Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Thought Life

Home
Evangelical
We Feel Unsafe Today Because We Are

We Feel Unsafe Today Because We Are

Last updated on: October 4, 2013 at 7:24 am by Owen Strachan

We Feel Unsafe Today Because We Are 2013-10-04T07:24:32-06:00 Owen Strachan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Yesterday, a woman attempted to drive past White House guards. She was unsuccessful and sped up to the U. S. Capitol building where she was shot and killed. It’s not immediately clear why Miriam Carey did this, and why she placed her child’s life in danger (the child was apparently unharmed). My friend Eric Teetsel chronicled all of this on Twitter; he was feet from the scene.

This latest burst of madness in D. C. did not result in mass deaths. But it was yet another attack on authority and the populace. It was another instance of a news cycle dominated by chaos and danger. It was a reminder, if you tuned in, that our world is now unsafe.

What do I mean by that? It seems rather clear that something in our society is slipping away. There is a common fabric that has been torn. Killers pop up in the most surprising of places: in movie theaters, in the parking lot of government facilities, and in classrooms filled with six-year-olds. These shootings in American locales have threatened our sense of security. “What’s happening in this country?” we wonder. “What is producing this madness? How can we make it stop?”

I think there really is something that we as a society have lost. The Judeo-Christian moral framework of this country is fractured; a sense of morality and duty to the broader body politic is eroding; that old sense that one was safe in one’s home is slipping away. I attribute this shift, in sum, to a worldview revolution. We’re more narcissistic, more psychological, less moral, and less theistic today. In the wake of such a sea change, some turn to killing. The rest of us suffer, and our common sense of security takes a hit, and then another.

But here’s the thing that struck me yesterday as I processed yet another public attack: we’re all unsafe. We always have been. We should feel unsafe. We are. We should feel insecure. There is no security in this world. These are hard words, but I think they are true.

We’re seeing the lid ripped off of the nice little box we like to put ourselves in as relatively affluent American Christians. Even though we know that this world is shot through with sin (Romans 3:10-18), we still want to think that everything’s okay. We want the delusion that all is nice and safe and comfortable. If we just stay in our lane, and live in nice places, and do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll live a life of safety and security and ease. This isn’t full-blown prosperity theology, but it’s a form of it. It ends up trying to extract a promise from God that, while chaos and pain may strike others, it won’t strike us because of our inherent agreeableness.

There is nothing wrong with seeking calm and quiet and comfort. Nothing at all. Buy the nice home; install the security system; join the neighborhood watch; vote in such a way as to maximize community protection; do all you can to free your family and yourself from danger. But the bigger point is this: we live in a fallen world. We kid ourselves and worse if we think that life in a sin-stricken realm will mean undisturbed repose. None of us can risk-proof our lives. None of us can remove sin and suffering from our surroundings. None of us can achieve lasting security and safety here. That, as I said earlier, is a delusion.

We want our latte, a quiet fall day, and a growing bank account. We don’t want kids dying and the threat of social breakdown. But these are real, and awful, parts of life.

The mass killings and cultural devastation that we’ve seen over the last dozen years (starting with 9/11) have shaken many of us. The world seems scary today. Often, we react to this by soothing ourselves and our loved ones. “It’s going to be okay,” we say, “everything will work out.” That’s an understandable human response, but it doesn’t hold up in the end. It’s not all going to be okay. People die. Across the world, gunmen walk into shopping malls and youth camps. They murder the innocent. Abortion providers kill little babies every day in quiet little communities that pride themselves on togetherness and equality. We’re in a lost, fallen, broken, sick world. It’s always been this way; Christians in many countries now and over the ages have it and had it far worse than many of us do in America today.

The sooner we acknowledge and square with that, the better.

The foregoing is missing just one thing: hope. Jesus Christ. The living, reigning Lord who swept into our world and made a way to escape this unsafe, unfriendly place. In an insecure realm, Jesus is our security. In an unsafe society, Jesus is our safety. In a broken culture, Jesus is our wholeness. There really is no other ballast in this world. This is it. And here’s the good part: he is all we could ever need or want, and ten million times more than that.

This is the true mystery of the problem of evil: why Jesus entered into the chaos and confusion and smoke and screams and death. Why he left heaven. Why God the Father sent him. He had the ultimate security; he dwelt in inexhaustible light. But he came to us, and we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father (John 1:14).

This is the hope of every believer. This is the hope of everyone who isn’t religious or is fearful or confused or suffering. Jesus Christ is our security; Jesus Christ is our safety. He conquered sin and hell and Satan on the cross. He gives life as the one who was resurrected from the tomb. This, and no other, is the believer’s rock, the ground under our feet that never shifts.

If you’re scared by all these events, these killings, these hysteria-inducing tragedies, you should be. If you’re discouraged by what’s happening all around us in normal, seemingly safe places, you should be. There is no lasting comfort in this world. There is no pain-free life you can guarantee yourself. All the savings and the carefully purchased homes and the security systems and the excellent schools and the moral living and the shrewd investing cannot ensure that you and I will be safe, or our kids will not taste pain. We do all that we can to bring happiness and safety to our loved ones. So we should. But the only security and safety available to fallen people is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is not only our Lord; he is our model. Following the will of God in a cursed place meant braving hatred, and inviting persecution, and dying on a cross. Have we deceived ourselves? Are we thinking we’re owed something we’re not?

