Weighing the Risk
A friend of ours says that after she had children, she “lost her dare.” This is a woman who has previously chosen to skydive, water and snow ski, travel, ride roller coasters and who knows what else. Sbe still does most of those things (not skydiving!), but recognizing the responsibility involved in caring for young lives curbed her enthusiasm for risk taking. Some of us are born risk takers, others are more naturally risk averse, and some of us have changed as we have gotten older. Luke records that Jesus talked about risk taking.
“He said, ‘That’s what I mean: Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.”
Luke 19:26 MSG
This risk taking is about stewardship. It is about how we choose to spend our time, our talents, and our resources. It’s about how we chose to spend our lives.
Life is hard. Life is good, for sure. It’s a gift, no doubt, but it's also hard. The Christian life is hard. Just learning to live in the Spirit and to deny selfish patterns is hard; add in external challenges and it’s very hard. That’s why the road is narrow; it’s hard! Ultimately, however, we don't choose to follow Jesus because it’s easy, or because it makes life easy. We follow because it’s worth it. Let’s face it: following is risky. For some around the world it’s dangerous. It may cost you a career, or a job, or a circle of friends. It may cost status or wealth. It costs some their freedom.
Even if you live in the U.S. and can worship freely, you might face ridicule. You will struggle to understand and to apply what you know. You will want to look out only for yourself when Jesus says also look out for others. You will want to take the easy way and Jesus will say “pick up your cross.” You will learn to be generous and be happy about it, to serve others, to step aside, to love. You will give up a dream or a goal or a friend.
And it will be worth it.
Because you will realize dreams and plans that you never imagined but that fit like a puzzle into the pieces of your giftedness. And it might mean obscurity over notoriety, poverty over wealth, hardship over a life of ease. But those things won’t matter because you will have Jesus.
We need to tell our kids and others what they are signing up for. And we need to tell them we would sign up over and over and over. Because we are not signing up for a program, we are signing on with a person. When it comes to following Jesus, we don’t have to lose our dare!
Lord help me to be willing to risk it all to follow you wherever you lead. Show me how to follow and how to lead others to you. It’s all yours, me included.