Obsessions with Safety.
“Any God who comes incarnate and get himself crucified is obviously not particularly concerned about safety.” – Rick Watts
Could trying to get ourselves to a safe place be one of the most dangerous things that we do for each other? While I understand that many come into The Way bruised and battered in ways that are beyond my imagination, while I agree that there is healing and there is hope, I am not sure that our greatest calling is to safety.
As I contemplate the word "conversion", I see little safety involved. Transformation, change, turning - all these things can cause great grief as we leave one part of our lives behind and turn to another part of the road. Sometimes the things associated with the grief process - denial and anger and depression - can be a part of the process for those who are maturing into a deeper understanding of their faith. Jesus' question "Do you want to be well?" could apply here. For some of us, getting healed and moving onto to a more mature faith stage , getting out of our need for black-and-white answers and snappy rhetoric, away from those first stages of knowing and into a deep center of listening and participating, brings us face to face with a sorrow we didn't know possible.
Some have called it the pruning of one's life work. We imagine only the rough, knobby parts of us getting clipped off. But often it is what we identify as good and useful that is snapped off and left to rot on the ground. We see no rhyme or reason. We are not gardeners. Not even vines. Only branches so proud of our fruit. What is left if it is taken from us? Down the block from my house, one of the largest churches in Canada has built a massive new building with "a safe place" being one of their mottos. I remember Brian McLaren asking once "What kind of community do we have if we say "Come and be loved." rather than "Come and learn how to love?" What kind of community do we have if we emphasize safety and forget the hard work of continuous conversion? The "safe" community does not encourage transformation of its members. Safety is in numbers. If you have ever questioned the operations of a safe community, you probably landed on your ass outside a set of double wood doors. Tighten the borders, scrutinize identities, and take away freedoms so that we can be safe. Safe communities are very often scared of people changing away from their accepted norms. The questions they ask threaten five year plans and can put big pins in the happy balloons. Is this why there are so few leaders who know how to encourage fully developed adults?
This week, I talked with friends about how a healthy community will stand with someone who is going through a messy transformation.This transformation may involve repentance. It may involve the hard and often painful work necessary in healing. It may involve the mental and spiritual burden that is present when one moves from one simple faith stage to another. It may include watching your life's work fall to the ground so something else can grow. These changes will certainly take a very long time. We wait and pray and try to listen but we cannot make these things safe. If we do, we may deny the fullness of joy that will come in the morning - as promised.
