Mike Leake: Don't Play It Safe

“The only radio station that is safe for your family”.

Almost every Christian radio station that has found its way into my car has had that tagline. It’s not a bad one. I understand what they mean. Such a statement is code for: “We aren’t going to be playing smut that will cause mom and dad to blush when junior starts singing the lyrics”. That is a tremendous ambition. We should protect our children from exposure to sin as much as possible.

Yet, I have to wonder whether or not “safe” is the correct word. When I hear radio stations promoting “safe” lyrics the words of C.S. Lewis come to my mind. Writing from a war-torn England, Lewis speaks of Aslan the Great King;

“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.”

Lewis got it right. Jesus isn’t safe, but He is good. A safe Jesus is an imposter. Yes, we are eternally secure in the arms of Jesus. He is our strong tower, deliverer, and ever present help in time of need. But all of these truths are not meant to shelter us from the cold reality of life outside of Eden. No, these realities actual expose us to the brutal onslaught of a world torn by sin and happily living as rebels against our King. That isn’t safe.

I wonder, though, how many times I play it safe in helping to lead our little church. Could our church have a tagline that says, “Our church is safe”? I fear that such a banner might as well say, “Our church will follow Jesus up to the point of carrying a cross”. I don’t want to lead a safe church; I want to lead an obedient one that climbs the hill of Golgotha with our Savior. Keep reading