For most of my life, the idea of being adventurous was almost synonymous with being a disciple of Christ. Who else would drop their nets and follow someone they barely knew? Peter did, and although he sank, at least he walked the waves for a moment, right? Remember the rich young ruler who wasn’t willing to risk it all and follow Jesus, though eternal life was the prize? What about Paul? From mission adventures leading from ship wrecks to prison cells, I’ve seen many Christian leaders model his characteristics more than Christ Himself. As a young man, I looked down on those who weren’t willing to take these risks, but shouldn’t an adventurous spirit be the heart of every disciple? Is it wrong that some don’t venture out, don’t take risks, aren’t as bold?

As a college student, considering leaving school to pursue missionary work, it seemed school was getting in the way of my ministry call. My father gave me Bruchko, a book about Bruce Olson, a missionary who defied mission agencies and common sense to minister to a group of people in Colombia. The book is filled with the incredible challenges he faced in reaching people, including a memorable scene of being so hungry a tapeworm crawled out of his stomach to find food. I think my parents saw the book as a “Here’s what happens when you don’t prepare” cautionary tale, but my 19-year-old mind only saw the boldness of this missionary and his willingness to make disciples at all costs.

Stewarding Risk
My ministry adventures haven’t included tapeworms, but I’ve had many other adventures. Months before my first child was born, I left a secure ministry position speaking to thousands of teens each weekend to pursue a ministry with an empty calendar and no funds. My youth pastor friends thought I was crazy to leave a position that many envied. The ministry that started out of my garage (as many ministries do) financially fell apart after the horrific events of 9/11. Half a million dollars is a ton of money to lose, and my wife and I borrowed against our home in order to pay for summer camps and conferences we couldn’t afford to operate.

The next two years following our financial crisis taught me so much as I watched others gifted differently than me use their talents to keep the ministry moving forward. I came to realize that having an adventurous spirit isn’t the willingness to take the risk, but the discipline needed to steward risk.

Doing this requires valuing the uniqueness of people and realizing your own limitations. I came to learn that people participate in adventure in differing ways and that I needed many of the people I assumed were trying to slow me down. Tom Paterson, in Living the Life You Were Meant to Live, describes a Thinking Wavelength Spectrum to plot people. Concrete thinkers are on one end of the spectrum and abstract thinkers on the other. Those on the concrete end of the spectrum are risk-averse, resist change, need few variables, prefer things happen one step at a time, and have a low tolerance for ambiguity. Those on the abstract end embrace risk, welcome change, prefer many variables, take quantum leaps, and have a high tolerance for ambiguity. Naturally those who veer toward the abstract side of the cognitive spectrum will be more adventurous and prone to take risks. Between the extremes are several other categories people fit into, but the point Paterson makes is that people cannot change their thinking wavelength regardless of the amount or type of training received. God has imprinted deep within us who we are, and living into our created identity helps us flourish as we serve Him. We need to be mindful of this as we lead others. God created a diverse body; some lead into adventure, but others are present to help steward the adventure toward success.

Many of us in youth ministry fall toward the abstract end of the thinking spectrum, making us prone to make quantum leaps and take steps out of turn. Those who make us slow down, succumb to process, and consider the cost can frustrate us easily. However, urgency is rarely a friend to adventure.

There are only a few instances I can think of in my life when slowing down meant losing an opportunity, but I have a long trail of failures in which I moved too quickly without the right plan and process. Proverb 19:2: “It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.”

If you are wired by God to find opportunities, have vision, experience the ideal and move things forward, know that others with differing gifts want to join you, too, even if they aren’t wired to originate these dreams or take action to implement them. They long to join you in the adventure that is the fulfilling of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. You need them, and they need your unique wiring. They can help you manage risk, plan well and finish the tasks needed to bring what is imagined to life.

Mark Matlock is the executive director of Youth Specialties. If you’d like to gain more insight into how you are uniquely wired, check out the motivation assessment that is part of YS Coaching at YouthSpecialties.com.