The Gospel of Risk Management
Posted by Brad BriscoOct 14
What keeps us from a life of such faith is that we have become very good at assessing and minimizing risk. Our culture is all about risk management. We want to hedge our finances against future market downturns, and we have home insurance, life insurance, car insurance, fire insurance, flood insurance, and earthquake insurance.
Athletes and entertainers can insure parts of their bodies against injury. We sign prenuptial agreements to protect us from the financial ramifications of divorce, and we have health plans to protect us when we are sick.
We practice birth control and watch our blood pressure. We wear seat belts and helmets. I see the need for most of these things, but we have become people who focus on managing and minimizing risk everywhere we see it. We love the illusion of danger but not the real thing. I can ride a roller roaster and feel out of control, while remaining safely buckled into my seat.
We want Jesus to be the same way: all reward, no risk. We don’t give ourselves fully to him because we are afraid he will send us to China or ask us to become poor. We want the illusion of faith, as long as we are safe. But walking with God is not a no-risk proposition; it is one of the most dangerous things you can do. Risk is inherent in the life of faith. Risk and faith cannot be divorced.
Mike Erre in “The Jesus of Suburbia: Have We Tamed the Son of God to Fit Our Lifestyle?”
3 comments
Comment by Pastor Chad on October 14, 2008 at 9:00 am
I think much of this is because we come from a culture of fear. We are so afraid of the unknown, the uncommon, the strange, that we are worried about it in our faith lives. God is not something that we can trim down to size. We study the world hoping to be able to understand it and God. But when we hear about the crazy things that God has made. The incredible size of stars in the universe. The incredible detail of the smallest molecules. The way that our ecosystem holds together in spite of its fragile nature. The more we realise that we do not, and cannot understand God’s creation, let alone God.
So we avoid the big, mysterious, awesome God, and instead worship the warm, fuzzy, grandpa with a flowing white robe and long beard.
We are scared of the real God, because that God makes demands on our lives.
Comment by Jonathan Brink on October 16, 2008 at 10:13 am
Thanks for sharing this Brad. It’s very poignant for my life right now.
Comment by brad brisco on October 17, 2008 at 9:09 am
Chad, thanks for stopping by. I read you latest post about Dr. Tiller in Wichita. I am originally from Wichita, and several years ago my wife was the director of a pro-life education organization, therefore we dealt often with “Tiller the baby Killer.” It is really a horrible situation.
Jonathan, my life as well.