No Small Dreams by Jon Walker

“The servant . . . said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’ The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that!’” Matthew 25:24–26 (MSG)

Several years ago, as editor of an online newsletter for Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, I wrote a headline for an article on altar calls. But I typed out alter calls, and failed to catch the error before it was sent around the world! Rick responded by saying, “I want everyone on my staff to make at least one big mistake a week. If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not trying anything new.” His point was that he didn’t want us to be afraid to try something innovative and creative, even if it meant risking failure. There should be no small dreams for those belonging to God.

In Matthew 25, Jesus spoke about three servants: One given ten talents, which he doubled; one given five talents, which he doubled; a third given one talent, which he buried in a hole, in essence, saying, “I don’t want to lose it. I don’t want to take any risks.” When the master found out, he was furious.

Eugene Peterson paraphrases the master’s response as: “That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least?” (Matthew 25:26 MSG).

There’s another word for risk-taking, it’s faith. But if we’re not taking any risks—if we’re walking in a way that does not require faith — then we’re being faith-less.

Jesus said, “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23 NIV).