Christian Radio

I was listening to a local Christian Radio station recently when I began to hear their slogan over and over—“Safe for the whole family” said the DJ’s in soothing, syrupy voices. And you could just tell that they were smiling the whole time, and that was probably a job requirement at the Christian radio station, and they had probably labored in Christian Radio school for hours and hours as they practiced smiling and talking in syrupy voices while still managing to get those consonants out. Then they played clips of kids singing along to the Christian songs and their nervous Mom’s assured the listeners of how much their anxiety has been relieved now that they can tune their kids into “clean radio” and spare their precious one’s from the dangers of the world.

As I listened, I kept thinking of C.S. Lewis’ description of Aslan in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, “Is he safe?” one of the children ask. “Safe? Heaven’s no,” says the Beaver, “but he is good.”

And I was wondering about the landscape of contemporary Christianity and how we got this notion of it being so safe and nice and wholesome for the family idea. I mean, at the center of our faith is a guy who’s covered with blood and nailed to a wooden cross who’s supposedly the whole point of this thing. And he was always saying, “follow me,” the disciples who did follow him were killed in similarly gruesome ways. Not exactly something I’m eager to tell my six year old.

And then Jesus was also known for telling people if they wanted to be true disciples, they had to hate their father and mother, sister and brother, even life itself. Sounds kind of dark, like 1st century style Goth culture or something.

And this guy was unruly. He totally ditched his parents for several days on a family outing, and Mary and Joseph thought they lost him. And then when they found him, he mouthed off to them, “Didn't you know I’d be about my Father’s business?” like this teenager thought he was God or something. And then when he grew up, he rebelled against everything, like the social norms of the day and he hung out with scandalous people, like prostitutes. (Oh, but he said they were “just friends”).

I mean, this guy sounds like the kind of guy that James Dobson would have a hay day with. He’d be the poster child of the kid who needed some serious doses of tough love.

And yet, when I think of Jesus some times I cannot shake the idea of a guy with a syrupy voice that's always smiling--and possibly prancing in green fields with flowers followed by cute and cuddly fluffy white sheep where everything is safe and nice.

The truth is that Jesus bids us to come and die. And that’s not entirely safe or family friendly. But it’s good.

I guess I want to salvage the image of Jesus from the syrup so he can continue to really save me. I have found the path of goodness to be dangerous and exciting. Facing our false self is terrifying and threatening to our self-images and cultural norms. Jesus may be calling us to rebel and be recreated in a way that family and friends don’t understand. We may be called to bear the mystery of God’s life, death and resurrection. Is it safe? Heaven’s no, but it’s good.