Safe Space in Christ

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Is it safe to learn to play the organ like Johann S. Bach?

I remember hearing a short “Public service” message several years ago on a local Public radio station where a mother was talking about providing a safe place for her daughter. This did not sound so bad at first. Parents should want to protect their children from harm and from all who would seek to hurt them or take advantage of them. However, this is not what the woman meant. She went on to define what a “safe place” meant to her. She wanted her daughter to be “safe” from criticism, and from people who would tell her that she couldn’t do something!

I thought that this was extremely strange, especially considering the context that this was a classical music station and I presumed the mother paradoxically wanted her child to learn to play a musical instrument. It is impossible for someone to learn to play an instrument without receiving all kinds of criticisms about technique and note choice and style and encouragements to practice and the like. I thought to myself that this woman’s child will not only never learn to play an instrument, but would also grow up so spoiled that she would never be a productive member of society if she embraced this attitude.

Wikipedia defines “safe space” as “an autonomous space created for individuals who feel marginalized to come together to communicate regarding their experiences with marginalization.” That is the politically correct view, though even that brings up the images of a group of whining complainers who can’t take a little criticism. A more honest definition can be found at the urbandictionary.com where the most direct definition defines a “safe space” as “A place where cowards with cultural authoritarian and pro-censorship leanings go to in order to evade criticism and exposing of whatever absurd ideas they may express, as well as ideas that are even slightly opposed to the safe space dweller’s ideas. These are labeled as whatever kind of bigotry would make the safe space dweller look like a victim the most.” This accurately shows how such “safe places” are not really safe, and are quite bad for all concerned.

Jesus taught the people in Nazareth but they sought to kill him. See Luke 4:16-30

One big problem with shielding children from criticism is that they never get the chance to test or defend their ideas or point of view. They can thus be more easily manipulated and controlled by whoever is moderating the information that they take in. In the real world where people have all sorts of crazy ideas it is necessary to learn what is good and true, and separate that from what is bad and false. When a real person in the real world is challenged on his worldview, he has to be able to defend his position and show how his ideas are better than the ideas proposed by his opponent. If he finds that he cannot defend his point of view, then he must consider rethinking his position to account for the truth, and thus make his resulting worldview much better.

Children need to be sheltered and protected from harm, but the process of maturation should be a gradual removal of the shelters as the growing child is better able to discern the truth from lies. The sheltered child who is never challenged until later in life doesn’t know how to deal with criticism, and is not likely to be able to distinguish the truth from lies. This can be very unsettling when they are faced with people who have a different view of the world. This is true even when someone has a better view of the world, and can effectively communicate that to others.

It is also ironic that many of the Internet definitions of “safe spaces” make reference to activities going on at college campuses or universities. One cannot learn unless one admits that he doesn’t know all things and maybe he has to broaden his view of the world or learn to stand up and defend what he knows to be true against false views of the world. Christians have known for years that there are no university campuses (including Christian universities) where we are “safe” from criticism and ridicule and sometimes outright attacks (mostly verbal, but increasingly some physical) on us, and on our faith. Many of the attacks on Christianity come from unfounded assumptions by teachers and others that Christians are non-intellectual and the Christian faith is somehow irrational. Sometimes people come right out and question the morality of Christianity without providing a basis for their own moral view. I faced some of this when I was in college in the 1980’s, and it has only gotten worse in the subsequent decades.

There is a saying that “No one is useless. You can always serve as a bad example.” If you want a textbook example of the tragedies which ensue when children are never disciplined or challenged, then look at the former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick. Kwame’s mother was a U.S. Congress representative from Michigan, and she apparently never told her son that he couldn’t do anything. The result of this is that he thought he could do anything, and so he did. He cheated on his wife with another man’s wife. He abused his authority as Mayor of Detroit. He extorted bribes to enrich himself and his cronies at the expense of the people of Detroit. He also had something to do with the murder of a prostitute and was instrumental in the cover-up obstruction of the investigation into her death. Kwame is currently where he belongs in prison for federal crimes of corruption and accepting bribes and various other crimes related to his abuse of power.

Though prison keeps the greater society safe from uncontrolled wicked people like Kwame Kilpatrick (and more openly violent people), prisons are the opposite of what is now commonly referred to as “safe spaces”. In prison the inmates are continually told what they can and cannot do. Prison is a good lesson in obedience, which has saved the lives of many people who didn’t learn the lesson earlier in life.

It is certainly not safe to be tempted by the devil, but Jesus endured without sin to rescue us from sin, death, and the devil.

Jesus was quite familiar with opposition throughout His ministry, and He was well prepared for it. When Jesus began His ministry at around age 30 He was challenged by St. John the baptizer when Jesus came to be baptized. John’s baptism was for sinners, and John asked Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Now, John was not a hostile opponent. He was a prophet sent by God, but he still didn’t fully understand why Jesus would “dirty” Himself with a sinners baptism. Jesus responded, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (See Matthew 3) Immediately after Jesus was baptized by John He was sent to the wilderness by God to fast for 40 days, and at the end He was tempted by the devil. (See Matthew 4) The devil was certainly a hostile antagonist, though he portrayed himself as a sympathetic friend. Even when tired and hungry Jesus responded to the devil’s temptations by quoting Scripture passages and remaining faithful to God the Father.

