Charles Blondin was a tightrope walker who made a name for himself stretching a cable over the quarter of a mile between the United States and Canadian sides of Niagra Falls. Blondin impressed many people by easily walking across the tightrope time and time again. He even upped the ante several times, going across in a bicycle, on stilts, even once carrying a portable oven and making an omelet. One day, he wowed his audience by going across the cable to Canada and pushing a wheelbarrow in front of him back to his American audience. Everyone cheered. Then hyped up the crowd saying, “Now do any of you think I can push the wheelbarrow back across, this time with a man in it?” Everyone cheered excitedly. “Very well then,” the great Blondin continued, “which one of you men will come over here to get in the wheelbarrow?” Nobody did. The crowd was hushed into silence.
It’s an old story, but a good one, because it speaks to us about what faith is. Blondin was not wanting someone who would walk the tightrope with him. He was not looking for someone to help push the wheelbarrow. He was just looking for a passenger. And yet, no one could muster the faith it would take to offer themselves for the wheelbarrow.
Likewise, we are called by Christ – not to do the miraculous work of spanning the tightrope of our salvation, but simply to trust ourselves to Him so that He can do the miraculous work to keep us safe. As we think about being “A Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace,” we too are called to think where Christ is calling to us to leave the solid ground and step into His wheelbarrow. If we do, we have the promise that He will prove that He will keep us safe.