Chase the Lion - Part 5: Taking Risks

The following message is from The Crossroads Community Church message series "Chase the Lion." The messages are inspired by and adapted from the book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and the accompanying messages by Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C.

On October 31st, 1517, a monk named Martin Luther walked up to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany and posted a piece of paper on the church doors. His 95 theses listed 95 points of contention with the sale of indulgences—the selling of forgiveness by the church. Luther was put on trial. He was excommunicated from the church. But that one act of courage had a domino effect—it ignited the Protestant Reformation.

On April 18th, 1945, a factory owner named Oskar Schindler had a list of 1097 names manually typed—297 women and 800 men. He rescued them from Nazi Concentration Camps. Schindler lost everything. He died broke. But that one act of courage had a domino effect—a half-century later, there are more than 6,000 descendants of the people on Schindler’s list.

On December 1st, 1951, a seamstress named Rosa Parks got on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Segregation laws required black passengers to give up their seat for white passengers. Rosa Parks refused to do it. She was arrested. She lost her job. But that one act of courage had a domino effect—it inspired a citywide boycott and a court battle. Within two years, bus segregation was ruled unconstitutional.

Here’s the point: it is often small acts of courage that change the course of history. Someone takes a risk and it has a domino effect.

Now here’s the thing. We think about people like Martin Luther and Oscar Schindler and Rosa Parks in heroic terms. But they didn’t know they were making history when they were making history! They were just ordinary people taking risks! But when you take a risk you never know what kind of domino effect it is going to have.

During the Chase the Lion series we’re looking at this guy in the Old Testament named Benaiah. He was one of the most decorated and celebrated warriors in Israel’s history. He was the captain of King David’s bodyguard. He was one of David’s thirty mighty men, his special forces. And Benaiah goes on to become Commander-in-Chief of Israel’s army. But it all goes back to three risks that Benaiah took found in 2 Samuel 23:20-23:

“There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two of Moab's mightiest warriors. Another time he chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it. Another time, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with it.”

Benaiah took three risks, and those three risks had a domino effect. Here’s the point, often the life of following God involves taking risks. Now, most of us tend to shy away from risk in our lives. We try to do everything possible to reduce the amount of risk in our lives, whether it’s relational risk or financial risk or job risk or emotional risks or physical risks. We try to eliminate the element of surprise in our lives. But I’ll bet some of the best things in your life involved taking risks. Some of the most amazing things God wants to do in your life involves taking risks. Perhaps the only thing between you and your destiny is one small act of courage. Taking a risk may be the key to the life God wants you to live.

In fact, Jesus told a story one time that illustrates the necessity of taking risks when it comes to being a follower of Jesus Christ and having an impact in life. Look at Matthew 25:

“The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ … Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.’”

If you really want to appreciate this parable you’ve got to realize that one talent was the ancient equivalent of over twenty-seven years of a day laborer’s salary. So, the servant who receives 5 talents receives over 135 years of salary. I don’t know about you, but if someone gives me a hundred and thirty-five years wages I don’t know if I ever take another risk. I’ve got enough money to last the rest of my life. You know what I’m saying? It had to tempting to play it safe. He had more to lose! But he also had more to gain!

Now, from this parable, I want to give you three principles about taking risks, and maybe they will encourage you to take more risks in your life and in your faith.

First, faith requires risk. Faith always requires risk. We talked about this quite a bit last week. Faith always involves an element of the unknown, so there is always a risk involved in faith. In the story, the servants who take the greatest risk are commended. They are called faithful. Don’t miss that. Faithfulness involves taking risks. I think we tend to think of faithfulness in maintenance terms. Faithfulness is holding the fort, maintaining the status quo, hanging on to what you have. And nothing could be further from the truth. Faithfulness is multiplying what you have to the best of your God-given ability. Faithfulness isn’t minimizing risk. Faithfulness is maximizing risk. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. The life of following Jesus, at it’s core, is a life of embracing risk, of putting our own hold over our lives and our safety at risk in order to follow Jesus. Check out Mark 8:35: “If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life.” That’s putting your life at risk.

I am a huge football fan. I love to watch football. And one of the things I hate to see is when a team plays not to lose, instead of playing to win. You know, when a team gets a little lead and then just tries to sit on that lead till the end of the game. I want a team to go on the offensive. Not just hope they can hold a lead. I think too many of us are playing not to lose. The parable of the talents is about playing to win, risking what you have to get more.

Somewhere, I think we have gotten the mistaken idea that faith involves a reduction of risk in life, like the goal of faith is to reduce risk so that we are safe and at ease and everything is secure in our lives. But, have you read the Bible lately? Faith is risky business. Look at the descriptions of faith in Hebrews 11:

“By faith … Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land …Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going … He offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him … The people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground … By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.”

