I wanted to write something about this subject of a reckless love, a subject spoken that you see so much out there in “Christendom” . I recently saw a promotion from RightNow Media, which I love their stuff, that is a new study entitled “Reckless Love”, and I won’t judge the study as bad or anything, but in the cliff notes it says things like from ice climbing a 100-foot cliff, to drilling wells in Ugandan refuge camps, 5-episode videos series challenging you to recklessly live out your faith. I won’t judge a book by its cover so check it out and make your own decision on that…BUT, I do question the concept of “Recklessly living out your faith”…

I admit, it sounds daring, and definitely has a reckless abandon and chase after God in service to Him and others sound to it. It goes on to say ‘What if we pursued God and served others without worrying about the cost?’ It sounds on the edge living which is what we do in America, but again, is this what God did, or what Jesus actually teaches us in scripture? Let’s pursue the scriptures on this, and not what Chrstendom says… Because again, our opinions are great, but if we can’t back them up against scripture, we are called to not embrace the idea, even if its popular….its a slippery slope, we are to live Christocentrically…Christ-centered living and thinking…

1 – RECKLESS FAITH…Is there a such thing? I know even in the ‘Ragamuffin’ culture, the word reckless love comes up quite often, yet I am learning to be more cautious with that term… Jesus is very clear in scripture when he tells us regarding following him, count the cost carefully…

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?

Luke 14:25-34 NIV

COUNTING the cost is very important, and Jesus even says “Sit down” and count the cost…Nothing reckless about that, sounds like careful consideration to me…

So, is there a RECKLESS pursuit of God, just abandoning all and running? Not according to scripture…As a believer, you don’t need to run, God is right there, we don’t need to pursue Him, because He is already pursuing us…we just have to LOVE Him, spend time with Him in the scriptures, Pray and let Him in daily to our lives to be a part of it…

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20 KJV

God will use you where you stand, if you allow Him through the filling daily of the Holy Spirit which indwells us as believers since Salvation, a promise from Jesus (He will send a helper), asking the Holy spirit to lead you daily in your walk. You don’t have to be reckless and climb an ice mountain, or jump out of a perfectly good airplane, run to a third world country….turn around, invite Him in, and He will use you in guiding your next step of faith! Now if that next step in prayer is to go to a third-world country, awesome! BUT, you prayed through scriptures, COUNTED the cost, and then stepped out in faith…with a plan, nothing reckless about that!

2 – RECKLESS LOVE OF GOD….We have already seen above that we count the cost by Jesus example, and that pursuing God is not reckless, so that leaves us with one more thought…The RECKLESS Love of God, is it real, or something dreamed up through overtaking of our emotions in Christendom, or through our worshipful artistry?

I can go all morning on scripture examples showing how careful God is and how precise He likes things, building of the tabernacle, measurements, exact placement of items within it, the colors, thread count, fabrics within, and who is and who is not allowed to go in to certain areas… precise instructions given to Noah to build the arc, down to the measurements, type of wood, what the door should look like, animals, pigeons, doves… God is the God of order, not chaos and definitely not reckless.

Does God pursue me recklessly? Oh, by no means does He! God had a plan BEFORE THE FOUNDATION of the earth was made, you are talking to the Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end, the one who WAS, IS and ALWAYS will be… God’s story is MOST DEFINITELY a LOVE Story to you and I, the ULTIMATE love story, but not a reckless love story…

God, from the very beginning COUNTED the cost…God the father and Jesus and Holy Spirit (Trinity) were there since the beginning together, a picture of TRUE oneness! God KNOWING in advance, COUNTED the cost carefully, gut wretchedly, swallowing hard, giving up Jesus His only son who was with Him from the beginning, to be sacrificed for you and I because of our Sin…The PERFECT Lamb of God slain for you and I. That is LOVE, COUNTED long and hard…not reckless!

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, COUNTED the cost through tears of blood, asking if the cup can be taken, the task at hand, but He did the will of His daddy…definitely not reckless, but most certainly the ultimate GIFT of LOVE and SACRIFICE for you and I, taking our place of punishment, so we may be one again with God. So the cross was known from the beginning, planned before the foundations of the world. But not a reckless abandon in any way, scripture says God even “turned his face away”, can you even FATHOM what His heart looked like at that time, what was going through His mind….You and I were on the mind of the trinity from the beginning….LOVE, GRACE, MERCY, FORGIVENESS…oneness!

In closing, our intentions and our hearts are there, which is what God looks at, so by no means am I being critical because like Cory Asbury’s song, his interpretation saw God as reckless, but God knows his heart was in the right place. But that doesn’t fully excuse us from using that artistry to present a FALSE Gospel picture, which is what Reckless love is. As you consider your next step in your journey with the Lord, remember to carefully count the cost…pray, search the scriptures, search counsel of other believers, then step out in faith….God will meet your steps of faith!

I leave you with this beautiful old hymm…Count The Cost…