Safe and Easy

Music is a powerful medium. Whether it's the catchy beat or the perfect harmony of a song that gets your attention, nearly everyone likes to hear some good music. It's just enjoyable. Personally, I love songs that are musically catchy but still have powerful lyrics that speak truth. There's a time for songs that worship God by proclaiming His goodness and glory. There's a time for songs that remind us about what's important in life and how much hurt there is in the world. And, there's even a time for songs that are simply for enjoyment and our listening pleasure. Whatever songs we listen to, however, they absolutely do have an effect on us by changing our attitudes, influencing our beliefs, or flooding us with certain emotions.

A song that I heard for the first time a few days ago that really prompted me to think is called "It's Good (Love's Not Safe)" by the Christian music group Sidewalk Prophets. It starts off talking about the fact that love isn't always safe and easy but that it's still good regardless. The bridge says,

     "Anything good in life's gonna take a sacrifice,
     Don't let up when it's tough, don't ever give up the fight,
     Everything you need in life was given by His sacrifice,
     I will give it all to You, I will give it all to Christ"

Then it ends by changing the word love to He, since God is love, and it ends by proclaiming that "He's not safe" and "He's not easy, but He's good." It struck me as odd at first that they would say that God isn't safe or easy. It's so common and popular today to talk about God's goodness and grace that we sometimes forget about the hardships, trials, and persecution that Jesus said would accompany His followers through their lives. Following Christ isn't safe. We have to be completely vulnerable and open before Him. Following Christ isn't easy. We have to die to our selves, take up our crosses, and resist the world and the devil constantly.

In C.S. Lewis's great series, The Chronicles of Narnia, the lion Aslan is used to symbolize God. At one point in the first book of the series one of the characters says this about Aslan the lion: "'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." Obviously, we can see how an actual lion wouldn't be considered safe. They are wild at heart and innate killers. While I don't think classifying God as wild is appropriate, He is ferociously against sin by His very nature. It's not safe to be an unrepentant sinner, because God hates sin. His good side comes out, though, when He extends His grace and mercy to us and offers us salvation and forgiveness from our sins. He is kind and forgiving, but He is also just and holy in a perfectly balanced way.

What I believe about all of this, then, is that while it does take sacrifice to follow Jesus and it does take us out of our comfort zone to be Christians, the alternative is much less safe. True, we might have an easier time on earth in some ways if we follow the ways of the world, but that wide path is not safe when it comes to eternity. It's much easier to go through a few storms and a little persecution from man while we're on earth than to spend eternity separated from God and suffering the consequences for our sin. The true safety and security that we have comes from our faith in God's ultimate goodness towards those who have become His children and have received salvation. We're not safe only in the sense that we have to surrender control, and as control freaks, that makes us feel insecure. God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, so we are ultimately safe in Christ.

This whole concept applies to human-to-human love as well, not just between us and God. It's not safe for us to love another person. Think about it. If you really love someone, there is a personal attachment to them on at least the most basic of levels. You can love little African children and then be filled with extreme sorrow when you see them hungry, sick, and alone. You can love a close friend enough to open up to them and share who you are as a person, only to have your trust betrayed and to be left with deep hurt from the betrayal. There are different levels to what we generically call love, and the deeper the level of love, the less safe it is. It isn't always easy to love either. When we think of the part of love that involves sacrifice, commitment, and making hard, selfless choices, it's evident that love isn't an easy thing to do in those instances. In the end, though, love is good. It is good to risk for love. It is good to be hurt because you love. It is good to do difficult things out of love. All of this can make the love that much deeper, stronger, and more meaningful. Ultimately, living a safe and easy life is selfish. We were called to more than that. Follow the example of Christ. Love God and love others. It's not easy, but it's good.