Book Club Questions for Chase the Lion

1.Batterson opens with the account of Benaiah chasing a lion into a pit on a snowy day. What is your gut reaction when you first read that story? Does it sound heroic, reckless, or something else — and why?

2.Batterson argues that most people see the lions in their lives as something to escape, but lion chasers see them as God-given opportunities. What 'lion' are you currently running away from — a dream, a calling, a relationship, a risk?

3.The introduction sets up the idea that Benaiah's lion-chasing résumé is what prepared him to eventually become commander of David's army. How does this reframe the way you think about the difficult, even frightening, seasons of your own life?

1.The chapter title is itself a challenge. What does a life lived 'arriving safely at death' actually look like day-to-day? Can you describe a version of that life you've been tempted toward — or have lived?

2.Batterson argues that the size of your dream reflects the size of your God. When you look honestly at the dreams you are currently pursuing, what do they reveal about the God you actually believe in — versus the God you say you believe in?

3.Batterson uses the metaphor of a 'life obituary' — imagining what people will say about you after you are gone. What would your obituary say if you were to die today? What would you want it to say?

1.Batterson describes God-given dreams as 'odd' — they often don't make sense to the people closest to you. Has God ever put something on your heart that seemed odd even to you? How did you respond?

2.Batterson draws on Joseph's story — a young man whose God-given dream landed him in a pit before it landed him in a palace. What does Joseph's story reveal about the relationship between suffering and the fulfillment of a dream?

3.The chapter suggests that the enemy of the odd dream is not opposition — it's ordinariness. What ordinary routines, expectations, or comfort zones are most likely to quietly suffocate the dreams God has given you?

1.Batterson tells the legend of Honi the Circle Maker — a first-century rabbi who drew a circle in the dust, stood inside it, and told God he wouldn't move until it rained. What is your initial reaction to that kind of bold, almost audacious prayer? Does it inspire or unsettle you?

2.The chapter argues that most of us don't have because we don't ask — or we ask without really expecting. What does your prayer life reveal about what you actually believe God will do?

3.Batterson connects Elijah's persistent prayer for rain (1 Kings 18) to the idea of praying in circles. Elijah prayed seven times before the cloud appeared. Where in your life have you given up on prayer too early — after one or two attempts — when God may have been calling you to a seventh round?

1.Batterson draws on the story of Abraham leaving Ur — a wealthy, comfortable city — for a land he could not see, heading to a destination God had not yet named. What did Abraham have to leave behind, both materially and psychologically, to take that first step?

2.The chapter title evokes the idea of radical geographical and relational displacement in service of a dream. Has God ever called you to leave something — a place, a career, a relationship, a plan — to pursue something He was calling you toward? What did that cost you?

3.Batterson argues that the place you are afraid to go is often the very place God is calling you to. What place — literal or metaphorical — are you most afraid to go right now?

1.Batterson describes what he calls an 'inverted gospel' — a version of Christianity that promises comfort, safety, and personal fulfillment while quietly stripping out the cross. Where do you see this version of the gospel showing up in our culture? In your own heart?

2.Jesus says in Matthew 16:24–25 that whoever wants to save their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for his sake will find it. How does this 'upside-down' logic apply to the lion-chasing life Batterson describes?

3.Batterson argues that the greatest risk in life is taking no risks at all — that a life of self-protection is actually a life of self-destruction. Where have you seen this play out — in your own story or in someone else's?

1.Batterson highlights the moment when Benaiah faced an Egyptian giant armed with a spear — and Benaiah had nothing. He grabbed the spear out of the giant's hand and killed him with it. What does that image stir in you? What does it take to grab the spear rather than run?

2.The chapter draws a principle from this story: God often uses the very weapon the enemy wields against us to bring about our deliverance. Can you think of a time in your own life when something intended to defeat you became the instrument of your breakthrough?

3.Batterson connects Benaiah's spear-grab to David's use of Goliath's own sword to finish him off in 1 Samuel 17. What does this repeated pattern in Scripture suggest about how God operates — especially in situations where we feel out-resourced and outmatched?

1.Batterson describes divine favor as the 'X factor' that accounts for why some people seem to be in the right place at the right time. How have you experienced what you would describe as God's favor in your life? What made it recognizable as something beyond coincidence?

2.The chapter argues that favor is not something we earn, but it is something we position ourselves to receive through obedience, character, and faithfulness over time. How does that balance challenge both the passive ('just wait for God to bless you') and the driven ('make it happen yourself') approaches to pursuing your calling?

3.Batterson points out that Benaiah's lion-chasing track record — not just one heroic act but a pattern of them — is what positioned him for King David's favor. How does faithfulness in the small, unseen acts of obedience build the kind of character that attracts both divine and human favor?

1.Batterson describes a pivotal encounter with someone who represented a version of the life he could have lived if he had made different choices. Has there been a 'mirror moment' in your life — a person or circumstance that showed you a version of yourself you were in danger of becoming or had already become?

2.The Parable of the Minas (Luke 19) features a servant who buried his talent out of fear. Batterson argues that this is not just a cautionary tale about money — it is a story about what we do with every gift, dream, and opportunity God entrusts to us. What have you been tempted to 'bury' rather than invest?

3.The chapter presses on the idea that we will one day give an account for the dreams we did not pursue. How does that eschatological reality — the idea that we will stand before God and account for our lives — shape the urgency with which you approach your calling today?

1.Looking back across the whole book, which chapter or idea hit you hardest — the one that made you most uncomfortable, most hopeful, or most convicted? Why do you think that particular idea landed the way it did?

2.At the beginning of this study, you likely had a vague sense of the lions in your life. How has that picture sharpened over the past nine weeks? Name the one or two lions you now most clearly sense God calling you to chase.

3.Batterson's central hero is Benaiah — a man with a track record of improbable, lion-chasing acts who eventually became commander of David's army. How has your understanding of the relationship between small acts of faithfulness and large doors of opportunity shifted during this study?