Christians Should Be Risk Takers
My friend Gary has worked for a major American defense contractor for 35 years. Of late, he’s pouring himself into a project to help return man to the moon and from there, onto Mars.
As a child of the 1970s and 80s, I grew up in the afterglow of NASA’s pioneering flights to the moon. My father saved all the newspapers from Apollo 11. To this day, I don’t think there’s a more inspiring front page of any publication that did a better job of capturing the awesomeness of man’s willingness to take a risk than the July 21st 1969 edition of The New York Times.
“Men walk on the moon,” reads the giant headline. “Astronauts land on plain; collect rocks, plant flag.”
Reporter John Noble Wilford than penned an eloquent and yet blunt lede: “Men have landed and walked on the moon.”
Talking with Gary the other day, I asked why so much time has elapsed since America’s last trip there. He said it was something of a mind shift, that Americans used to be more adventuresome, more willing to take risks.
The Apollo 17 mission, the last to land on the moon’s surface, wrapped up on December 19, 1972. As astronaut Eugene Cernan departed the lunar plain, he said:
“As we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and, God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.”
At this point, NASA is expecting to send men up to the lunar surface in 2027.
Gary’s observation got me thinking. Have we grown too comfortable as a nation? Are we less willing to extend ourselves, reach for goals beyond our grasp? Are we afraid to fail?
President Trump seemed to be referring to this in his second inaugural address:
We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.
Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation, and, right now, our nation is more ambitious than any other. There’s no nation like our nation.
Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls.
Our American ancestors turned a small group of colonies on the edge of a vast continent into a mighty republic of the most extraordinary citizens on Earth. No one comes close.
As Christians, we should be willing to step out in faith and venture into the unknown. It was C.S. Lewis who observed, “If you never take risks, you’ll never accomplish great things. Everybody dies, but not everyone has lived.”
In today’s divided world, taking a risk might be talking with our neighbor about Jesus. It could be calling your representative and urging them to vote a certain way for a piece of legislation. It’s standing up to the gender insanity in public schools, refusing to enable the lies by using certain pronouns.
In reality, all of life is risky, but when we retreat into our bubble and try and avoid every bad thing, we actually take the biggest risk of all. When we risk nothing, we risk everything.
Getting married is risky, giving your heart to someone else, knowing they could disappoint you or break your heart when they die. But passing up a fragile love is to pass on by one of the great thrills of life.
Having a lot of children is risky but not having or adopting any ensures you’ll be deprived of childhood laughter, wonder and the joy of innocent dreams.
It’s risky to take a new job, start a business, relocate to the other side of the country. God calls some to live in the same place all their lives, but if He’s calling you somewhere else, saying “No” will leave you always wondering what might have been.
It’s risky to be a missionary, or a pastor, or plant a church. But talk with anyone who has answered these calls, and they’ll tell you stories of miracles amid the many challenges.
Jesus warned us about doing little or nothing with our gifts (Matthew 25:14-30), and that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).
Christians are called to be both sober and courageous, risk-takers who recognize God will be with us through all the storms and strife of life.
