Wayne Gretzky has been quoted many times for the saying, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” It is a phrase used in pre-game speeches, hung in classrooms and cited in books to draw inspiration for the task at hand. Nevertheless, there is a place where I do not think it is brought up enough – the heart of modern-day Christians.
Now right off the bat, let us get on the same page. I am not saying that Christians are a failure, or that there is no good being done in the name of Jesus around the world or even our campus. But I would say there is a considerable amount of apprehension involved in working out our faith that we should pursue to eliminate.
Where did we get the idea that we could not practice our faith? I do not mean practice as in gathering at church and other freedoms we are allowed in this country, but rather practice as in taking more shots. Too many times have others and I used the excuses, “It may not work,” or “I am not even sure what that would look like,” when discussing stepping out and acting on our faith. These excuses and anxieties are things I believe God is excitedly waiting and wanting to answer if we let him.
When you think about it, those excuses sound similar to that of Moses when God shows up in the burning bush. “Who am I that I should go … suppose they ask me, ‘What is your name?’… What if they don’t believe me or listen to me?” were a few of the things that had Moses worried.
God’s response was not to show Moses’ resume, or claim that Moses had some extravagant idea that only he could comprehend to save Israel. Rather, God assures Moses of himself by showing in Moses’ staff the miracles his power could bring about, essentially saying that the staff could go do the work if God wanted it to.
Is it possible that we will evangelize to someone and they will not accept Jesus? Moses would tell you to look at the making of the golden calf after God had just delivered the Israelites.
Nevertheless, the call does not cease with setbacks, nor should we be paralyzed by the possibility of it. In 2 Peter 1 we are called to, “Make every effort to add to our faith,” certain qualities that will, “keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our Lord Jesus Christ.” How will we know we possess these qualities unless we put them into practice?
Making every effort in our faith may involve some missed shots, but it does not involve a refusal to shoot.
Tyler Ford is a sophomore at Oklahoma Christian University
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