“If You Want To Walk on Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat”
By John Ortbergs
By John Ortbergs
In whom or in what do you place your trust? This challenging question is at the heart of John Ortbergs’ book, “If You Want To Walk on Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat.”
Ortberg, Senior Pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian in California, uses the Biblical account of Peter walking to Jesus across the water as an illustration of every Christian’s struggle between faith and fear. He describes Peter’s experience succinctly: “Hope got Peter out of the boat, Trust held him up, Fear sank him.” I don’t know about you, but there are many times when I feel content to be what Ortberg calls a “boat potato,” relying on familiar routines, relationships and expectations. The truth is I’m afraid of failure. It seems safer to stick with the folks I know and the abilities I’m comfortable with using than to strike out into the unknown. Jesus wouldn’t expect me to do that, would He? The answer is yes, sometimes He would, because, “God’s general method for growing a deep, adventurous faith, is by asking us to get out of the boat.”
Ortberg combines Biblical teaching, personal examples and insights from other Christian authors in an engaging style. He wants to help his readers learn to be “water-walkers” like Peter. This means discerning God’s call, identifying and transcending our fears, accepting failure and becoming willing to take risks because we trust the One who called us. He illustrates “water-walking” with examples of Christians who have followed Jesus into the storm. Harriet Mears was an accomplished “water-walker.” She taught college age young people for years at Hollywood Presbyterian church and was a formative influence on many, including Billy Graham. Becoming frustrated with the lack of first rate educational materials she started a small publishing company in a garage. It grew into Gospel Light Publishers. Because she could not find a good single volume introduction to the Bible she wrote her own and it continues to be sold today. She also helped to found Forest Home, a well known spiritual conference center. Each time she saw a need she trusted Jesus to help her meet it. Yet at the end of her life, this amazing Christian woman, when asked what she would have done differently replied “I would have trusted Christ more.”
What would happen if we each trusted Christ more? Read this book alone or with a group of friends and you may find out. There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter, making it a good choice for a study group or book club.
