Why do we crack on Peter?

In Matthew 14:25-31 we see a pretty cool event take place. The disciples, at Jesus' command, climb into a boat and go ahead of him to the other side of the lake and just before dawn they found themselves in a storm that was apparantly quite scary. However, they saw something that caused them to take their focus off of the storm and something that frightened them even more. Jesus was coming toward them and he was walking on the water. After telling the disciples to not be afraid, Peter, being the impulsive one said, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." So Jesus said come and Peter climb out of the boat and started to walk toward Jesus, ON THE WATER. However, after a few moments he realized that there were great waves around him and he was doing something that was not humanly possible and he began to sink. My guess is that he began to sink pretty quickly because he shouted to Jesus to save him and Jesus immedidately reached out and grabbed his hand and they both got into the boat.

Now, when most people read this passage, they say things like, "see, here is an example of someone who didn't have faith." or, "here we see Peter getting distracted by his surroundings instead of focusing on Christ." You know what? They are right. Peter did do those things. But you know something else? Peter was the only one who had the guts to jump out of that boat. I do not doubt for one minute that had any of the other disciples answered Jesus' call to come to him that they too would have walked on water. Can you picture it? 13 men having the time of their life walking across the lake while the boat they were in continues to get battered and thrown around by the wind and the waves. Imagine the look on the faces of the people on the other side of the lake as they watched these men walk to shore. Now imagine the talk among the dicsiples later that evening. "Hey Judas, can you believe Peter just jumped out of the boat like that? And then he didn't even have enough faith to stay afloat." Or, "Peter, when are you going to learn to not be so impulsive? Good thing Jesus was there to bail you out again."

You know something? Yes Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and yes he began to sink. Yes he made a mistake but he was the only one willing to take a risk. Why didn't the other disciples begin to sink? Because they were still in the boat. Crack on Peter all you want but he had the guts to literally sink or swim or rather sink or walk.

In my own personal life i know there are times when I tend to be too impulsive and this can get me in trouble. However, I know that there are times when I am too scared to take a risk for the cause of Christ. I want to be like Peter who although had some rough edges was willing to ignore the wisdom of men and put his life in the hand of Jesus (literally).

So are you going to be like Peter or are you going to stay in the boat?