FIRST GLIMPSE: i dare you     Eric Thomsen is the managing editor of ONE Magazine. Send comments and observations about ONE to editor@nafwb.org.

Leaning out as far as I could stretch, I peered nervously into the murky depths. An ominous mist rose from moss-covered black water as the morning sun dipped tentative fingers into the creek bed. The noxious odor of rotting wood and fungus touched my nostrils, and I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

“I don’t know. It looks pretty gross.”

I glanced around at my buddies. Crooked grins stretched across expectant faces. Spectators at a sideshow...or an execution!

“Scared?” Casey’s question lashed like a whip.

“Of course not.” My voice trailed off as I turned to look again. The large cast-iron pipe spanning the void seemed to shrink before my eyes. What had I been thinking when I bragged that I could ride my bike across that?

Licking lips suddenly gone dry, I turned to my so-called friends again. “I’m not sure I can do it.”
William’s eyes locked on mine. “Oh, come on. You said you could do this. You can’t back out now!” He paused then dropped the bomb, speaking slowly, deliberately. “I dare you!”
With shaking hands, I reached for my bike…

Dare is a fascinating word. From the Old English durran or durst, it can relate a first-person challenge (I dare you) or a first-person response (I take that dare or I dare not). Webster’s defines it “to prove courage,” but similar ancient Norse, Middle-German, and Finnish words read fool, madman, or lunatic—the dark side of daring.

Today, the word dare is often associated with risk, change, danger, and discomfort. Hardly comforting words! Yet even a casual reading of God’s Word makes it clear that He relishes in men and women who will take His dare, step out in faith, and make a difference in their world.

So…what is God daring you to do? Help start a church? Take Bibles across the nation and around the world? Lead a class of twentysomethings or become more deliberate in the way you pray for missionaries around the globe? You will find these challenges and many more within the pages of this magazine. Will you take the dare?

With heart racing and adrenalin pumping, I threw down my bike and whirled to look back at my friends on the opposite bank. The dark waters below no longer held menace. Suddenly, the creek seemed little more than an overgrown ditch.

“Who’s next!” My challenge rang out in the still morning. “I dare you!”