In Luke 19, Jesus tells a story about the kingdom of God. In the story there is a “nobleman who is called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return.” Before he leaves, he gives silver to ten servants to invest for him while he is gone. When he returns, the servants have to give an account of their earnings. The first couple of servants, whose investments have increased, are praised for being trustworthy and given more responsibility. The third, not so much. In his own defense, this servant says, “I hid it and kept it safe because I know you are a hard man…” The nobleman is NOT pleased, which brings me to Jesus.
I believe that Jesus is speaking of Himself as the nobleman. And I believe we who follow Him are in the role of the servants. He has given each of us riches. For some that may indeed mean literal wealth. For some it is incredible knowledge of the Word (this is meant for all of us!). For others it may be the ability to do this or that. But whatever the “silver” may be for you, one thing remains constant. Jesus expects us to take risks!
As you may know, I am a fan of all things Apple, and think this short excerpt serves as a modern day example of the kind of risk I’m talking about.
Steve Jobs & Risk Taking
The “Apple I” prototype was designed in Jobs’ bedroom and put it together in his garage, Jobs went on to show the machine to various electronic retailers locally and one ordered 25, he gathered advice from an ex CEO of Intel as to how to market the product. To start their company they had to sell their most valuable possessions, Jobs sold his VW Micro Bus and Wozniak sold his HP Scientific Calculator which raised $1,300 as capital, to add to this they went to local retailers with their idea and basically begged for credit to set up their first production line, Wozniak was encouraged to quit his job at HP by Jobs which he did, he then became the vice president, in charge of research and development of Jobs’ new company, Apple.
They both took risks by selling off their most prized possessions to start this company, but they were calculated risks as an order had already been placed for 25 of the computers from a local store, so this identifies Jobs as a calculated risk taker, something that he displayed though out the years. He risks criticism and failure by making gutsy decisions to take his companies in the direction he wants.
Calculated risk takers. I believe that is what Jesus calls us to be! If we truly trust in the Jesus Scripture describes, the Jesus who is the Almighty God of the Universe, the Jesus we have come to know along our journeys, we know we can afford some risk! Now, there is a difference between a gamble and a calculated risk. A gamble implies leaving the outcome to pure chance. But because of the Truth of Scripture and the character of God, no risk we take is just a roll of the die. Pure chance is not part of the equation. (As you read above, Jobs wasn’t taking a gamble but rather a “calculated risk” based on a tangible, albeit small, order.) For those of us who follow Christ, we can calculate that He who calls us is faithful.[1] We can consider that He is reliable and loving.[2] We can be certain that He rewards those who seek after Him.[3]
In the story in Luke, the third servant claims he knows the nobleman to be a “hard man”. That is why he doesn’t take any risk with the money. I submit that if he had really known the power and intent of his future king, he would’ve been willing to risk everything!
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