Monday, July 12, 2010

Risk Is Right

Don't Waste Your Life. It is the book by John Piper that I'm currently reading. I have gained so much from what I've read so far...and I have yet to finish it. (If you haven't read it, read it!)

Chapter five of Don't Waste Your Life is titled "Risk Is Right - Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It." Around the time I was reading chapter 5, I saw this video:



God doesn't call us to safety or comfort. The life God calls us to live means taking chances for His glory...taking risks. We might stumble, we might fall, but that's part of what it means to trust God.

John Piper defines risk as "an action that exposes you to the possibility of loss or injury." Everyday we take risks because we are finite creatures, we do not know the future. But would you be willing to deliberately take a risk to achieve something great for the cause of Christ?

After reading books like Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and (part of) DWYL, I've come to see that safety is a myth, a mirage as Piper puts it.

"The tragic hypocrisy is that the enchantment of security lets us take risks everyday for ourselves but paralyzes us from taking risks for others on the Calvary road of love. We are deluded and think that it may jeopardize a security that in fact does not even exist...[I]t is right to risk for the cause of Christ, and not to is to waste your life." (Don't Waste Your Life, 81. Emphasis mine.)

The video by Francis Chan reminds me of the parable in Matthew 25, when a lord gave his servants different amounts of money. You know the story: The ones who received the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant," were the ones who took the chances of investing the money. The one who the lord rejected was the one who played it safe, who took no chances.

You won't get human applause when you live the life God calls to (you'll probably get called crazy and even foolish); but you will get applause from the King of kings. Think of Stephen, the martyr, who before he died, saw heaven open up and the Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56). Stephen risked - sacrificed - his life so willingly, that the Son of God actually stood to welcome him into eternity.

So I would encourage you, live not the safest life possible, but a life that's passionate about following Christ, no matter the cost.

13 comments:

  1. I saw this video on Laney's blog @ Got Freckles. It's really good!

    What a beautiful post, Chloe!! :D

    Love,
    Eldarwen

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  2. Excellent Post, and very thought provoking.
    ~Daniel

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  3. That is so true! Sounds like a good book! :)

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  4. Chloe, thank you so much for posting this! It is an encouragement to me.

    One of the things I beg God to do with my life is something out of the ordinary. To be used so greatly by God that people look at me and say, "Wow, there is something DIFFERENT about that person!" or, "I can DEFINITELY tell that God is with her."

    This video has given me a better idea of what I've been praying for (if that makes sense). The one thing I pray for the most earnestly is that God will help me walk the balance beam, not cling to it.

    Again, thank you so much,
    Mary

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  5. great post and wonderful blog!

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  6. @ Eldarwen and Daniel - Thank you!!!

    @ Shelley - It is excellent! I'm almost done reading it!

    @ Mary - You are so welecome!!! As I published this post, I prayed that God would use it to encourage everyone who read it. Thank YOU for commenting on how it encouraged you. That's my goal and I love to hear how God uses my words to edify others!

    @ Michaila - Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I tried to leave a comment on your blog, but something about your template didn't allow me to.

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  7. Wow, that's a challenging video! I might pick up a copy of his book. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Wow, I really love how you put this Chloe! That is definitely a challenge for me, to do something completely outside of my comfort zone. Nothing big and awesome will come from our lives if we don't step out and take risks for Christ.
    I hope you are having a fabulous summer. :)
    Thank you for your comment!

    In Christ,
    Jessica

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  9. I am reading Crazy Love right now, and I simply adore his philosophy. I have always viewed my "religion" as a relationship- but now I am madly in love with God. :)

    I love your blog. Super cute. It is so amazing to meet fellow Christians on the blogs! :)

    HOPE TO BE BLOG FRIENDS. :)

    LOVE, MAKAY

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  10. Great post! It is so true! What God may want us to do in our lives may not be safe, but He will be there to help us get back up when we fall down. Loved it! :)

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  11. Great post! I love francis chan, i actually got to hear him speak this summer and meet him. He was at a international youth convention in orlando florida with my church...it was awesome!!!

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  12. My family are reading Crazy Love right now. We have been very blessed by this book. I hope you are too.

    Amanda

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