Close the Gap

By Pastor Jeffrey Smith

 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons;they will speak in new tongues;  they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark 16:15-18 NIV

Do you ever feel like you’ve started playing it safe with your faith? Faith involves risk and if there’s no risk, there’s really no room for faith. We have to step into a level of life beyond our control because if we live only in the realm of our control, we have no need for the miraculous power of God. Faith is about stepping into the unknown.

Jesus tells us that if we really believe in him, we will cast out demons, preach the gospel, and lay hands on the sick and they’ll be healed. The church that Jesus founded and died for is a church that passionately walks out His purposes. The church that Jesus died for is a church that looks for every opportunity to change the lives of others. 

This kind of life requires audacious faith. To be audacious means to be bold and daring. We each have two lives: the life we live, and the unlived life within us. The only way to release the unlived life within us is to live audaciously. Until we do, there will always be a gap between the life we’re living and the unlived life within us. Audaciousness is a full embrace of the risk that comes with faith and is the only way for us to close that gap.