It’s right to be alarmed by what’s increasingly dominating headlines. It’s right to pray for peace and the restoration of civil order and moral behavior. It’s right to work to repair the natural family and protect marriage and contend for the unborn. But ultimately, this world is not our home. We are “strangers and exiles” according to 1 Peter 2:11. We are safe in Jesus Christ now, secure for all eternity through his blood. We have no guarantee of earthly peace for ourselves and our families; we have God’s own guarantee of heavenly peace for all the ages to come. That’s our encouragement. That’s our hope.

So: abandon the delusion of earthly security. Live all out for Jesus Christ. Take nothing for granted. Live like a Hebrews 11 Christian. Tell everyone you can of the hope found in the cross. Kiss, love, and pray for your children.

This world is not your home. So spend it all for God. As a wise man once said, as long as it is day, we must do the works of Christ.
(Image: Jewel Samad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Previous Post

October 3, 2013

The Husband Who Would Not Leave His Wife Behind

Next Post

October 10, 2013 Rosaria Butterfield Subject to Protests at University in Florida

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "heaven is a world of love" 9Marks abortion academics Adam Sandler adoption adultery adulthood aesthetics aging ajith fernando al mohler alice walker America american education american shaolin apologetics architecture atheism atonement august rush barack obama baseball basketball batman beauty berry mauve or muted wine Bible biblemesh biblical studies biblical theology biblical womanhood billy wolfe blogging bob kauflin body book culture book reviews boston celtics boston college bowdoin college bowling alone boyce college boyhood Brooke Fraser Bruce Ware bullies bullying business business ethics C.S. Lewis calling calvinism canada Capitol Hill Baptist Church carl henry carl trueman carolyn mahaney cbmw celebrity Chicago child's play children Christ Christ and culture Christian education christian hedonism christian ministry Christian vocation christian womanhood christianity and culture church government church history church internships church life church matters blog church membership church planting cities CJ Mahaney colin adams college college admissions college life college ministry collin hansen complementarianism conferences congregational worship conservative thought consumerism conversion council on biblical manhood & womanhood council on biblical manhood and womanhood covenant life church creativity credo magazine credobaptism cross movement crossway books crucifixion culinary culture cultural engagement cultural theology culture culture shift d. a. carson dads daily mail dan barry dancing with the stars daniel dennett darrell bock dating David Barash davy rothbart death death of God debt desiring God developmental league devotional thoughts dick morris dining disability discipleship doug sweeney douglas groothius economics economy education egalitarianism eliot spitzer ella rose strachan enlightenment entrepreneurs entrepreneurship environmentalism Eric Metaxas ethics evangelical theological society evangelicalism evangelism extended adolescence extreme home makeover family fatherhood feminism fiction film flame food foodstuffs football four gospels frank miller friendship gay gay Christianity gender roles genderblog george marsden girltalk gk chesterton God gospel gospel of John gospel risk gq greek mythology guillermo del toro happiness harold ockenga Harvard health heaven height hell henry center herb london higher education hillsdale hip hop historical theology history holidays holiness Holy Spirit home-school homemaking homes homosexuality hope human dignity human flourishing human life image of God imagination intellectual Christianity intellectual life iron man Islam J.I. Packer james mcavoy James Q. Wilson jeremy lin Jesus Christ jim hamilton joe namath John Calvin John McCain john owen john piper john rockefeller jonathan edwards journalism justice justin taylor kairos journal keira knightlet la times leadership lesbian life of the mind Lifeway links literature Lord's prayer louie giglio love male sex drive mall manhood manners Mark Dever Mark Driscoll marriage mars hill martial virtue martin luther masculinity materialism matthew hall maureen dowd memoirs of an ordinary pastor mentoring military millennials ministry missional missions monergism moral argument morality motherhood music national review nba new atheism new england New Testament new york new york times new yorker newsweek nietzsche northeast notre dame npr obedience oprah oprah's big give orphan care overheated prose award owen wilson pain parenting Park Community Church pastor-theologian pastoral ministry pastors persecution philosophes philosophy political philosophy politics poverty prayer preaching presidency presidential race pro-life professors proverbs psychology public school public square public theology publications quebec quilting race racism radical womanhood rap music rc sproul rebecca walker Reformation 21 relevant magazine religious liberty resources revelation revival richard dawkins richistan risky gospel robbie george robert putnam ron chernow Russ Moore salvation salvo magazine sam harris same-sex attraction sanctification scholarship science scripture secularism seminaries seminary life sex sex drive sexual ethics sexuality sexualized culture shooting sacred evangelical cows shootings simple church singleness social justice social media social networking Southern Baptists southern seminary sovereign grace Spanglish spirituality sports sports illustrated sports injuries stanford steve mccoy suburbia suffering superhero t. suzanne ellder Tea Leoni technology television the darjeeling unlimited the gospel coalition the southern baptist theological seminary the wackness theological journalism theology theology of work thinking Thom Rainer tim challies tim keller time magazine titan Together for the Gospel tom carson tom wolfe tragedy transgender travel trinity trinity evangelical divinity school truth twitter ty pennington unashamed workman Uncategorized violence virtue vocation voddie baucham war wayne gretzky wayne grudem weddings wikipedia will smith williams winnie hu womanhood work world magazine worship writing youth sports

Select a Month August 2021 July 2021 May 2021 March 2021 December 2020 October 2020 June 2020 February 2020 January 2020 October 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In James, what is the correct sequence that leads from temptation to death?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Desire, sin conceived, sin full-grown, death Sin, desire, full-grown sin, death Temptation, desire, death, judgment Desire, temptation, sin, death