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Go-Karting with Jesus

by James Barringer  
3/04/2010 / Christian Living

Back when I lived in Texas, I had a couple of friends who loved to take their pickups off-roading. (Most stereotypes that you've ever heard about Texas are, in fact, absolutely true.) I was never all that comfortable with the idea, because it's pretty easy to flip a truck or get it stuck in some mud or slide down a hill we couldn't get back up. I went, of course, because I trusted my friends, but I spent most of the time clutching my seat belt with white knuckles, praying quietly that we would all make it out alive and with the truck intact.

In a similar vein, I went go-karting a few days ago with my girlfriend, Andrea. We were in one of the two-seater go-karts usually reserved for a grownup and a child, because Andrea feels basically the same about go-karting that I feel about off-roading. On our first lap, we went around and around and up and up, climbing about three stories, and suddenly turned a corner to find ourselves staring down a very steep three-story drop.

Andrea quietly had a nervous breakdown, and I hesitated for a split second, before remembering that the go-kart track had been carefully, specifically constructed to be safe for the people who were on it. Armed with that fresh confidence, I mashed the pedal to the floor and we went zipping down this hill, around the corner at the bottom, and through the rest of the course.

That got me to thinking about the way we follow God, and the fact that God's plan is frequently stressful to us. I think most of us believe, deep in our hearts, that God's plan is crazy and dangerous, more like off-roading, rather than carefully and meticulously designed so that it will never be too much for us. We conclude that fear and caution are much better than courageously living the life that God has mapped out. That leads to us coasting through life, never really taking chances, never accomplishing much, but at least avoiding the worst of the pain, or so we think.

The problem with this - and take it from me, because I lived a play-it-safe life for years before I came to God - is that, many times in life, pain and discomfort are a sign that you're on the right track. Do you remember having growth pains in your knees when you were younger? Not all of us did, but I did. I didn't like the feeling, but it meant I was getting taller, and I did like that. Have you ever exercised, lifted weights, learned a sport? I don't like the shortness of breath and aching in my thighs while I'm riding my exercise bike, but that feeling means I'm getting more in shape. The old expression "no pain, no gain" exists for a reason.

I look back at those times in my life, the times I was trying to guide my own life on a course that meant a minimum of pain and fear, and I notice two things about them. First, to put it bluntly, I wasn't much of a man. In any situation that was uncomfortable or fearful to me, I ran away. In any relationship that threatened to become "too close," that meant I was going to have to face my emotions and be vulnerable, I shut down and fled, or more accurately, I refused to make those relationships at all. What kind of a life is that? It's what happens when a person is more focused on fear than on God.

The second thing that happened to me is that I failed in my mission. I never did succeed in avoiding pain or disappointment. Those things are constants in life, and they have to be, because just like I said earlier, they're often either proof that we're on the right track or else they're opportunities to grow. At this point, we must resolve a question in our own minds: what is God's purpose with this life? Is it to give us happiness, joy, and pain-free existence, or is it to grow us?

It is, obviously, the second of those. We can take as just one example 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says that once we accept Christ, we are a new creation; the old is gone and the new has come. God's purpose is change, transformation. He wants faith. Think about this: if we skipped this life and went straight to heaven, we could never have faith in God. Why? Because faith is only possible in uncertainty. Hebrews says that it is the "assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." If we went straight to heaven where we could see God face to face, then we would never be able to have faith, because there would be no uncertainty. We would go the entirety of eternity without ever knowing what it means to have faith in God, to trust God, to rely on him.

Yet we persistently flee, like a dangerous and scary roller coaster, most of the situations in life that would give us the very opportunity to have faith, to trust, to be reliant. At the core of our souls, we really don't believe that the roller coaster was specially designed by God. It will be exciting and sometimes terrifying, but we won't fly off the tracks and we'll never be out of control - that is, out of God's control, because like a good roller coaster, we'll be out of our own control all the time if we're doing it right.

What keeps you from making difficult decisions for God? Do you distrust him; do you secretly disbelieve that the roller coaster he's planned for you is the best life you can possibly have? Or are you out on the ragged edge, living a dangerous and unpredictable life in faith? The desire to avoid pain and the desire to follow God are utterly incompatible, and you get to choose which one will win in your life. I urge you to choose wisely.

Jim Barringer is a 38-year-old writer, musician, and teacher. More of his work can be found at facebook.com/jmbarringer. This work may be reprinted for any purpose so long as this bio and statement of copyright is included.

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