Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper
Week 5: Chapter 5 — Risk Is Right: Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It
Read Chapter 5 of Don't Waste Your Life. Key passages: Mark 8:34–36; Luke 14:26–33; Acts 20:24.
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Piper makes a bold case that risk-taking in the service of Christ is not recklessness but righteousness — that a Christian who plays it safe with their life for fear of loss has misunderstood both the gospel and the nature of real gain. Let these questions help you examine your own risk tolerance in light of eternity.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.The chapter title asserts that 'risk is right.' What does Piper mean by this? Why would risk-avoidance actually be the more dangerous option from an eternal perspective?
2.Piper argues that risk is inherent in the Christian calling because we are commanded to love — and love, by definition, exposes us to loss. How does the command to love your neighbor, make disciples, and care for the vulnerable necessarily involve risk? Where have you experienced this tension in your own life?
3.He cites the example of courageous missionaries and believers who have placed themselves in harm's way for the sake of the gospel — people who could have lived safely but chose otherwise. What stories of Christian risk-taking have most inspired you? What made them inspiring rather than just frightening?
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