Parents go to great lengths to teach children safety.
- Put your glass in the "safety zone" (at least that's what my parents called it) so it won't spill and break.
- Look both ways before crossing the street! If you are a child, hold someone's hand.
- Don't eat Halloween candy that is homemade or prepackaged.
- Put away your toys lest someone trip over them!
- Wear your helmet when you ride your bike. Wear all protective gear when you play sports.
- Stranger Danger! Don't talk to strangers...or associate with them at all, really. Don't take their candy, don't tell them your name or address, nothing.
Of course there are plenty other ways we learn to be safe as a child...but those are a select few. As we grow older, we learn more and more ways to protect ourselves. We learn the rules of driving, we buy insurance...auto, health, homeowners, flood, etc. We choose the best neighborhood we can afford with the best schools for our children, trying to shelter them from the evils of the world to the best of our ability.
So much of our time and energy is spent protecting our well being and preserving our material possessions.
As Christians it is important for us to be responsible with what we have given and use it wisely, not wasting it or essentially throwing it away. It would be foolish to do otherwise.
However, it seems we have become obsessed with our own security, making it a sort of idol that we seek over most (if not all) other things. We have reach the point where we do not even like thinking or talking about death because it is the epitome of insecurity. We don't really know what happens in death other than everything about our lives as we have known it is stripped away.
Our preoccupation with self-preservation has, not surprisingly, turned ourselves into incredibly self-centered people who try to distance ourselves as much as possible from the danger of the world.
The sad thing is, the dangerous places are the places most in need of grace and redemption. The dangerous places are the places where the love of Christ is desperately needed and, quite frankly, the places Jesus would probably be were he alive today.
What are we to do as Christians if not love those whom Jesus would love? And how can we love them if we do not even go where they are? And how can we love them if we are told (and believe!) we shouldn't even talk to them for fear of what might happen?
This isn't the most well-written or thought-out of blogs. But it is prompted by the events of the day. Today I got my first glimpse of domestic abuse. I am ashamed to admit that I considered not calling the police for fear of what might happen if they figured out I had reported it. I did call the police. Which, I suppose is a good first step. I can't stand by and watch someone get hurt without doing something about it. But isn't that the bare minimum? Isn't that something that most anyone, whether a Christian or not, should and probably would do? Making a phone call is a start, but it is only that. I am still protected by distance and anonymity. I am not really sure what this means for me...or even how to move past sheer good-doing to actual loving. But I know it is something that I really should think through - in fact, must think through if I am to take being a Christian seriously. This is where the rubber meets the road. It is time to step out of the safety zone and into the path of the cross.
