In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day
Mark Batterson's new book (just out today!) is all about taking risk and avoiding regret. "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" is inspired by one of the most obscure, yet courageous acts recorded in Scripture (II Samuel 23:20-21): Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it. Batterson suggests that your greatest regret at the end of your life will be the lions you didn't chase. You will regret the risks not taken, the opportunities not seized, and the dreams not pursued. Need a book that will challenge you to step out in faith and make a real impact, for the Kingdom? Today, I'd like to share a short passage from Chapter 1 of Mark's new book. Mark writes... Unleash the lion chaser within!
In his book If Only, Dr. Neal Roese makes a fascinating distinction between two types of regret: regrets of action and regrets of inaction. A regret of action is “wishing you hadn’t done something.” In theological terms, it’s called a sin of commission. A regret of inaction is “wishing you had done something.” In theological terms, it’s a sin of omission.
I think the church has fixated on sins of commission for far too long. We have a long list of don’ts. Think of it as holiness by subtraction. We think holiness is the byproduct of subtracting something from our lives that shouldn’t be there. And holiness certainly involves subtraction. But I think God is more concerned about sins of omission—those things we could have and should have done. It’s holiness by multiplication. Goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. Those who simply run away from sin are half-Christians. Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong. We’re called to chase lions.
There is an old aphorism: “No guts, no glory.” When we don’t have the guts to step out in faith and chase lions, then God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him.
Is anybody else tired of reactive Christianity that is more known for what it’s against than what it’s for? We’ve become far too defensive. We’ve become far too passive. Lion chasers are proactive. They know that playing it safe is risky. Lion chasers are always on the lookout for God-ordained opportunities.
Maybe we’ve measured spiritual maturity the wrong way. Maybe following Christ isn’t supposed to be as safe or as civilized as we’ve been led to believe. Maybe Christ was more dangerous and uncivilized than our Sunday-school flannelgraphs portrayed. Maybe God is raising up a generation of lion chasers.
In his book If Only, Dr. Neal Roese makes a fascinating distinction between two types of regret: regrets of action and regrets of inaction. A regret of action is “wishing you hadn’t done something.” In theological terms, it’s called a sin of commission. A regret of inaction is “wishing you had done something.” In theological terms, it’s a sin of omission.
I think the church has fixated on sins of commission for far too long. We have a long list of don’ts. Think of it as holiness by subtraction. We think holiness is the byproduct of subtracting something from our lives that shouldn’t be there. And holiness certainly involves subtraction. But I think God is more concerned about sins of omission—those things we could have and should have done. It’s holiness by multiplication. Goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. Those who simply run away from sin are half-Christians. Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong. We’re called to chase lions.
There is an old aphorism: “No guts, no glory.” When we don’t have the guts to step out in faith and chase lions, then God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him.
Is anybody else tired of reactive Christianity that is more known for what it’s against than what it’s for? We’ve become far too defensive. We’ve become far too passive. Lion chasers are proactive. They know that playing it safe is risky. Lion chasers are always on the lookout for God-ordained opportunities.
Maybe we’ve measured spiritual maturity the wrong way. Maybe following Christ isn’t supposed to be as safe or as civilized as we’ve been led to believe. Maybe Christ was more dangerous and uncivilized than our Sunday-school flannelgraphs portrayed. Maybe God is raising up a generation of lion chasers.
In this book, I will introduce you to some of the lion chasers I know. People like John, a Georgetown lawyer who put his law practice on hold to shoot a ocumentary film about humantrafficking in Uganda. Or Kurt, a tenured professor who gave up his chair to pursue a dot-com dream. Or Natalie, a college grad who moved halfway around the world to teach English in the Marshall Islands. Or Sarah, an NCCer who followed God’s leading to a mission trip in Ethiopa, despite her many fears. Or Lee, who not only quit his executive-level position at Microsoft but forfeited all of his stock options to plant a church. Or Greg, a political neophyte who decided to throw his hat in the ring and run for a congressional seat.
Most of us applaud lion chasers from the sidelines. Good for them! We’re inspired by people who face their fears and chase their dreams. What we fail to realize is that they are no different from us. The lion chasers you’ll meet in this book are ordinary people. They put their pants on one leg at a time like everybody lse. Most of them were scared to death when they bought the plane ticket or handed in their resignation. Weighing the pros and cons caused some ulcers along the way. And at times it felt like they were the ones cornered by the lion in the snowy pit.
I wish I could tell you that every lion chase ends with a lion skin hanging on the wall, but it doesn’t. The dot-com dreamer is successful beyond his wildest dreams, but the guy with political aspirations lost the election. However, both of them are lion chasers in my book. What sets lion chasers apart isn’t the outcome. It’s the courage to chase God-sized dreams. Lion chasers don’t let their fears or doubts keep them from doing what God has called them to do.
Mark Batterson's new book (just out today!) is all about taking risk and avoiding regret. "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" is inspired by one of the most obscure, yet courageous acts recorded in Scripture (II Samuel 23:20-21): Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it. Batterson suggests that your greatest regret at the end of your life will be the lions you didn't chase. You will regret the risks not taken, the opportunities not seized, and the dreams not pursued. Need a book that will challenge you to step out in faith and make a real impact, for the Kingdom? Today, I'd like to share a shortpassage from Chapter 1 of Mark's new book. Mark writes... Unleash the lion chaser within!
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