Risk, risk, risk. Hebrews 11 is the Bible’s longest discussion on faith, and every instance of faith cited in Hebrews 11 involved risk. The goal of faith is not the elimination of risks. God never promised us a risk-free existence. What he does promise is that He will be with us. What’s interesting is that the promise of God’s presence in our lives throughout the Bible is almost always in the context of risk. When you go through the flood, when you pass through the valley of the shadow of death, when you go through the fire, when you face your enemies, as you take the gospel to the ends of the earth, when you are persecuted, I will be with you. Faith requires risk. Your greatest experience of God’s presence, your greatest growth times in your faith, will come when you take risks for God.

Now, here’s the second truth, playing it safe is risky. One servant in the parable plays it safe, he buries the silver his master gave him. Instead of taking a risk, he hides what he has been given. He breaks even. And some of the harshest words in the Bible are reserved for this servant. Apparently breaking even isn’t good enough. In the context of this parable, wickedness is burying what God has given you in the ground and just sitting on it. He doesn’t take action because he is afraid of what will happen if he messes
up.

Psychologists tell us there are two types of regrets in life, action regrets and inaction regrets. Action regrets are regrets for something we have done. Inaction regrets are regrets for things we didn’t do, opportunities we have missed, things we wish we had said or done but we didn’t. And what they have discovered is that in the short term, action regrets are stronger, but over the years, inaction regrets are stronger. In other words, when we come to the end of our lives, the things we will most regret are the things we didn’t do. And the Bible confirms this. “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.”

Righteousness is about more than just not doing the bad things that God doesn’t want us to do. It’s also about doing the good things that God does want us to do. It’s about chasing the lion, changing the world, taking risks,
stepping out in faith.

There’s this story in the New Testament that I love. The disciples are out on the sea of Galilee in a boat, and it’s the middle of the night, and the wind is blowing really hard. And the disciples are afraid, and Jesus comes waling to them on the water.

“During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’

When you take risks and step out in faith, you almost always second guess yourself. You make the decision to get out of the boat and you have second thoughts. And you start sinking spiritually because you start focusing on the wind and the waves. Now, Peter gets a tough rap, a lot of times. He’s the guy who denied Jesus three times, but he was the only one who got close enough to Jesus to get caught. He’s the one who seems to stick his foot in his mouth all the time, but it’s only because he says what’s on all the other disciples’ minds. And he’s the one who sinks in the Sea of Galilee. But he’s also the only one who walked on water. Do you know how Peter got back to the boat? He walked on water again, with Jesus. How much would you give for an experience like that? To be able to walk on water with Jesus. Here’s what I think: sinking is better than sitting. I’d rather have wet clothes than splinters in my butt. I’d rather walk on water with Jesus than stay in the safety of the boat. If you want to walk on water you’ve got to get out of the
boat.

Take risks. Try big things for God. Dream big dreams and go after them. And here’s the great thing, God honors our attempts to please him and to serve him. Teaching my kids to ride their bikes. The reward of riding a bike far outweighs the risk. Playing it safe is risky.

Now, here’s the final truth that I hope will encourage you to take risks in life. There are no real sacrifices when you follow Christ. Now, I know, the Bible instructs us to give our bodies as living sacrifices. We’re called to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily, to give up our lives so we can find them. But I don’t think anyone has ever ultimately sacrificed anything for God. Because we always get back more than we give up. And if you get back more than you gave up, in the end, is it really a sacrifice? No, it’s just smart investing. That’s what the faithful servants in the parable did. They made a risk. I mean, think about if the master came back and they had lost his money. I mean, you think he was mad at the guy who just broke even. What if they had lost it? There’s real risk there. But they risked in order to gain. Look at Mark 10:29-30:

“Let me assure you that no one has ever given up anything—home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or property—for love of me and to tell others the Good News, who won't be given back, a hundred times over, homes, brothers,
sisters, mothers, children, and land—with persecutions!”

That is not sacrifice. That is just wise investing. There is an old saying that says “No one ever bet too much on a winning horse.” At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, God is always a winning horse. If you are seeking God and following God and living your life in pursuit of God, there is no way you could ever do anything that God won’t give you back immeasurably more than what you give to him. I know this, the only regrets we’ll have at the end of our lives are that we didn’t seek God more or seek God sooner. That’s it.

You see, there are risks involved in following God’s will for your life. There are risks involved in giving your life to Jesus Christ. But the rewards are infinite. If you’ve never given your life to Christ, I want to challenge you today to take a risk. But listen, the risk is so small in comparison with the
return. Because the return is a life of happiness and peace, a life of excitement and adventure, a life where you make a difference and change the world. The return is you get to be a part of God’s family. The return is knowing that God loves you, that Jesus died for you, and that the Holy Spirit will come to live inside of you. The return is forgiveness for your past, purpose for your present, and the promise of heaven for your future. Take a risk and embrace following Jesus Christ.

You can play life not to lose or you can play life to win. Guess which camp lion chasers are in. Too many of us live our lives as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. But that is not the kind of attitude Jesus says we are supposed to have. “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” Matthew 11:12. There is nothing remotely passive about following Christ. Following Christ is not about sitting on the sidelines in life. It is about storming the gates of Hell, with a water pistol if necessary! God is raising up a generation of lion chasers who don’t run away from evil but who have the courage to compete for the kingdom. Take a risk! Chase the lion!