A Theology of Risk and Stewardship Cannot Be Separated

Risk and stewardship cannot be separated in Biblical teaching. Paradidomi is one of three Greek words translated for “risk” in the New Testament. It means “give over to” and the tense used in Acts 15:26 means that “these men have actively chosen to deliver over their hearts and souls and remain in that position.”  It’s like they aren’t just setting themselves up for the possibility of difficulty but have decisively placed themselves into the center of the difficult place. In contrast, it’s where they choose to live, so of course awful things may happen.   

This same Greek word, paradidomi, is used twice in Matthew 25:20 and 25:22 in the story of the talents. In the parable of the talents, the stewards who took calculated risks to increase the Master’s resources were commended. This seems to be one of two approaches to stewardship in the Bible in relation to risk for the sake of the Gospel.  

In this story, all the servants had the correct desire: to please the master. However, the

servant who hid the money and did not attempt to risk increasing the master’s money listened to his internal fear and buried the money. This servant had the wrong understanding of his master.

“I knew you to be a hard man,” he responded. His misunderstanding of his master resulted in wrong choices. “He misunderstood the essence of his master. The servant had good intentions, and the proper desire, but the wrong picture of his master, and so had insufficient vision to use his resource wisely.”   

What is especially uncomfortable about this parable are the consequences experienced by the one-talent servant. The servant lost everything, even to the extreme of being cast out of God’s presence. Stewarding is serious business!

We are to enter into risk with the right intentions and desire to please our Lord. But even more than that, our God desires us to know him as he truly is. He uses the circumstances of risk to remove the wrong pictures we may have of him. When we experientially know him deeper, we spiritually see how we are to steward ourselves and the other resources entrusted to us wisely  to bring him glory in that risk event. He wants us to steward his resources with a heart that loves and fears him, not with a heart that only fears him. 

But if we stop here, we will draw the conclusion that stewardship is all about increasing the master’s resources. If there is only one “right” answer, we’ll conclude that risk analysis and risk mitigation is imperative for we must preserve his resources at all costs. But this doesn’t seem to be the view of Scripture. 

            Stewardship of our Master’s resources in risk requires responsible risk mitigation. Some protest, and say this is acting out of fear.  Not so.  Jesus taught, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Risk mitigation is helping break “the terrorist cycle” and enabling us to live and serve Him another day.

There are several Biblical concepts in tension in risk:  calculated risk to push His kingdom forward; stewardship of the Master's resources, and protection and care of those He has entrusted to us. 

One of the most serious words is the teaching in the Bible regarding shepherds who do not care for their sheep. Both Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34 convey God’s view of the bad shepherds of Israel who neglected and devoured the sheep. These shepherds caused fear and dismay and scattered the sheep. We are called to steward and shepherd our children and the teams under our leadership. 

• 1 Excerpts from Facing Danger: A Guide Through Risk, by Anna Hampton, Zendagi Press, September, 2016. 
• 2 Brad Young, Parables: The Jewish Tradition and Christian Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998), Kindle Loc. 1533, 1542
• 3 Matt 25:24
• 4 Matt 10:16.