Monday
Jul312006
safety is illusion
Monday, July 31, 2006 at 01:50AM
I told you the other day that I've been thinking about fear. I've also told you that I've been listening to a little "christian" radio these days, trying to figure out what it is people are looking for when they turn to these stations. I've been wanting to learn both the mechanics (tempo, style, chord structure, melody) and the ideas. It's been interesting to me to notice that no one sings about fear. Not at all. But fear is all over the station.
I've already talked about the ethics of non-commercial stations using "corporate acknowledgements" or whatever they want to call it, as advertisements. I believe completely that this is wrong. BUT, I'm not going to go into that right now. What's been really interesting is how the buzz word in all of these advertisements is "safe". This is a "safe" station, watch our "safe" TV channel or use our "safe" web browser. It even gets into things like "a 'safe' place to buy a car" or a "'safe' online singles community" you know, to meet that "safe" significant other when the Saturday night service has dried up.
It's been shocking to me to see how often this word gets used. It's obvious that marketing dollars are being spent to get this word associated with products, and that only happens because the market research shows that people are looking for that identity with said product.
And I'm left with the question: what are we afraid of?
What is it that has us, or at least this demographic, so scared? I know, we live in a frightented nation. There are wars, racial tension, looming national debt, crooked politics, child molesters and deadly diseases.
BUT.
This is a radio station for believers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The one who told us to have no fear. "There is no fear in love", He said, "perfect love drives out fear." Over and over, Jesus tells us that we have nothing to be afraid of. We are held tightly in His hand. Bombs may fall, disease may ravage, our innocence will be plundered, our stocks will crash. These things don't matter. We are new creations with the living God within us. Death has no sting!
Why, then, must our radio be "safe"??
To me, this shows that an area where we as a Church have stopped believing. To worry is to not trust in the goodness of God. As a believer, that's the only definition there can be. And we are worried. We don't trust that God is good, because if we did, we wouldn't be scrounging for safety.
This bleeds into all sorts of things: how we deal with the poor and the oppressed, with racism, with terrorism, with genocide, with heartbreak, with rape and murder, with peeping toms and internet porn. These things hang over us like a tidal wave and we're just running blindly. But what I believe Jesus has said, and is saying, is that we shouldn't fear the wave. It will crash, they always have and they always will.
Well, that's not true. They will until He returns to calm the seas for good.
Because the waves obey Him.
And why are we afraid of what God has in perfect, and loving, control?
I've already talked about the ethics of non-commercial stations using "corporate acknowledgements" or whatever they want to call it, as advertisements. I believe completely that this is wrong. BUT, I'm not going to go into that right now. What's been really interesting is how the buzz word in all of these advertisements is "safe". This is a "safe" station, watch our "safe" TV channel or use our "safe" web browser. It even gets into things like "a 'safe' place to buy a car" or a "'safe' online singles community" you know, to meet that "safe" significant other when the Saturday night service has dried up.
It's been shocking to me to see how often this word gets used. It's obvious that marketing dollars are being spent to get this word associated with products, and that only happens because the market research shows that people are looking for that identity with said product.
And I'm left with the question: what are we afraid of?
What is it that has us, or at least this demographic, so scared? I know, we live in a frightented nation. There are wars, racial tension, looming national debt, crooked politics, child molesters and deadly diseases.
BUT.
This is a radio station for believers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The one who told us to have no fear. "There is no fear in love", He said, "perfect love drives out fear." Over and over, Jesus tells us that we have nothing to be afraid of. We are held tightly in His hand. Bombs may fall, disease may ravage, our innocence will be plundered, our stocks will crash. These things don't matter. We are new creations with the living God within us. Death has no sting!
Why, then, must our radio be "safe"??
To me, this shows that an area where we as a Church have stopped believing. To worry is to not trust in the goodness of God. As a believer, that's the only definition there can be. And we are worried. We don't trust that God is good, because if we did, we wouldn't be scrounging for safety.
