Matthew 25:14-30English Standard Version (ESV)
14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked andslothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Risk taking in faith is triumph over fear
Healthy fear breeds obedience as we are told to work out our salvation in fear and trembling (Phill 2:12) but irrational fear is debilitating and is also a sin as we can see in the above parable.
When we make the promises of God our assured hope (not just hope as in “I hope the All Blacks win against France”, but hope like "Im looking forward to Christs return"). The question of risk taking becomes subjective to the amount of faith we are willing to exert. What may seem risky to some is generally only reflective of their own insecurities projected against those who dare to step out.
We say to Jesus “I want to follow you” and Jesus replies "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?" (Luke 14:28) and then follows that up with “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Luke 9:58)
The idea is this, where we are lacking we need to grow before blindly stepping out no matter how zealous we may feel at any given moment, but in saying that it is made clear that we need to always be moving forward taking another step onward wading deeper in to the waters so to speak. Upon receiving the Spirit we are given gifts of the Spirit each person something different intended to be used for the furtherment of the Kingdom. If through irrational fears of success failure or rebuke we become stagnant we run the risk of being exactly like the wicked servant who buries his talent in the sand.
As for the size of the risk, Jesus was homeless and then he was murdered, how much greater a risk can we ourselves take? There is no limit except for the ones we set for ourselves.
