Safety

This morning I had to go and get my car safety checked. Well, it’s not really my car, it’s my dads (thank you, dad, for my transportation!) – please note that I was only a few days late with said safety check.

Last night, I was reading a devotion about the risk of relationships. It was talking about the given-ness of Jesus, what He was willing to risk, and what we are so often not willing to risk. We are so often afraid of failure, or afraid of being broken.

But, Jesus’ whole body is broken. He is broken for us, every Sunday, in communion.

Why does it scare us so much to be like Jesus?

A car safety check is, of course, a good idea – but ultimately, our safety cannot be in material, human goods. Safety must be found in the peace of God.

There is no “safety check” for relationships – no way to gauge risk, or prevent hurt from happening. Even if there is someone in your life who you think is low-stakes – say, for instance, a neighbor – it might still bother you if they don’t like you. It might still be something you care about.

So, as I wait for my car to go through the mechanical processes of being checked, and make sure it is safe for the road – I am thinking about the risk we take in human relationship, and the ways those risks make us better Christians.

The call of the gospel is not a safe one – and there is no assurance God gives that we won’t have pain. The assurance is that we will not be alone. The call of the gospel is one of relationship – to be drawn, deeper and deeper, into a transformational relationship with the living God – one that will change us and ask us to risk what we know.

Our safety lies in God alone.