This bleeds into all sorts of things: how we deal with the poor and the oppressed, with racism, with terrorism, with genocide, with heartbreak, with rape and murder, with peeping toms and internet porn. These things hang over us like a tidal wave and we're just running blindly. But what I believe Jesus has said, and is saying, is that we shouldn't fear the wave. It will crash, they always have and they always will.
Well, that's not true. They will until He returns to calm the seas for good.
Because the waves obey Him.
And why are we afraid of what God has in perfect, and loving, control?
Reader Comments (18)
wow andy. great stuff to think about. thank you.
Awesome thoughts man.
I think though, that some stations (at least the most popular "christian" station near me [I do not like the station at all]) say that its "safe for the whole family" because other stations have some things that aren't appropriate. So, the station is technically "safe" from things innapropriate.
But then the station near me ruins it by having people they've interviewed say things like, "I love 'spirit1053' because I'm tired of being preached at. I just want to take it easy sometimes..."
"Uh huh..." I think.
Anyway, there's one of my thoughts.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure most Christian stations advertise as "safe and fun for the whole family." There are 2 in the atlanta area and they both use some form of that slogan. Here's my thoughts on where their reasoning comes for that advertisement: It's 'safe' for parents to have on in the car with thier young children who would rather them not hear (nor should anyone care) how much junk Fergie has in her trunk or just how 'promiscuous' Nelly Furtado has become, pop radio is just so perverted.
It is our very nature to be at odds with God. This means we are at odds with love. If love is bound up in God and defined by his being, then love transcends the deepest of all travesties and sufferings. But because we don't even understand and draw near to God, we are afraid. We want to feel safe; we subjugate KNOWING we are safe to FEELING safe. Though they cannot be separated, they are different. Why is our culture so obsessed with "safety"? I think its because we truly want to BE safe... "BE" would be both on the intellectual level and emotional.
We are an afraid people. But this is not how the Church is to be. The idealism of fundemental evagelicalism has neglected the reality of life. We are broken, suffering, and completely "safe." But, BEING safe only exists in the "unsafeness" of Jesus. Our security is completely bound up in the riskiness of Jesus. When we try to feel "safe" by separating ourselves from the rest of the world at the cost of feeling safe, we actually leave Jesus for a quick fix. But he has not left us, and will be with us through the end.
In his book "Don't Waste Your Life" (which I recommend heartily, if you haven't read it), John Piper has some excellent thoughts on the "myth" of safety and security.
Not that I necessarily disagree with anything you wrote, Andrew, but how is it applied in our lives?
The fact is we live in a sinful world, and horrible things happen every day.
Not a week ago I was driving down the road, and traffic came to a halt. As I slowly drove by, I saw a the body of a man lying awkward and motionless in the road. He had seriously injured himself in a bicycle accident, and a fellow biking friend was speaking franticly to someone (I presume 911) on a cell phone.
My thoughts immediately turned to this man's family. He probably has a wife and children, and at that moment they were blissfully unaware of his peril. The man may have been dead for all I know, and his family didn't have a clue. And that type of thing could happen to me or you or any of us in a moment.
That's just an example of something terrible. Others happen all the time. Even more disturbing (so much so that I try not to think about it lest I cry) are examples of children who are involved in accidents or abused by wicked men and women.
How are we to apply what you wrote to such situations as these?
It seems to me that there is a willful ignorance that attempts to deny the sinfulness of the world we live in, and 'trusts God' as an alternative.
Is it sinful for me to not let my children out of my sight when I'm in the city? Or is that wisdom? Where do we draw the line?
I feel that sometimes that all this "safety" can be an illusion. I personally know a mother who constantly pushes "safe" radio, "safe" TV, and other "safe" things on her children. All the while her children are sneaking around listening to their friend's CD's, and watching their friends movies. The mother is blinded by her efforts and feels that her children have not been exposed to certain, "un-Christian" things. The mother begins to believe that her children are innocent and would never think of doing sinful things. Just a few days ago this lady let her 13 year old daughter stay in a hotel room with one of her friends completely by themselves. This is scary to me because I know this 13 year old girl. All the "safety" she has been surrounded with has now put her in danger of temptation.
