Week 1: Introduction — The Odd Dream

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?

4.Batterson says that God-given dreams will always be beyond your ability and beyond your resources. Why do you think God designs things that way? What would be lost if our dreams were always comfortably within reach?

5.The book is partly built on the premise that playing it safe is actually the riskiest thing a Christian can do. Do you agree or disagree? What does playing it safe cost us spiritually?

6.Batterson writes that lion chasers are dangerous to the status quo and offensive to the uncommitted. Who in your own life — past or present — fits that description? What has their courage cost them, and what has it produced?

7.How does the gospel itself model the kind of radical, costly, lion-chasing risk Batterson is describing? How does Jesus's own life set the pattern for running toward what others run from?