Good...but definitely not Safe  

Posted by Mike Sharrow


As we think about how we live as both disciples of Jesus and of discipleship recruiters for His Kingdom, I like this tongue-in-cheek blog posting from http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/



#77. Offering a safe approach to life.
Erwin McManus, an author and minister at Mosaic in California, has this theory that second generation Christians leave the church because they're offered a boring faith. The life their parents offer them with God is dull and monotonous and vanilla. Whereas the world is seen as fun and wild and an adventure. I think he's right. Somewhere along the way Christianity turned into the "safe approach" to life. What was once wild and free and raw in the Bible became kind of domesticated. Look at the biggest Christian radio station in Atlanta. Their motto is "Safe for the whole family." They don't focus on the quality of the music or the enjoyment you'll get from listening to the station. They just tell you that if you listen, everything will be safe. I don't want my faith to be that way and I don't think God does either. Love is a dangerous idea. Grace is a dangerous idea. Forgiveness is the kind of idea that will mess your life up, for the better, but there's nothing safe about loving your enemy. That's what I want for my life. Let's not be safe. Let's be real and raw and alive.

This entry was posted at Sunday, April 13, 2008 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

1 thoughts and responses

Kyle Burkholder  

i think the author may be missing something. i don't really think people leave the church because its boring. they leave because its inauthentic. and the movement towards some radical christianity is often inauthentic as well. if i feed the homeless and move to africa and give up my life, but do not love....

look, truth is undeniable. once exposed to it, people are unable to avoid it and unable to resist it (if god wishes to reveal himself fully to a man, who among us has a great enough will to resist). when truth is cloaked in a feel-good, "it's all gonna be okay" guise, people eventually find that it doesn't ring true - and leave.

like k-love. its great until your friend dies or your sister ends up in rehab or your parents split. then, you turn to the blues because even though it doesn't make you feel better, at least it isn't pretending.

April 18, 2008 at 5:43 PM

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