Safe?

Lately I've been thinking about Christianity and the way that so many treat it - as a self-help technique, a set of moral guidelines to make you a better person or to bring you more stability and security in life. I believe that is why people can treat it lightly - they don't view it as entering into a story bigger than themselves.

If Christianity is only a suggested tool for making life what you want it to be, other religions or non-religions are almost always going to look equally or more effective to people who are on the outside looking in.

And in that sense, they're right. If what we're looking for is a safe life where we get to have and do anything we want, authentic Christianity is going to be a serious disappointment. If we believe what Jesus says, we will experience as many or more hardships in life as a non-believer. Yes, we will experience blessing, but that may not look the way we'd expect it to.

This is easy for me to say, but difficult to swallow because what he calls me to is not what I in my nature lean towards doing.

So if Christianity doesn't exist to make my life "better" in the sense that it's always easy or I'm always happy, then it must be about something bigger.

A couple days ago as I was driving to work, a verse I have always been confused by popped into my head.

"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:19

I never know what to make of this verse. Shouldn't Paul be promoting our faith as being worthwhile? What about the fact that there is no other religion in this world I'd rather turn? This verse is so discouraging! "Pitied more than all men..." Why would anyone buy into that?

But as I was driving, this verse made sense to me for the first time. Paul was communicating the fact that the hope we have in Christ has much more to do with Jesus' kingdom agenda and much less to do with our earthly agendas. If we put our hope in Christ only for what we hope to get from him now - a successful life by the world's standards - and ignore the life of sacrifice that he asks of us, we are not only sorely misled, we are to be pitied!

The life and ideas of Jesus do not exist to make my life secure and comfortable all the time. If I am going to follow him, I have to be willing to walk through the mountains and the valleys, to experience the moments of great blessing and the moments of intense struggle.

Our choice lies simply in whether we'll follow him wholeheartedly or not. If the answer is yes, we hand over all our "rights," and offer him everything - even our lives.

"If anyone would come after me,

he must deny himself

and take up his cross daily

and follow me." ~ Luke 9:23

Choosing to authentically follow Jesus may not be easy, but those who do never regret it. It reminds me of one of my favorite moments in C.S. Lewis' Narnia series.

“'Is – is he a man?' asked Lucy. 'Aslan a man!' said Mr. Beaver sternly. 'Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.' 'Ooh!' said Susan, 'I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.' 'That you will, dearie, and no mistake,' said Mrs. Beaver; 'if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.' 'Then he isn't safe?' said Lucy. 'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver; 'don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? 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 am thankful today to be serving a King who isn't always safe but who is always good.