Of Belly Flops, Back-flips, and Walking with Christ
I spent about 45 minutes this afternoon on a raft in the middle of the lake. It was swim time and there were a few campers there splashing around. So, I decided to hold an impromptu Belly Flop Contest. For the huge prize of $1, camper after camper would purposefully land on their stomach, hoping to be judged as the "best" belly-flopper. Forget what on-lookers would say or how their mid-sections feel in the morning; it was all about the buck.
Some didn't want that kind of pain, so I taught them to do back flips. We had a couple of people who had never done one but with a little bit of coaching, they were flipping like pros in just a few minutes. My constant tag line for this was: "Not only will you leave camp knowing Jesus but you can also do a backflip." It was really cool to see the look on a camper's face when they came back up from the surface.
In life, so many of us are willing to endure a lot of pain for a small reward. We are willing to wreck relationships for a short-lived gain. We are willing to endanger our lives for a quick fix. We take huge risks for something that won't last a year. It was just as stupid on the dock this afternoon as it is for our lives.
But, sometimes the risk is worth the reward. To learn a new skill can be scary...really scary. To meet a new person, to take a new job, to change careers, or any thing like this can feel like we're 13, standing on the edge of a dock, about to flip our head over our heels and come within mere inches of certain injury.
But all fo this is kid-stuff, right? There's a reason we don't know any better when we're younger: we have time to redeem our mistakes. Or, at least that's the lie that we tell ourselves. There's just something so cool about standing backward on a dock getting ready to throw my feet over my head. To go head over heels for Christ can be a great experience, too.
Some didn't want that kind of pain, so I taught them to do back flips. We had a couple of people who had never done one but with a little bit of coaching, they were flipping like pros in just a few minutes. My constant tag line for this was: "Not only will you leave camp knowing Jesus but you can also do a backflip." It was really cool to see the look on a camper's face when they came back up from the surface.
In life, so many of us are willing to endure a lot of pain for a small reward. We are willing to wreck relationships for a short-lived gain. We are willing to endanger our lives for a quick fix. We take huge risks for something that won't last a year. It was just as stupid on the dock this afternoon as it is for our lives.
But, sometimes the risk is worth the reward. To learn a new skill can be scary...really scary. To meet a new person, to take a new job, to change careers, or any thing like this can feel like we're 13, standing on the edge of a dock, about to flip our head over our heels and come within mere inches of certain injury.
But all fo this is kid-stuff, right? There's a reason we don't know any better when we're younger: we have time to redeem our mistakes. Or, at least that's the lie that we tell ourselves. There's just something so cool about standing backward on a dock getting ready to throw my feet over my head. To go head over heels for Christ can be a great experience, too.
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