dream-awakener

Three Kinds of People

Today we started a new series at Kairos entitled: Facing our Future with Faith. One thing that is true about people of faith is that they are risktakers. It is also true that fear is one of the biggest enemies of faith.

I've noticed that there tend to be three kinds of people in this world. You have the risktakers, the caretakers and the undertakers. So which one are you? Let's take a quick look at each of them.

First you have the risktakers. If you had to describe them in one word, it would have to be daring. Their life is full of adventure. There is always something happening in them, with them and around them. They are living life on the edge. They are believing God for big things. When I think about risk takers, I think about the friends of the paralytic, who when the crowds were to tight to find the normal way into the house, decided to hop from roof to roof and then saw the tiles of the roof off and disrupt Jesus in the middle of his teaching with sawdust flying in his eyes. They were people who didn't give up, because risktakers see opportunities in every obstacle, while caretakers, on the other hand, see obstacles in every opportunity. And undertakers, well, they don't see anything.

If daring is the word that best describes the risktakers, then duty would have to be the best word that describes the caretakers. These are people who just do things because things should be done. There is no thrill left, no excitement. They aren't believing God for anything new. They always expect the same things. One of their favorite phrases is, "This is the way we have always done it." No adventure anymore in their life, their walk with God or their ministry.

When it comes to ministry and life, the risktakers say, "What great things is God going to do today?" The caretakers say, "I hope nothing really happens today," while the undertakers say, "What is today?"

So you have the risktakers, the caretakers and then the undertakers. If the key word for risktakers is daring, and the key word for caretakers is duty, the key word for undertakers would have to be death.

Do you remember the letter to the church at Saridis? Jesus said, "I know all things you do, and that you have the reputatoin for being alive, but you are dead." These are people who aren't even walking with God anymore. They are going about their business, caring only for themselves, not about advancing the kingdom. There life is like the seed that fell on the thorny soil; people who hear the good news and accept it, but the message gets crowded out by the cares of this world, the lure of weath, and so the result is, no crop is produced. That's the undertaker.

So which of these three people are you? Which one of these people will characterize your life this coming year? Are you going to be a risktaker, a caretaker or an undertaker. Which do you want to be?

If you want to be a risktaker, then you need to tune into tomorrows blog. Until then, think about your life, or check out the latest podcast from Kairos Los Angeles Live.

posted by J.R. Woodward @ 10:50 PM