Wild Goose Chase - part 2

Yesterday I mentioned Mark Batterson and his book "Wild Goose Chase."  I don't want to give a book report, but I do want to share some things that made my heart beat faster while I read. In the introduction Mark explains the title:

Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something…

Here are my favorite quotes / ideas / themes from the book that moved me deeply:

• "I wonder if churches do to people what zoos do to animals. I love the church. I bleed the church. And I'm not saying that the way the church cages people is intentional. In fact, it may be well intentioned. But too often we take people out of their natural habitat and try to tame them in the name of Christ. We try to remove the risk. We try to remove the danger. We try to remove the struggle. And what we end up with is a caged Christian... And the cage opens when we recognize that Jesus didn't die on the cross to keep us safe. Jesus died to make us dangerous. Praying for protection is fine... But when was the last time you asked God to make you dangerous?  I would like to think that when I pronounce the benediction at the end of our church services, I am sending dangerous people back into their natural habitat to wreak havoc on the Enemy." (pp. 5-6)
• "I'm not convinced that your date of death is the date carved on your tombstone. Most people die long before that. We start dying when we have nothing worth living for. And we don't really start living until we find something worth dying for. Ironically discovering something worth dying for is what makes life worth living." (pp. 16-17)
• "Some of us live as if we expect to hear God say, 'Well thought, good and faithful servant!' or 'Well said, good and faithful servant!' God isn't going to say either of those things. There is only one commendation, and it is the by-product of pursing God-ordained passions: 'Well done, good and faithful servant!'" (p. 29)
• "Can I share a growing desire in my life? I don't want to do things I am capable of doing. Why? Because then I can take credit for them. I want to see God do things in me and through me that I am absolutely incapable of so I can't possibly take credit for them." (p. 35)
• "In the words of G.K. Chesterton, 'Grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. Is it possible God says every morning. "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon? The repetition in nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.'" (pp. 42-43)
• "I have come to this conclusion: I don't want to be good at lots of things; I want to be great at a few things. I would rather pour my heart, soul, mind, and strength into a few endeavors than do lots of things halfway." (pp. 53-54)
• "When Teddy Roosevelt was president, he and his naturalist friend William Beebe would routinely go outside after dinner and look up at the night sky. They would locate a faint spot of light in the lower left-hand corner of Pegasus and recite the following: 'This is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of 100 million galaxies. It is 750,000 light-years away. It consists of 100 billion suns, each larger than our sun.' Roosevelt would pause and grin. Then he would say to his friend, 'Now I think we feel small enough! Let's go to bed.'" (pp. 73-74)
• "In the 1870's, an annual church conference was held at Westfield College in Illinois. During the conference, the president of the college prophetically said, 'We are approaching a time of great inventions. For example, I believe the day is not far off when men will fly through the air like birds.'  One bishop present accused him of heresy. 'The Bible tells us that flight is reserved for the angels!' The bishop's last name? Wright. His two sons, Orville and Wilbur, recorded the first successful powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December, 17, 1903. Where would we be if it weren't for children who challenge our assumptions?" (p. 78)
• "Faith is not logical. But it isn't illogical either. Faith is theological. It does not ignore reality; it just adds God into the equation.... Think of it this way: Logic questions God. Faith questions assumptions. And at the end of the day, faith is trusting God more than you trust your own assumptions." (p. 79)
• "I don't want to live my life in such a way that the best I can do is the best I can do. Frankly, my best isn't good enough.... When I fail to pray, the best I can do is the best I can do" (p. 85)
• "In the words of C.S. Lewis, 'When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less.' If you understand that, you're getting better. If you don't, you aren't." (p. 99)
• "We are the most resourced church in the most resourced country the world has ever known. You know what is most lacking? Good old-fashioned guts! We need people who are more afraid of missing opportunities than making mistakes. People who are more afraid of lifelong regrets than temporary failure. People who dare to dream the unthinkable and attempt the impossible." (p. 145)
• "In the first century, church was anything but a safe place. It was a dangerous place... There is nothing remotely passive about being part of the kingdom of God. We are called to forcefully advance the cause of Christ. Faithfulness is not holding the fort. Faithfulness is storming the gates of hell." (pp. 148-149)
• "When did we start believing that God wants to send us to safe places to do easy things? God want to send us to dangerous places to do difficult things. And if you chase the Wild Goose [the mysterious God], He will lead you into the shadowlands, where light and darkness clash." (p. 149)
• "Jesus never promised safety or certainty or predictability. And He certainly didn't die on the cross to tame us. he died to make us dangerous. He died to invite us into a life of spiritual adventure." (p. 171)
• "Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death." (p. 171)
• "Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention." (p. 171)

This is a much longer post than I prefer to write, and I hope that wasn't too many quotes for you, but I couldn't limit my favorites to ten quotes...  I also hope if any of those quotes grabbed your attention as they have mine, that you might think about reading "Wild Goose Chase."  It will be worth your time!