Extreme Dreams – just why? - 5th March 2008

This idea of doing something challenging ‘to find yourself’ is an interesting one, and I am always curious to understand people’s rationale for being there. Almost without exception, they don’t quite understand the magnitude of the task (‘I didn’t think the Sahara would be hot AND sandy’ is possibly the best example of this), and quite often, serious doubt creeps in on the first day or so. Corinne went to Mozambique last year and had a serious doubt moment soon after arriving – to her credit, she gave herself a good talking to, relied on God and pulled through really well.

Repeatedly, these are common themes that crop up when people talk about their extreme adventures – some of the phraseology is as follows:

‘Physical and mental challenge’
‘Need to prove myself’
‘Ambition’
‘Push the envelope’

Ben Fogle always picked people who were challenged and hugely unprepared, it makes for more exciting TV. If you are going to attempt to walk across the Sahara, pick some one who is fit. If you are going to climb in the Himalayas, pick someone with experience at altitude. If you are going to walk through jungle, make sure they can cope with heat and humidity. And yet, the majority of the teams he chose succeeded, in most cases more through physical and mental endurance, faith in their own abilities and team spirit rather than outstanding talents or skills. Some had to give up, either because they were not strong enough or they physically couldn’t continue. The words ‘point of no return’ kept cropping up – ie if you went beyond this point, you had to complete the challenge.

When it comes to people choosing to follow Jesus, a cynical part of me thinks that He seems to pick the ones least likely to succeed. It looks to me, and I am happy to be taken to task on this point, that there is a fair number of the lost, the lonely, the challenged, the not very goods. And yet – they end up as the shining examples of Christ – hey – look at the disciples – none of their CV’s had ‘potential disciple’ written all over it, and yet they came through and delivered.

And that is one of the fantastic things about being a follower of Christ. The entry requirements are minimal; one doesn’t have to have this qualification, that diploma, a certain amount of experience. The criteria is conviction – conviction about Jesus’ statement in John 14 v6
‘Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.’

And yes, one does require strength to pursue a Christian life, God helps you prove yourself because it is God that gets you through it – by ourselves, we are nothing.

So, there we are, in a slightly strange way, I have shown that Christianity is like extreme reality TV. Except that following God is forever………..