What Is the Difference Between Right Risk and Wrong Risk?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Pastor John, you have a new book out,
00:00:06.360 | a little 50 page book titled Risk is Right,
00:00:08.400 | Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It.
00:00:10.720 | And I wanna talk specifically to a Christian
00:00:13.340 | who's considering taking a risk.
00:00:15.280 | I think we all have dreams, aspirations,
00:00:17.140 | things that we think God has called us to,
00:00:19.640 | but that does not necessarily confirm
00:00:21.300 | that we should take those risks.
00:00:23.400 | Talk with us for a little bit about the difference
00:00:25.160 | between a right risk and a wrong risk
00:00:26.880 | and how the church and how our Christian friends
00:00:29.280 | can help us determine which risks
00:00:30.920 | God is actually calling us to.
00:00:32.420 | - The church that is the body of Christ,
00:00:37.240 | both corporately as we gather in preaching
00:00:41.480 | and praying and singing and confessing
00:00:44.360 | and the smaller manifestations of it,
00:00:47.000 | our small group, the people around us
00:00:48.680 | who love us and care for us,
00:00:50.080 | it is always playing a role in the choices we make
00:00:56.800 | about the risks we take.
00:00:59.120 | Even when we don't even know they are
00:01:01.040 | because we learn everything we know about God
00:01:04.600 | and everything we know about the Bible from the church,
00:01:07.040 | from our parents, from small group,
00:01:08.880 | from Sunday school teachers,
00:01:10.280 | and everything we know about the Bible
00:01:12.320 | and the world informs the choices we make.
00:01:16.320 | And then there's the more immediate and specific counsel
00:01:20.680 | that we receive from people who have gifts of wisdom
00:01:26.560 | and gifts of experience, who can speak into our lives
00:01:30.280 | with regard to marriage and jobs and patterns of life
00:01:35.280 | that may seem foolish to them
00:01:38.680 | and they can help us avoid stupid mistakes in our lives,
00:01:42.460 | which would create risks that are just totally unwarranted
00:01:45.600 | and unnecessary.
00:01:46.440 | So that's the piece of the church.
00:01:48.720 | I just think none of us should live in a bubble
00:01:51.600 | where we're making all these decisions by ourselves.
00:01:54.320 | God ordained that we would be helped
00:01:57.840 | by the people around us.
00:02:00.400 | With regard to what risks are foolish,
00:02:03.520 | it would be risking your life for something small
00:02:09.360 | or turning it around and being unwilling to take no risk
00:02:16.520 | for something big.
00:02:19.400 | In other words, the principle is proportionality.
00:02:22.540 | The bigger the hoped-for outcome for the glory of God,
00:02:27.160 | the greater the risk that it's wise to take.
00:02:32.000 | And the smaller the outcome, the more selfish the outcome,
00:02:36.360 | the more insignificant the outcome,
00:02:39.040 | the more foolish it would be and unwise it would be
00:02:42.240 | for you to take a big risk for that small payoff.
00:02:45.880 | So Christians use biblical criteria to discern
00:02:51.800 | what's the hoped-for outcome here
00:02:54.520 | that God is calling me to pursue
00:02:57.180 | and what's the nature of the risk.
00:02:59.420 | And then within that dynamic, that balance,
00:03:03.400 | I think only the Holy Spirit can make plain
00:03:06.760 | when it's right to risk and not.
00:03:08.540 | I'll give you a concrete example.
00:03:10.560 | There are many times when missionaries are told,
00:03:12.980 | "You need to get out now because situations are developing
00:03:17.980 | in this culture that are gonna be very dangerous for you."
00:03:22.500 | And missionaries always face a difficult choice
00:03:25.640 | at that time, and some will say, "You're right, I should go."
00:03:29.300 | And others will say, "No, we've identified
00:03:32.220 | with these people for 20 years.
00:03:33.580 | We stand with them, we die with them, we're staying."
00:03:36.100 | And I think both of those choices can be right
00:03:39.380 | because the Bible clearly says, as John Bunyan pointed out,
00:03:45.260 | there's a time to fly and a time to stand.
00:03:49.340 | Paul sometimes stood and was stoned,
00:03:52.020 | and sometimes he got in a basket and escaped,
00:03:54.860 | and only the Holy Spirit can make plain
00:03:57.460 | when we do the one and the other.
00:03:59.700 | - Thank you, Pastor John.
00:04:00.620 | You will find the new book, "Risk is Right,"
00:04:02.960 | at DesiringGod.org.
00:04:04.540 | There you can download the entire book as a free PDF
00:04:06.580 | and find links to buy printed copies if you wish.
00:04:09.140 | And if you have a question for Pastor John
00:04:10.340 | about his other books, please email those
00:04:11.740 | to AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org.
00:04:14.100 | Please include your first name and your hometown
00:04:15.740 | in that email.
00:04:17.140 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:04:18.220 | Thanks for listening.
00:04:19.260 | (upbeat music)
00:04:21.840 | (upbeat music)
00:04:24.420 | [BLANK_AUDIO]