Of course he’s not safe… | James Henley

May200823

Reflection & Contemplation

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Of course he’s not safe…

Spent yesterday mainly studying the Anabaptists in college. They probably have the closest theology/ecclesiology to the majority of the emerging church. A lot of what the emerging church seems to be about is a response to the ways in which the reformation over-compensated in it's response to the problems with Catholicism – where as the Anabaptist radical wing of the reformation seemed to already have some of this sorted – especially the preservation of mysticism and contemplation as part of their faith and the emphasis on works as the evidence/results of a soul justified by faith. Think I would probably be an anabaptist if I wasn't such a good Anglican boy ;-)

Key to the Anabaptists understanding of what it meant to live a Christian life was the concept of the Fear of God as evidence of a converted, Christian life – the idea that a real fear of the Lord result in a lived-out, radical way of living. When Chris (our theology tutor) was teaching us about this, one of the questions from my classmates was how this can fit in with a concept of a God who is all loving? Found a completely unrelated blog today, which quoted CS Lewis' Narnia books and got me thinking.

I love the image of Aslan in the Narnia chronicles – the idea of this strong, courageous, unpredictable figure, but who also is gentle and comforting and noble.

Love the way Mr Beaver speaks of Aslan (cribbed from that blog entry) – "Course he isn't safe. But he's good."

So much today we try to rationalise God – we listen to speakers who say "if you do this, then God will do this in return" and "if you don't do this, then God will do this". What happened to this picture of a God who is unsafe?

I love that my God is unsafe, untamable, as unpredictable as the world he created. And yes, that means he's going to be a little scary.

I don't want my God to be imprizoned within a cage of human logic. I want him roam free all-powerful, all-knowing, but never predictable – so that all I can do is find myself lost in awe and fear, clinging to the promise that he loves me and his plans are to prosper me and not harm me.

narnia aslan Of course hes not safe...

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