The other day I was walking down the stadium steps at Turner Field with my youngest son. SIDE NOTE - My youngest son Benjamin turned 15 today and is already taller than me. He's also better looking but we don't have to talk about that. BACK TO THE STORY - Okay I'm at the ball game and I notice a billboard that is advertising a radio station. It has the Christian symbol of the fish on it and the slogan is "Safe for the whole family." It hit me that this is how many people think about Christianity - "Safe for the whole family." But where in the Bible is Christianity shown to be safe? Didn't Jesus say that He came to bring a sword not peace?
About Me
- Ed
- Sharpsburg, GA, United States
- Blessed to have three great sons and a beautiful wife, to be pastor of a great church and to get to work with some of my best friends.
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6 comments:
That is what shocked and amazed and astounded me when I started reading C.S. Lewis a few years ago. His major theme that following Christ is many things: full of wonder and grace and sacrifice and love...but not safety.
"'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver...'Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. but he's good. He's the King, I tell you.'"
--The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
I prefer scandalous.
It was A.W. Tozer that I heard say in relation to Luke 14:27 ("Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:27 (HCSB)) that, "the person who is carrying their own cross is a person who is not making their own decisions, someone else is doing that for them."
That is not a "safe" place to be. It means that we must die to the things we feel safe in and be put in a place we do not want to be. I feel Christ also alluded to that:
"I assure you: When you were young, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.”
John 21:18 (HCSB)
You really need to get over you BIAS toward other christians that do things different than you. You know that the radio station did not mean we would be "SAFE" because we listen to their station. They mean you will not have to listen to porfanity or other imapropriate language on their station. But it is obvious that because you don't like the station you want to change what they are saying. Get Over yourself.
IT AN'T ABOUT YOU !
I believe this desire for faith to create saftey is the desire of our culture. Take the part of teaching your children not to cuss, add a little bit of "don't do drugs" but that part about lay down your life and die - I don't want that. We don't tell people that the songs will be about Jesus being Lord and that He demands we come and die - we say "there will be no bad words."
In Polite Response to "Think About It"
I think that Ed was merely using the "safe for the whole family" slogan as a segway into a discussion about how people as a whole, Christians included, view Christianity. Which is what happened.
If you pay attention to the wording, Ed states that "it hit me that this is how many PEOPLE think about CHRISTIANITY". Not "That radio station is wrong for saying that they are a "safe" alternative for popular radio"
I'm not trying to defend Ed from your more personal jibes (despite the fact that I think you are way off base) because he can do that himself if he feels that, as your brother in Christ, it is correct for him to do so.
Instead I'm just trying to get it across that I think you rather missed the point of this post.
That being said, I would love to have a measured and polite discussion with you concerning pros and cons of Christian radio. Ed's blog isn't the place for it though...not in this post at least. Feel free to click on my name to visit my blog and make your presence known. I always love interesting conversations.
--A--
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