Rockets, Lions, and Shields

Three weeks ago, on January 16, SpaceX sent one of their massive Starships heavenward. Around eight minutes after launch, the mega rocket exploded sending fiery debris streaking across the sky over the Caribbean islands. Despite the setback, the accidental pyrotechnic display was a sight to behold.

 

Moviemaker and explorer, James Cameron, posted soon afterward on X, “NASA has this phrase that they like: ‘Failure is not an option.’ But failure has to be an option in art and exploration, because it’s a leap of faith. And no important endeavor that required innovation was done without risk. You have to be willing to take those risks. So, that’s the thought I would leave with you, is that whatever you’re doing, failure is an option, but fear is not.”

 

As a Christian, I’m going to take Cameron’s thought and reframe it. Jesus tells his disciples to take up their cross and follow him. The “take up” part of cross-bearing means it’s a voluntary step of faith. And the cross part means there’s risk—as in, you might lose, you might suffer, parts of you might die off. And with that come varying degrees of fear.

 

For example, loving and forgiving are voluntary and risky. We don’t know what’s on the other side of those actions, but we follow Jesus down that road and see what comes of it.  

 

It’s also true that some people are more fearful than others. The more fearful people—and I count myself among them—are the ones who happen to be risk-averse, conflict-avoidant, and prone to catastrophizing. People like this are emotional processors. We think via our emotions and feelings. And because all that computing is deep down in our gut, it takes emotional processors a long time to figure out what we’re really thinking.

 

If you ask an emotional processor a good question that we didn’t see coming, our best answer is going to be 24-36 hours after we’ve been asked. But then it’s too late. And then we beat ourselves up over the dumb reply we gave yesterday. Emotional processors can get hung in a state of indecision when the choice is non-moral. As in, where would you like to eat, Chipotle or Moe’s? Uh…um…well…hmm. Meanwhile, sequential processors are losing their minds. For these and other reasons, emotional processors sometimes lack confidence in themselves as they see others who process faster.  

 

Since I’m subject to fears, I’m always on the lookout for help to engage it. I’ve learned, sadly, that my fears aren’t going away. Instead, I own my fears and repent of them. I actually say to myself at the moment of pressure, “Jon, repent of your fears,” and that’s two-second shorthand for, “Step in.” My instinct is always to step back in those situations, and if it’s a mountain lion, then sure. But if it’s a hard conversation or a decision to be made, then step in.

 

It's just that fear-based people tend to make lions out of cats. “There’s a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets” (Prov. 22:13). Maybe, but probably not. Instead, “The righteous are bold as a lion” (Prov. 28:1). And where do the righteous get their boldness to step in?

 

I recently found more help with this in the past couple weeks as I follow a Scripture reading plan for this year. On January 11th, I read Psalm 11. Verse 1 reads, “In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain’?” David, under duress, is being advised by others to flee. After doing a bit of digging into this Psalm, I came across this little poem by John Newton,

 

“Though hot the fight, why quit the field?

Why must I either fly or yield,

Since Jesus is my mighty shield!”

 

For some reason, the imagery made an impression on me, and I walked into that day with some more courage. But then I also remembered similar language in Psalm 3. I went back and took another look at that psalm. Verse 3 says, “But you, Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high” (NLT).

 

It so happens that back in the day, there were different kinds of shields for different miliary actions. You might have a small, circular shield attached to one of your arms for self-defense while you wielded a sword with your other arm. But then there’s a much larger shield that’s nearly full-body in height and practically wraps around you. Those larger shields are used when besieging a fortress—a situation where you’re either going forward, following the Lord, or you’re at least holding steady while the enemy pours their hatred upon you. Either way, God shields me IN the danger, he does not keep me from it.

 

One of my good friends once asked me, “What is the difference between confidence and courage?” Since he was unwilling to give me twenty-four hours to get back to him on that, he answered his own question: “Confidence feels good.” Man.

 

Upon reflection, the reason courage doesn’t feel good when summoned is because it’s in active tension with the fear you have to hold at bay. I’ll venture that in many pressured situations, especially for those who are fear-based emotional processors, what’s needed is not more information but more courage. If you need some time to gather courage from the Lord, I get it. But then I’d encourage you to give yourself a time stamp to be done by and then step in.

 

This now gets me thinking about my favorite meta-narrative of the Gospel, The Lord of the Rings. As the story builds to its epic ending, the king, Aragorn, sits on his horse facing his own soldiers. They are at the Black Gate of Mordor, and as the gate begins to open and the Eye of Sauron lights upon them and the horde of evil comes rushing at them, Aragorn says this:

 

“Hold your ground! Hold your ground! Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!”

 

Or in the original story, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

 

Because the shields of Men will shatter but the shield of our God will not.