Barnabas and Paul - men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.
What risks will we be willing to take in 2026?
You don’t need me to tell you that this may not come naturally. It seems we are an increasingly anxious society. Moreover, quite rightly, we are much more aware than we used to be of health and safety; indeed, at church we maintain a ‘risk register’.
But the combination of these trends is that we may struggle to take risks at all – including risks worth taking.
I’ve been looking back at my notes of a memorable talk American preacher John Piper gave on “Taking risks for the glory of God” back in 2006. A risk, Piper says, is “an action that exposes you or others to loss or injury.” Risk exists because we don’t know the future. God cannot take risks, for He does know the future, but for us, risk is unavoidable.
And, Piper continues, the Bible commends certain risk-takers: Joab, bravely taking on a frightening enemy in battle (2 Samuel 10); Esther, going bravely to the king to raise the subject of his right-hand-man’s conduct (Esther 3); Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refusing to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue (Daniel 3); Paul heading to Jerusalem, even though he knows he will face suffering (Acts 21). And to these we should add Paul’s colleague Epaphroditus – mentioned above.
None of these knew what their actions would lead to, but they put their hands into the Lord’s and took action. For some, it went well; Paul’s move led to imprisonment. But in every case, God was glorified.
We need to recover this sense of willingness to take risks for God’s glory. I’m not talking about stupidity – Alex Honnold’s free solo building climb this week is not a model for us! But a willingness to face a situation and to do the right thing, even if it exposes us to risk.
It is a risk for a man to propose. It is a risk to leave a job to enter Christian ministry. It is a risk to have children. It is a risk to seek to help a non-Christian we know to know Christ.
It is a risk to plant churches. It was a risk for the congregation of the Round Church to move to St Andrew the Great. It is a risk to dig deep financially for the gospel. But they are all risks worth taking!
And remember these things. First, not acting is often a risk: there is no spread of the gospel, no new family life, or whatever. Second, God’s view is that fear may actually be a form of laziness (Proverbs 26:13). Thirdly, as we do the work of the gospel, what about Jesus’ words “I am with you always, to the end of the age”? (Matthew 28:20). Prove Him right!
