Risk

Jesus is the greatest teacher who ever lived. One of Jesus' techniques was to relate spiritual ideas to common everyday life. Pensamientos (afterthought) is an attempt to follow Jesus' method of teaching. Its title is in Spanish because we recognize the importance of multi-culturalism. We hope to translate some of these messages into Spanish soon.

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Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)

Risk

When I was a young G.I. stationed in Germany in the late 1970s, I enjoyed traveling around Germany and other countries in Europe. Once a few of my buddies and I went for a ride in the German countryside and we stopped to look at an old castle situated at the top of a high cliff. When it was suggested that we climb the cliff and explore the castle I hesitated. The cliff was about three hundred feet high and almost straight up and down. Such a climb seemed dangerous if not impossible. Once we got started, however, I found that what had seemed dangerous and impossible was not as dangerous as I had supposed. The danger was real--one slip and it was a long fall to the bottom and certain death, but the risk was far less than I had imagined.

When we got to the top we explored the castle and found it to be abandoned. The view from the top was magnificent. I was glad that I hadn't let my fear keep me from getting to the top and seeing the beautiful German countryside from such a spectacular vantage point. The entire experience was unforgettable.

I learned an important lesson that day: sometimes we have to take risks in order to experience the spectacular. Helen Keller once said, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."¹ In other words, a life that is worth living is a life that involves risk. Jesus understood this principle. He took great risks to accomplish great goals. Once Jesus' disciples warned him that his planned course would take him into certain death; yet Jesus stayed on course because he had a mission to accomplish. He took great risks because he wanted to accomplish great goals (see John 11). Robert Frost wrote:

We saw the risk we took in doing good,
But dared not spare to do the best we could."²

In reality nothing worth doing is without risk. Often our most significant acts are those endeavors that are accompanied by the greatest risk. Similarly, the most significant work of a church will involve great risk. Those of us who are in positions of leadership in the church are the ones who must make the difficult decisions. We must be willing to take the risks and make the climb so that the church can experience the success to which God is leading us.

Willing to take the risks to see the view,

Pastor Steve

April 18, 2008

Footnotes

¹ Helen Keller, The Story of My Life, as cited in When to Take a Risk, Terry Muck, (Carol Stream: Christianity Today, 1987), p. 13.

² Robert Frost, The Exposed Nest, as cited on www.poemhunter.com [web-page] available at: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-exposed-nest/. Internet accessed April 18, 2008.

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(more afterthoughts)

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