Welcome back to another week on the Ask Pastor John podcast, David writes in to ask this,

Dear Pastor John, in the wake of recent terrorist attacks around the globe and the rise of

violence targeted more or less directly at Christians and the daily reality of us Western

Christians is changing.

We've been accustomed to relative peace and safety here in Europe, but it seems that

times are quickly shifting.

That was used to be considered reasonably safe is now becoming increasingly risky like

travel or attending a concert.

This leads us to re-evaluate our behavior, should we just trust in God's providence, maybe

pray, and act as if nothing was happening, that is, continue our travel as before, continue

to visit our public venues as before, or is there some reasonable level of caution that

we should apply?

And in more general terms, what is the difference between wise biblical caution and a fearfulness

of unbelief or to put it another way, what marks the difference between courage and foolishness?

The first principle that I would lay down is the greater the cause, the greater the risk.

God never calls us to risk our lives for meaningless or silly or merely recreational

thrills, but he has regularly called his children to risk their lives and often lose

their lives for the sake of the gospel or to bring blessing to other people.

So that's the first thing to think about.

When the cause is great, risks are warranted, great risks are warranted.

One thing to ponder is that the Bible presents faithful discipleship as something or sometimes

standing firm in the face of danger and other times fleeing to avoid danger.

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