Dangerous Wonder

One year after his death in a car accident, Mike Yaconelli's ministry lives on through Youth Specialties and the many books he authored.

Dangerous Wonder is perhaps the most profound of his books. His purpose was to write an “unpredictable book about God” and he sure did just that.
Being six is awesome. Everything is so real and alive! The ability to fly is real, Superman is real, everything . . . and then we grow up. Yaconelli takes a closer look at this transformation from child to adult and the faith we lose along the way.
Somewhere along our journey he said, we stop asking “why” and start answering the “why” even if we don’t have the answers.
Dangerous Wonder opens our eyes to the fact that we’ve lost the wonder of loving God, the amazement from being in His creation. He states, “The most critical issue facing Christians is not abortion, pornography, the disintegration of the family, moral absolutes, MTV, drugs, racism, sexuality, or school prayer. The critical issue today is dullness. We have lost our astonishment.” We’re so busy arguing about “issues” that we forget the good news is still good and that God still moves in miraculous and mysterious ways.
Yaconelli points out that when children ask questions, “they are not afraid to interrupt, irritate, or interrogate until someone responds.” Yet somewhere along the way to maturity they find four unwritten assumptions. Questions can be embarrassing, questions can make people uncomfortable, questions can be dangerous, and questions can be “right” or “wrong.” And because of this, they lose their innate ability to keep asking questions.
We do the same thing as Christians. We experience the same unwritten rules for questions to or about God. Often it is those with the childlike faith that ask the questions all the rest of us are quietly asking.
Throughout the story-filled and memory-packed pages of Dangerous Wonder the reader comes face-to-face with God; the God of happy terror, naive grace, irresponsible passion and more. The reader finds themself caught in the beautiful reality that having childlike faith is the most rewarding way to be a Christian; to keep asking questions and experiencing God’s unexpected answers.
Dangerous Wonder is more than just a guide to living faith, but a reflection on Yaconelli’s wild, crazy and God-focused life.

Dangerous Wonder: The adventure of childlike faith, Michael Yaconelli, Navpress, 2003, 168 pages (includes discussion guide).