Madison’s question to Matthew: Talk about risk. What have you learned? How do you manage it? When do you know how much to take?

“Your vision must be greater than the pain you expect to experience.” This statement was made to me over dinner at East Side Mario’s in the spring of 2015 from a mentor. At the time I was pondering a decision for my life that involved risk – risk for me, for my family, and for our church frankly. And as I talked it through, she made this statement that has stuck with me. I knew that the risk would involve mental and spiritual and leadership stretching – to put it bluntly, pain and risk. Did I believe that the pain would be worth the vision that I believed God was setting before me?

For me, as a follower of Jesus, risk and faith go hand in hand. When I am thinking about risk as it pertains to this post, I want to simply talk to the realm of risk for the sake of God’s Kingdom. Yes, I could talk about risking financially to buy a rental property, or take a risk in a relationship by having a difficult conversation. However those risks are minor in my thinking as I compare believing in faith to take a risk that I believe God has called me to take.

Scripture is full of people that took risks. God sent them on a mission and they had to simply believe that he was going to be there to guide them. How many prophets were asked to risk their lives to share a message, and in fact many were threatened because of it. We love the stories in the bible and we get excited, but in reality we are hearing the stories with the end in full view. We love the stories of our heroes, those that risked it all and came out on top. Yet in reality, many have risked it all and did not come out on top – we just don’t tell those stories.

And I need to be honest, when I take risks that I believe God is calling me to take, I am assuming or hoping at least that the outcome will always be positive, in my lifetime, if not within a few months at the most.

When thinking about risk, I am always brought back to the story of my grandfather, my father’s father. While in the Ukraine, where my father was born, he was asked to officiate at a funeral, and perform it in a Christian way. As a result of this risk, he was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in a labour camp – he never made it but died on the way; he was in his mid 30s, and my father was only 1. For the next 12 years my grandmother had to struggle to raise her four children until they was able to get to Germany during WW2 and eventually to Canada.

So when I think about all of the bible stories of people being called to risk it all, the disciples commitment to follow Jesus, and then about my grandfather who lost his life because he chose to risk it all for the sake of Jesus, how am I to ponder and approach risk?

As Lead Pastor of a fairly large church, I believe that a key aspect of my role is to be always looking 1-2 years out, to determine where we are called to risk next. Sometimes the risk is to eliminate a ministry or change focus. This can cause great consternation among some who believe that this is not the right decision. I have had to read many emails of complaint and sit in my office talking with people who were not impressed with these decisions. To maintain confidence in a decision during these times of disruption can be painful – was the risk worth it?

Other times we need to enter new ministry territory – it can be costly financially, it may stretch our people resources, and we may not have a clear road map to get there, and yet, as a leadership team, we believe that we are called to enter into this new territory. And, as the Lead Pastor, it is often up to me to carry a large portion of the risk on behalf of the church as much as we are called to do it together. Is the vision greater than the pain I expect to experience?

So how do I manage risk? I believe I do it best when I don’t lose focus on who I am serving. This may sound very cliche, yet this is the truth. When I veer off into a phase to get acceptance from as many people as possible, I can quickly move into validation mode and lay awake at night trying to keep the peace. If, however, I maintain a focus on the fact that God loves me no matter what, and that I truly believe that I am doing what he has called me to do, then I can move into these circumstances with a bounce in my step and patience to answer any questions and embrace confrontation with confidence.

As a leader it is my role to lead people into new areas of risk. If I am ever looking to get to a season of maintenance, that is when I need to be worried. The Kingdom of God is advancing with our without me. It is my role as a leader to be listening to the Holy Spirit and embracing the piece of the kingdom that I have been called to lead into; risk is simply part of the territory that I must accept.

For the Kingdom.