The Cost of Inaction

I just spent an incredible week at camp with three amazing middle school students. The focus of the week was on Peter, Jesus' closest companion and the leader of the pack after Jesus left this Earth. Peter had so many failures and all eyes were on him. So, when he slipped up or made a mistake – it was a big deal. It wasn't because he was supposed to be perfect at everything or that he had some greater ability than everyone else. He was ordinary like any of us. But he was a leader and as a leader, his life was under a fine microscope and he lived in a glass house. Here is the thing though, none of that stopped Peter. He didn't allow that to hold him back. There were times that he maybe should have slowed down and processed some things a bit more before acting, there were times when he should have paused a moment to think before he spoke. There were certainly times that he should have humbled himself more, offered grace a little more, been a bit more obedient and less head strong... But in the end, Jesus called him and commissioned him to do a job and he did it without hesitation. If he has listened to the nay sayers, the critics, the revilers; he would've never accomplished all that Jesus gave him to do. If he had listed to himself after he so carelessly dinied Jesus 3 times and hung his head in shame and regret – he wouldn't have spread the gospel and helped to build the church as he had been tasked to do. No matter our flaws, no matter our short comings, we must be faithful in our calling and obedient in our mission to seek and save the lost. Salvation hangs in the balance. The cost of inaction is just too high.