Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson

Just finished the book “Wild Goose Chase” by Mark Batterson.  Mark is the pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC.  And in this book, he describes what life could and should look like if/when we as Christians follow the Holy Spirit as a Wild Goose versus a Caged Goose.

I decided to read it while on vacation.  And to be honest, I questioned my role as a pastor, my role in ministry, everything.  The question for me was “Am I really willing to live adventurously for God? Am I willing to continue to experience failures and challenges and dangers for the sake of chasing the Wild Goose?”

In a previous post, you can see that I decided to go for the Wild Goose and I’m here to let you know that I’m scared to do so.  But it’s certain things Mark said, that really sets in on me.  For example:

There is nothing remotely passive about being part of the Kingdom of God. We are called to forcefully advance the cause of Christ. Faithfulness is not holding the fort.  Faithfulness is storming the gates of hell (p. 149).

“As my friend Craig Groeschel, pastor of LifeChurch.tv, says, ‘The difference between where you are and where God wants you to be may be the painful decision you refuse to make’ (p. 156).

“We turn our responsibilities into excuses. And that is when our responsibilities actually become a form of irresponsibility.  Our responsibilities become the cage that keeps us from chasing the Wild Goose.  And the only way out is responsible irresponsibility” (p. 18).

Well, no one said it was going to be easy and this book is full of story after story of people chasing the Wild Goose and seeing where it went.  Pray for me as we give it another go!