Risky Business

Risk is defined as the exposure to the chance of hazard, harm, injury or loss.  Risk is something to which we all have differing responses.  On the one had some of us seek to avoid risk at all costs by taking extreme care, while on the other hand some actively seek it out. 

Recently, I have been confronted afresh by the nature of risk in mission, as I have travelled in central Asia.  Applying the two extreme views could lead to either a total avoidance of mission in countries where risks are perceived to be high, or on the other hand a reckless approach to walking in and courting death.  In the particular contexts various agencies and individuals have adopted differing approaches; some simply blacklisting the place and refusing to go and others committing themselves to working there and taking the consequences.  Even as I write this blog there is another story of aid workers being taken hostage in central Asia.

As I reflect upon scripture I see revealed an aspect of God’s character as being a risk-taker.  This is perhaps best expressed in the Incarnation, with the loving Father sending his Son, as a weak and vulnerable baby to be born in a hostile land, in an unclean stable and with a ‘Wanted’ label on his head from Herod.  This supreme step of mission was riddled with risk from start to finish.  Yet there was a time when Jesus walked away, through a crowd, from conflict (Luke 4:28-30).  When do we stand and face the risk and when do we run?

Then, if we turn our sights to the early church, we once again see risk at almost every turn.  A weak and vulnerable group of people commissioned to go and make disciples in that same hostile environment.  A group of people who faced persecution, exclusion, imprisonment and death.  The Apostle Paul wrote of his life with these words – “As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger…” (2 Cor 6:4-6).  Paul faced risk in his following of Christ and yet there were occasions when he ran away from it (Acts 9:23-24).  When do we stand and face the risk and when do we run?

Returning to the context of Central Asia, one approach has been not to court risk and persecution, or to run from it in search of personal well-being, but rather to be a wise witness - to walk through difficulty if it comes.  The New Testament letters were written to people in situations of risk and I find Peter’s first letter to be of particular help with the challenge to live good lives in hostile settings (1 Peter 2:12) and in doing so, to provoke questions (1 Peter 3:15).  Whether in Central Asia or in the UK a mission encounter in my view demands wise risk-taking.