When it comes to being the mother/father that we need to be with our children we have to be a part of their lives. We have to let them know that we care about what they are involved in. It takes more than all the "safe for the whole family" thing. I'm sure most of you already know that, but I figured I would throw my thoughts around. I think Andrew is right in say that Jesus pushed the idea of not having fear. "Do not live in fear little flock." I also like the way CS Lewis describes Aslan. "No he is not safe. But he is good." To follow Christ is not a safe life, but it is good.
Thanks for the thoughts. It inspired some of my own.
I imagine, as others have noted, that it's designed to create a separate culture and society that is something controlled and wholesome. But is providing that illusion a good thing? I'd say no.
interesting, that the True Religion (as Jonathan Edwards liked to put it) guarantees the greatest joy in the end, providing steadfast hope and security, yet as we are taught from the Scriptures that the the process along the way is not guaranteed. We rest in the fact that we will see God in the end, but we do not know what tomorrow brings. The truth, when understood does much more to ruin safety than actually protect it.
We have become a victim to $ and marketing.
Mr. O. I used to be bugged as well about the whole "safe" wording heard on Christian radio stations..until I had kids old enough to say "shit" when they heard it on one of them there not so safe stations - the kind that play the devil's music ; )
Seriously, my oldest daughter was three and uttered the aforementioned four letter abomination from the back seat right after the DJ said it. Man, I was suddenly fully aware of what "safe" is in radio terms. My friends at WAY-FM have backed me up by saying they don't mean to imply that God's wish for His people is that they stay "safe" and lead boring sheltered lives but they use the word "safe"" to mean "you won't hear 'shit' on this station, or sexual innuendo or anything else you don't want your pre-adolescent repeating in Sunday School."
When that's the meaning of the word I'm grateful for things labeled with it - as a parent of three little people. When that's the meaning...
On the topic of fear...I taught through the book of Acts about three years ago, verse by verse, every one of them, and was amazed at how often church growth was mentioned alongside fear. And was further stunned when learning that the word "Fear" in Acts and throughout the new testament is phobos in Greek. It means, well, fear. Not respect or reverence but fear. Worth looking up every mention of it if you're into studying the subject right now.
Good stuff. Thanks for blogging. I always enjoy reading.
btw, you got a gibson j-45 laying around I could use sometime? Thinking about getting one but want to test drive first.
-Shaun
Interesting coincidence.
On being created for freedom here:
www.clintwells.blogspot.com
good post.
Excellent post, Andy. A couple of points: I think Shaun's right about the language being "safe for the whole family", but you may be on to something too. I'm sure WAY-FM's intentions are right and good with that, but I can't help wondering if that bleeds into some filtering of musical content - which you haven't addressed directly.
Is your concern limited to "Christian advertising", or do you think it comes out in the music they play too? I might be going off-topic, since I'm thinking more of the "positive" spin that's typically put on Christian music stations.
Good thoughts, Andy O.
Richard-- I think you may have hit on something significant with your mention of "wisdom." You don't hear much about that on CCM radio. Being "safe" is only good as long as it's balanced with wisdom, and not taken to the extremes (like that poor mom-- "sheltering" her daughter then letting her stay alone w/out an adult!). So there must be a balance-- recognizing that Christ's love casts out all fear, yet knowing when to apply wisdom, especially when protecting children, etc.
