Not Too Crate

We can have confidence in the Lord, because His words are true and through Scripture, He provides the strong foundation upon which we can build a life of faith. 1st Corinthians 3 says:

9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

The wisdom of God stands in contrast with the recklessness of humanity.  The world's wisdom is insufficient to guide us in the important decisions that we have to make; but, we have been given strong direction through the Scriptures.  We can be strong in the Lord because we have availed ourselves of the powerful truth that we find in His Word.  He will direct our steps as we surrender to His Spirit and enable us to walk in His wisdom.

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Jesus taught in Matthew 7 about the importance of building on a solid foundation, stating:
24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

Life is certainly full of risks - there are challenges all around, and we can find ourselves in dangerous situations consistently.  So, we don't need to be inventing new risks that are ill-advised.  

Such as the Milk Crate Challenge.  Yes, this is one of those social media things that doesn't seem to be particularly entertaining, but seems to bring out the daredevil in the participants.  CNET.com outlines how it works:

The Milk Crate Challenge involves stacking milk crates in a pyramid of sorts so they form steps. People try to climb up one side and down the other as the stacks get increasingly precarious. When they make a misstep or the physics of the situation just don't hold out, they fall to the ground, usually on top of the toppled crates.

The article goes on to say, "You'll find a collection of videos on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter of people stacking milk crates, trying to climb them like a staircase, and taking dangerous falls -- because, believe it or not, piles of milk crates don't make for sound structures." 

Videos of these feats have become quite popular, with the article stating that, "Before getting banned on TikTok, videos with the hashtag #milkcratechallenge had racked up more than 10 million views, and #cratechallenge had more than 82 million views..."

A spokesperson for TikTok said, "TikTok prohibits content that promotes or glorifies dangerous acts, and we remove videos and redirect searches to our community guidelines to discourage such content. We encourage everyone to exercise caution in their behavior whether online or off."

How injurious has this practice become?  The CNET article says:

So far it's hard to tell if anyone has gotten seriously injured. Doctors told Today that falls could result in injuries like "broken wrists, shoulder dislocations, ACL and meniscus tears, as well as life-threatening conditions like spinal cord injuries."

The article did report that, "...Atlanta's WSB-TV reported that a metro Atlanta health worker has seen two injuries from the challenge." 

A TechCrunch piece related that:

TikTok’s rise to popularity has seen numerous dangerous challenges go viral on the platform over the past few years. In 2019, a popular “throw it in the air” trend involved TikTok users forming a circle where nobody is allowed to move and then putting a phone on the floor to record them throwing an item up in the air on top of themselves to see who the object hits on its way down. Last year, a popular “skull-breaker” trend that went viral on the app prompted criminal charges after a teen was hospitalized as a result of the challenge. The trend involved tricking a person to fall backward on their head.

So, what can we say in response to this phenomenon? I think it can say something regarding the nature of risk.  For one thing, risk is everywhere; but unnecessary risks are unwise.  We have to rely on godly wisdom in the decisions that we make.

But, there may be those times in which we are called to step out in faith, to get outside of our comfort zone, and not "play it safe," spiritually speaking. In all things, we can depend on the direction of the Holy Spirit.  We have to make sure that we are walking in faith and not in folly.

The Milk Crate Challenge can provide some imagery consistent with Matthew 7, which depicts two men: one built his house on a firm foundation, the other did not.  They faced identical storms, but the results were different due to the quality of the foundation.  The life that is grounded in Christ will reflect His presence, and we can walk in confidence that the underpinnings are strong.

And, in all things, we can discern the difference between caution and fear.  I would say caution is rational, based on a careful evaluation of the evidence at hand, based in fact.  Fear is irrational, based on an errant view of the circumstances, not based in facts.  We are called to be people of faith, rooted in truth.