Christian Living

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Live on the Edge

by Lamar Taylor

One of my favorite places is an area called Machin Basin. It’s an alpine area high in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado. At 12,000+ feet, it covers 10-12 square miles. The Continental Divide forms its western border with rugged peaks approaching 13,700 feet on the south and southwest. There is a lake, several small ponds and streams, bogs, meadows and scattered patches of scrub fir, pine and willows. Interlaced with rock outcrops and low, rocky ridges, it’s a favorite summer hang-out for elk.

As an employee of the U.S. Forest Service, it was my responsibility to monitor vegetative conditions in the basin. Since it’s in a wilderness area, the only legal access is by foot or on horseback. My co-workers and I rode into the basin several times each summer. One of the trails tops out at around 12,800 feet on a ridge overlooking the basin from the southeast. From that point, the ridge slopes downward toward the basin for about 25-30 yards and then it becomes a sheer, vertical drop-off of close to 300 feet. Sitting astride a horse at that point, enjoying the grand vista before us, we literally “lived on the edge” for the time we were there. And you didn’t want anything to spook your horse from behind!

God calls Christians to “live on the edge.” What does that mean? It’s to make Jesus Lord of your life, and like Isaiah, say, “Here am I. Send me.” It’s total abandonment to God and radical obedience to His commands and plans with total and complete trust and faith in Him. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24). Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love others as yourself (Mark 12:29-31). Know Jesus intimately (Philippians 3:7-10). Overcome the works of Satan by the word of your testimony and the blood of the Lamb and care not whether you live or die (Revelation 12:11). Be passionate about serving Jesus, no matter the cost. Take a stand for Him and speak out against and do something about the things that are wrong in the world and in our nation. Vote against people and initiatives that run counter to Christian values. Write, phone or email legislators and government leaders about pending legislation that is not consistent with God’s word. Lay hold of the Kingdom by force (Matthew 11:12, NIV). Be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). It’s a revolutionary lifestyle!

The Bible is full of accounts of ordinary people who dared to obey God and “live on the edge.” Noah. Abraham. Moses. David. Daniel. Hosea. Peter and John and Paul. The heroes of faith (Hebrews 11).

It includes people like William Carey, David Brainerd, Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Rachel Saint, and all other missionaries. They left family, home, friends, jobs and sometimes financial security—their “comfort zones”-- to serve God in another country. They’ve gone into war-torn and hostile nations, to people who suffer unimaginable poverty and disease, and to the spiritual frontiers of the earth to tell people about the love that Jesus has for them. They risk disease, permanent physical injury, psychological and emotional trauma, and even death to themselves as well as to their families.

They are also people like John Wesley, D. L. Moody, Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, David Wilkerson, Mother Teresa and countless others who chose to follow God’s call on their lives.

Sunday School teachers, worship leaders and innumerable others who work for and volunteer in churches also “live on the edge.” They don’t receive the accolades, but they are no less important than missionaries and pastors and Bible teachers and others who minister to the poor and hurting and lost of the world.

In our mid-forties, God called my wife and me into full-time ministry. We left our family, friends and well-paying, professional jobs in a small mountain town in Idaho and moved to Los Angeles to attend Bible college. For us, that was “living on the edge!” Some of our family and friends thought we really were living on the edge—the edge of insanity! It was literally culture shock at first, but when we graduated two years later, we knew we could stay in L.A. if that was what God wanted. Instead, He sent us to pastor churches in Colorado and Oregon. Since then, we have lived in and taught conversational English in Korea and lived and worked on an Indian reservation. We have also been on several missions trips.

Once you’ve “lived on the edge,” you’ll never be the same. It will create in you an insatiable desire for more. Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth with a Mission (YWAM), wrote a book entitled Daring to Live on the Edge—An Adventure of Faith and Finances. It’s an account of how God has faithfully and miraculously provided the resources, money, and facilities for YWAM’s work around the world. In his opening comments, he wrote, “It’s never easy to step out on that tightrope for God. Whether it’s your first opportunity to hear and obey or your thousandth, it is always exhilarating. But once you have experienced the thrill of radical obedience, you will never be the same.”

There are hungry and hurting people all over the world who are without hope and who live in spiritual darkness. Billions of people have not had an adequate opportunity to hear that Jesus loves them. Our co-workers, neighbors, and those in our schools, jails and nursing homes need to hear about God’s love. All of these need someone who will dare to “live on the edge,” who will reach out and touch them with the love of Jesus Christ.





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