Stop. Drop. Roll.

I remember the first “drill”. The first “tutorial”.

It remains ingrained in my memory.  In the file reserved for the events of my six-year-old self.   

There we were, standing in a straight line on the “grassy knoll” outside of the front doors of my elementary school.  The flag billowed behind us with a light breeze. 

I stood next to my first grade best friend, Jeff, and we, along with the rest of our class, squinted into the sun as we stared at our teacher and the fireman (who, much to our disappointment, wasn’t dressed in his heavy fire-fighting gear).  There was respectful silence as we listened to more instructions about fire safety but small gasps and anxious murmurs were heard as we were informed of an unbelievable and terrifying reality:

Someday, I could catch on fire.

My active imagination pictured my little body ablaze. 

My classmates must not have been very far behind me because, as I recall, we took the next ten minutes of calisthenics very seriously!  Calisthenics resulting from very specific instructions:

“When you find yourself on fire, you need to do three things: Stop.  Drop.  And then Roll.  And Keep rolling until the fire is out!” 

Freeze.  Down.  Roll in the grass.  Up.  Shake off the dirt.  Do it again.  All with military precision.  I’m sure we looked like a pile of puppies out there in the grass by the front doors of the school, but you had to know – we weren’t about to be found standing doing nothing when we, ourselves were engulfed in flames!

I remember taking my new skill home and explaining quite thoroughly how prepared I was to catch on fire.  I demonstrated my technique and insisted my siblings take part in my fire-preventing exercise!  I also remember waiting, sometimes in the fear of my dark bedroom (I had some pretty awesome anxiety issues and fire safety week often did a number on me in terms of the nightmare department), for the moment I would catch on fire and need to implement the three life saving steps.  I would repeat them over and over again in my head. 

Alright, so granted, my memory probably remembers the situation more dramatic than the reality but the intensity of my memory has insisted I’ve never forgotten. And yet, that memory also serves as the last time I can actively remember stopping and dropping and rolling…at least in that order for that purpose. 

I grew up believing “Stop. Drop. Roll.” was going to be a MUCH bigger deal in my life.  At the very least, I was relatively certain there was going to be higher instance of catching on fire. 

I did sort of catch on fire.  Once. The cuff of my jeans trailed over a still hot coal while at the barn preparing to teach a class.  The team of instructors at the time (and I!) all started to smell smoke.  We went looking for the source.  Each room I walked into, I was convinced the smell was getting stronger, that we must be getting closer.  I was mentally deciding whether to grab a bucket of water now or later in anticipation for rising flames I was surely about to discover.  And then, all of the sudden, we realized it was me.  I was on fire.  My first grade instincts did NOT kick in.  No part of me considered the need to stop, drop, or roll.  Instead we re-enacted a short version of a tribal dance where I stomped, patted, and subsequently squelched the burning denim.  My newly exposed ankle wasn’t even a little a hot.  Truly catching on fire had been avoided once more. 

Turns out, generally speaking, it is always good to be prepared for an emergency; important to know what to do and when to enact it, but emergency preparedness is typically just preparedness. 

Turns out, generally speaking, most adults I know can recite “stop, drop, and roll” and when it should be utilized.  Yet, I rarely see groups of adults in front yards running drills with military precision on the off chance their bodies would burst into flames.  While probably their own first grade memory will enact if the necessity ever arose, turns out, generally speaking, most adults I know are completely unconcerned about the prospect of catching on fire. 

Turns out, generally speaking (in my experience*), most Christians are as well.

A read through the book of Acts and most of the New Testament would make one think Christians could be bursting in flames with a much higher instance.  I can nearly envision Peter and Bartholomew and Paul and John and Timothy standing in front of groups of the curious and confused, the open and the skeptical.  I can hear Paul passionately proving the Old Testament scriptures and how they had been fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I can hear Peter admitting his denial and God’s faithfulness in light of his infidelity; his fervent desire to “feed the sheep”. I can hear John reminding the crowds of the words Christ has spoken, encouraging each to find him or herself connected to the Vine, to see Jesus as the way to the Father and the way to life.  And I can almost hear the gasp and anxious murmurs from the crowd as Followers of The Way convey an unbelievable and terrifying reality:

Those who become followers of Christ will catch on fire.

Perhaps it was never quite communicated in such a way but it was a known result. The disciples themselves had been anointed with fire at Pentecost, were filled with the Holy Spirit, were commissioned to go forward teaching and bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the very ends of the earth.  This fire wasn’t only something they had to prepare for it was undeniable and certain. The Holy Spirit, promised to every believer as a guarantee of our inheritance, set lives ablaze in incredible ways.

Christians hear this.  Learn this.  Know this.  And are mostly unburdened and unconcerned with catching on fire…

I recently finished reading the book “Forgotten God” by Francis Chan**.  A book which suggests we’ve forgotten about catching on fire.  More so, we’ve neglected the Holy Spirit.  We neither seek to understand what it means to be anointed with fire or to have lives ablaze by the work of the Holy Spirit.  We are comfortable, complacent, consumers of spirituality and have forgotten the Spirit lives within us and the passion and fire of following should makes us cities on hill, the light of the world, those who shine like stars in a crooked and depraved generation.  And instead, too often, we’ve smelled the smoke, experienced just enough of the flames raising to tribal dance stomp that baby right out…to avoid truly catching on fire.

Confronted with the reality of both our spiritual depravity and what should be the both terrifying and exciting realization of catching on fire, I recognize we are still given the opportunity to stop and drop and roll.  Not to put the spark out but instead to fan it into flames.

Stop.  Where we are. What we are doing.  Find ourselves in the pause; the moment where the spark first takes root.  Not being so quick to disregard, to forget, to carry on without it, but allow it to burn.

Drop.  Everything.  Our whole lives.  Our whole beings.  Our wants.  Our desires.  Our passions. Our fears. It’s hard to faithfully follow when our arms and hearts are full of the life we are supposed to surrender. Throw off what so easily entangles. Cast burdens on Jesus.  Being in tune with the Spirit is about surrender. Being on fire is about throwing off the bushel which would otherwise snuff it out. 

Roll.  Or better yet...  Run.  Run with perseverance the race set out for us. It isn’t enough to stop or drop if we don’t also roll.  If we don’t find ourselves willing to be led to where God would have us at any moment.  Rolling is impossible without stopping and dropping…as it is not a mindless a pursuit but determined act of obedience….and requires a trust which knows no borders and no limits.

And then keep rolling.  Rolling because the more we move, the more we follow, the more licks of fire will touch every person and everything we encounter.  To be ablaze with the Holy Spirit is to be contagious, passionate, moving, active, faithful.  To not be found doing nothing when we realize we’ve caught on fire. 

My eyes are squinty, my brain is racing.  These are unfinished thoughts as I have considerations and ideas and ponderings I haven’t quite explored and am still trying to figure out.  Especially as it relates to my life.  My acts of obedience.  My openness and willingness to put myself aside to be in tune with Father…and what I need to do to really make the act of “Stop. Drop. Roll” a MUCH bigger deal in my life.  To know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that in doing so there would be a much higher instance of catching the world on fire…

*I realize my experience is limited and not a full or completely accurate description of the world as a whole. 

**I would recommend Forgotten God as a read. Thought provoking, compelling, and challenging – it very biblically presented a case for understanding the Holy Spirit and His role in the lives of believers.  Regardless of where you “stand”, I think Chan does a good job of forcing readers to consider how they relate to the Holy Spirit and why having a relationship with the Spirit is essential…