Though Jesus never sinned in anything He did or said, some sinners considered Him to be their enemy and several times in His life they tried to trap Him and catch Him doing or saying something wrong, or even giving the appearance of doing wrong so that in their wicked plans, they could hang Him (literally). In a famous story (see Matthew 22 or Luke 20) they asked Jesus whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar or not. This was a clever trap because if Jesus said it was right to pay taxes to Caesar they could portray Jesus as being allied with the Roman oppressors, and make Him lose respect with the Jewish people. If Jesus said it was not right to pay the Roman taxes, then they would report Him to the Roman authorities as someone who was leading a rebellion against them. Jesus responded by asking His accusers to show Him a coin used for paying the Roman tax. Jesus asked, “Whose portrait is this, and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” Jesus then said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” This was a brilliant response which left them amazed. This was an answer that they could not use against Jesus without lying completely about what He said (though they later did exactly that). The coin showed the image of Caesar, but when God made people, He made us in His image. Our whole lives ought to be dedicated to serving God, but as God has instituted the governments that exist we also owe them service and allegiance.

Jesus did not defend Himself at trial yet Pilate declared Him innocent. Though the political schemes of the Jewish leaders convinced Pilate to sentence Jesus to die.

The trials of Jesus before the High Priest and Pilate and Herod are other examples of antagonistic opposition to Jesus and His teaching. Though Jesus did not invoke His rights to defend Himself, because He knew it was His Father’s will that He die as an innocent lamb for the atonement of all people, Jesus did answer some questions that were given to Him. When the High Priest asked Him if He was the Christ, Jesus answered “Yes,” which made the court want to kill Him all the more, even though it was true (see Matthew 26). Jesus also engaged Pontius Pilate in some conversations about the nature of His Kingship, and the nature of truth, but Jesus did not otherwise defend Himself against the false accusations of the Jewish leaders. This led Pilate to publicly declare Jesus innocent several times. This public proclamation was necessary to fulfill the role of Jesus as the sacrificial atonement lamb to be without blemish or fault. When Jesus was taken before Herod, He said nothing whatsoever.

The Christian life is in many ways the opposite of the popular view of “safe spaces” in our society. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12) Jesus knew well that He would be hated for loving God above all and loving His neighbor as Himself. If Jesus was hated and persecuted, so would His disciples and followers suffer persecution. There is also much temptation and violence here in this sinful world, and that is not “safe” for anyone.

Jesus also taught, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. … a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34, 36-39) Jesus is certainly not advocating violence, but rather patient endurance of persecution, and love for one’s neighbor. Jesus Himself practiced this in His life, even to His death on the cross.

A Christian’s safety does not consist in peace with the world. Indeed, it is written in the Scripture, “Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4) Everyone in the world is a sinner, and sinners are, by nature, enemies of God. Those who love their sin more than God view themselves as enemies of those who side with God against the world.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to learn. It was not safe to be seen as a disciple of Jesus. Later Nicodemus assisted in the burial of Jesus. See John 3 and John 19:38-42

And yet, Christians do live in a “safe space” that the world cannot know, nor imagine. Psalm 46:1-2 tells us, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.” God Himself is our “safe space” because not only does He protect us from all evil, but He has also redeemed us from our sin. We have peace with God through the forgiveness of our sin which Christ won for us. It is sin which puts us in danger, and estranges us from God. Because Jesus has taken the guilt of our sin upon Himself, and took the punishment for our sin, God the Father is not our enemy, but our rescuer and defender. We need not fear God’s wrath, because He took it all out on Jesus at the cross. We now have peace with God and are therefore safe from all harm and evil. If God would go so far as to become incarnate as a man, and then suffer and die to take our place in suffering the punishment for our sin, then He certainly will not let any evil do us any lasting harm. Thus, we can be at peace even while in the midst of the worst chaos of this sinful world. Psalm 32:7 says of God, “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.”

Sinful people have a far too high opinion of themselves and their cleverness and power and worth. We think that we can find a solution for all our problems, and work everything out on our own. When Adam and Eve first sinned against God’s law they were ashamed of themselves, and that manifested itself in a feeling of shame in their bodies. They sewed fig leaves together for a covering of their shame, as if God would not know exactly what that meant. Likewise, we ought not think that we can hide our sin and guilt from God. In Psalm 139:7-12 David writes:

Atheists think that the grave will be a place to hide from condemnation. But Jesus conquered death for all. There is no hiding from Christ’s final Judgment.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,  
even there your hand will guide me,  
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,’  
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

This passage is surely a condemning passage for those who do not love God or trust in Him for salvation and rescue. No one can escape God’s judgment. However, these are also words of great comfort for those who know God loves them and has rescued them from sin and guilt and all that would trouble us. If we live in faith in Jesus as our savior from sin, our sins are completely forgiven, and God considers us His beloved children, not His enemies. We need not fear God’s wrath and anger over our sins. Nor do we need to fear death, because Jesus has conquered the power of death by dying an innocent death in our place. God knows where we are at all times. Even when we have been in our graves for a thousand years or more, God remembers us, and Christ will call our names on the last day to resurrect us to glory so that we may live with Him in His heavenly paradise forever. “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:27-28)

David sought shelter in God. There is no safer place, even in the midst of trouble and persecution.

“Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in you.” (Psalm 143:9) What could be safer than to be hidden in the protective care of the Almighty God? The first century Jews should have better remembered David’s Psalms. Many did, and those were the great crowds which followed Jesus and rejoiced at His teaching and benefited from His miracles. The leaders, however, refused to repent, and even when they knew that Jesus was the Christ sent by God, they envied and hated Him and plotted to kill Him. Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Matt 23:37) Jesus yearned to shelter His people as a hen shelters her chicks, but they would not have it. Part of this was the rejection that the Messiah had to suffer in payment for the sins of the world. Jesus was abandoned by all as He paid for our sins on the cross, even God the Father turned against His beloved Son to punish Him for the world’s sin. Jesus, however, remained faithful to the Father, and continued to love us, even though it was the guilt of our sins which caused Jesus so much pain and torment. This is the love of God which rescues us from all troubles. Who would not love the true God who went to such great lengths to suffer to rescue us from sin and death so that we may be redeemed and live forever with Him in Paradise?