I, for one, thinks this works out practically by NOT LISTENING TO THE RADIO when kids are in the car. I took a friend's baby out for a drive yesterday and had the most fun listening to her chatter along. And when she's a bit older-- play CD's. You can't buy a car today without a CD player (or at least a tape player). I mean, why can't we exercise wisdom in NOT turning on those other, scary stations and also NOT turning on crappy, happy feel-good CCM, either. I figure I'll be playing a lot of Square Peggers in the car when we have kids-- especially Andy P and Randall's upcoming "Slugs and Bugs and Lullabyes".... but probably some Andy O, too. Our kids will be rockers. :)
One more thing I couldn't NOT mention-- it's just too funny. There's a third CCM station in Atlanta (with a smaller range) that is listener supported-- and they have Andy O's aforementioned "corporate acknowledgements" with the unique feature that most of them include a bible verse. It was quite entertaining to hear a Psalm of praise "brought to you" by a Christian PEST CONTROL company. I think an imprecatory psalm would've been more appropriate! Lord, smite my enemies, those darn cockraoches! (But no one wants to hear about that on a feel-good station, either, I suppose. I would, though.)
"It was quite entertaining to hear a Psalm of praise “brought to you� by a Christian PEST CONTROL company." Great story, alred.
Don't just avoid sin. EXTERMINATE IT! Ha!
On a more serious note, the fences that keep us safe can also block beauty, wisdom, and truth. Exercise good judgment, discretion, and discernment--but LIVE.
Here's an idea:
Why don't you write a song called "What are We Afraid Of?"
I suppose I'm a little late on this one, but I feel I have something at least a little bit worth saying...
I agree with most everything that has been said, but it troubles me that I notice an underlying theme of "us versus them" developing in our logic. Yes, as believers we are at odds with the false and idolatrous teachings of the world. But also, yes, as believers we are still just as much at odds with the false and idolatrous ways of our hearts.
When you speak of fear, of being afraid of murder and rape and porn and war and corruption, I think before we point a finger at the world and say "Look, see what's wrong with you!" we should be willing to point a finger at ourselves and shout the same accusation. I am the rapist. I am the murderer. I am the corrupt one.
Certainly there is God's work of Redemption in me, but my spirit is still very much at war with my flesh.
I am sure that most of you know that this is true, but it worries me to observe so many of us "sound off" against the outside forces and not pay due attention to the forces that war within us. Jesus did not urge us to gouge out someone elses eye or chop off someone elses hand, He urged us to be violent against our own sin... to be violent on the deepest of levels: at the heart.
So I caution us all, definately myself included, to wield the same Gospel that we wield so cleverly at others onto ourselves.
Because, as many of you have so carefully put, the battle with fear begins in our hearts. We fear because we do not trust God to provide. We fear because we do not really believe that He is unshakably working things for our good and His own glory. We fear because we forget in an instant that He is tirelessly pursuing us despite our efforts to flee. We fear because we hate that He is God and we are not.
Hi Andy and everyone!
I am also a little late on this one but have been thinking about this a lot this past week. I just finished a Celtic Spirituality class and in one of the books we read a metaphor for the illusion of safety in the Christian journey, which is like people building false floors to keep themselves safe from rising floodwaters. This reminded me of having "safe" radio stations - we are building false floors to keep ourselves safe from the rising floodwaters of the world. However, there are some big theological issues with this. First of all, these are FALSE floors, which means they are not true floors, built on God's foundation. Secondly, false floors only protect ourselves and maybe our families. What about all the other people drowning in the flood? Are we called only to look out for ourselves? I don't think that's part of the gospel message! This definitely, as Matt said, builds an "us vs. them" mentality.
Safety really is an illusion. God didn't call us to be safe. And building false floors is being false to the call each of us has to be disciples and follow Jesus. We are never promised safety, but we are always promised companionship, love and grace.
I also have issues with stations being "safe" because they don't use bad language. What about being safe from bad theology? My local Christian station only plays music that is "positive and uplifting," which includes only a small portion of the Christian experience. They are also very limited style-wise, which means we get mostly praise and worship music with a few other songs thrown in. I can't imagine a non-Christian tuning in and finidng anything that connects with them in any way, nor do I find much that supports Christians themselves in their discipling journey.
Thanks for asking the question and making great music that I would LOVE to hear on my local radio station (but probably never will)!