith. I do believe in a God whose steady love is unshakeable
and eternal. That belief allows me to get beyond my apprehensions and ignore
what otherwise might feel like my limitations.” (
Article)
This got me thinking about better and worse ways to magnify
God. I did not watch this event -- I am having enough trouble trying to live out
my faith with both feet planted firmly on the ground – in a world cold to
Christ Jesus and His word. I wanted him to stop this stunt because human life
is a terrible thing to waste, especially when he is a father with children. To
see a Christian deliberately risk his life in such an endeavor boggles my mind,
when so many people lose theirs just going about their daily lives. Christians
in hotspots around the world are getting beyond their apprehensions and
ignoring what otherwise might feel like limitations just by walking out their
front door!
I am glad Mr. Wallenda did not harm himself. However,
walking in Christ’s footsteps is not like walking across a two-inch wire with
no tether – although living in this world may feel like it.
I am currently reading about the effects of another man’s
walk that will never get the coverage that Mr. Wallenda did. Pastor Ken Smith,
from the Syracuse Reformed Church, wrote a kind and inquiring letter to an
English professor, whose criticism of Promise Keepers in a local newspaper
garnered all kinds of feedback. He
took a risk, gently and quietly, and he engaged a woman’s mind and heart with
courageous diplomacy.
Pastor Smith and his wife offered friendship to a
self-proclaimed radical feminist lesbian and so opened a window so that she
might see God’s steady and unshakable love.
They took quite a risk! But, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield,
in
The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert describes the reward. She showed me a better way to walk in uncertain
times – and I commend this book to those who wonder how relevant the Gospel is
in today’s world, and how personal and persistent God is. Her book reminds me that
kindness, respect, and offering a cup of cold water are not beyond my
capability. Practicing them is a
good way to stay steady in uncertain times. (Isaiah
33:6)
