Not Safe...but Good

I love the creativity of CS Lewis. The Screwtape Letters are brilliant. The Chronicles of Narnia equally so. And one of my favorie quotes of ALL TIME is found in the Narnia book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In it, Mr. Beaver is teaching the humans about Aslan, prophecies, etc. He is asked something like (forgive me if these aren't direct quotes), "Is Aslan safe?" "No! He's not safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you," is Mr. Beaver's response.

Aslan=Jesus, by the way, if you aren't familiar with the allegory.

We often don't like to think of Jesus as "unsafe". I mean, we want a savior who calms things down, right? One who makes things nice and neat. One who gives us all we want. One who places us on a path with no bumps, uncertainty, etc.

But that's not reality. And I think we are often afraid, when we realize this truth, to truly share that with others, as who wants to accept a savior who may allow (or even ordain, depending on your theology) life to be uncertain at times, difficult at times? But there's more to the story...

We just, as humans, desire for things to "make sense". We want everything to fit into neat criteria. And a God who sacrifices himself just doesn't make sense. If he is all powerful, we wonder, how come he didn't just say, "Just kidding", and come off the cross and use his power to make things right? How does creation work? Was it 6 literal 24 hour days? Was it 6 "days", but God used processes we can't explain (and since God is not limited by the boundaries of time, possibly took a long time to do it?). I could go on and on, but they are all issues that make non-believers, or those believers that still struggle with mystery, experience great doubt and questions.

The knowledge that Jesus, while Good (capital G), still is not "safe", is one of these things. Here are some scriptures we often gloss over (or ignore altogether) that, if we take seriously, really mess things up:

52From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2012:52-53;&version=31;

33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn " 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=10&verse=33&end_verse=35&version=31&context=context

43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205:43-48;&version=31;

13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%207%20:13-14;&version=31;

There are plenty more examples, but the above are just some of those sayings of Jesus that, taken seriously, surely would mess up what "makes sense" to us and thus, mess up our life.

Not safe...but Good.

We need to be encouraged by God's sovereignty in the midst of uncertainty. We need to feel good about the fact that despite the mystery and occasional struggles of following Jesus, that God works all things to His good and purpose (a BIV-Ben International Version- interpretation of Romans 8:28 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=52&chapter=8&verse=28&version=31&context=verse). We may very well be called to do something that goes against our family's wishes (and possibly losing their support along the way), but if it is truly of God, it is what we must do. We are called to love and pray for our enemies, and despite that being hard from the standpoint of us often feeling "entitled" to hate those who have done us "wrong", we must do so. Loving an enemy may even cause you to be ridiculed by others as a result. We may even be sensing God's call into a season of uncertainty, simply a call to trust His leading even if all the "criteria" aren't perfectly laid out for us.

We need to trust in the Good. We may be in a period of confusion, but it is Good. We may be feeling led to love and forgive someone who, according to everyone else, deserves to be shunned and hated, but it is Good. We may be called to head in a direction that may make no sense to your family (even if they are believers!), risking ridicule or worse, but it is Good.

And I want what is Good, forsaking what is "safe". Why?

Because he's the King, I tell you.