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Every now and then I see a vehicle on the road, sometimes a large semi, sometimes just a van, and it has a sign on the back: safety is my goal.

The sign strikes me as weird. If safety were your goal, why don’t you leave it in the garage? Your goal is probably to move cargo from one point to another, perhaps on time, and yes, safely. But the goal can’t be safety. I’m not the first to come up with this objection:

Jesus gave us a mandate in Acts 1.8 that was anything but safe. Persecution started in Acts 4; Stephen was martyred in Acts 7; James, in Acts 12. Paul’s journeys were marked by opposition in every city.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1.8, NIV)

We have the promise of Jesus’ power and his presence, but we have no promise of safety. If safety is our goal, we can’t do the mission.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28.18 – 20, NIV, emphasis mine)