“Now, because of you, Lord, I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once, for no matter what happens, I will live unafraid!” (Psalm 4:8 TPT)
I was reading an article recently that started with a review of the plot of the new Paw Patrol movie. Our household is well past the age when a Paw Patrol movie might have held interest, but the author used it to illustrate an interesting point about society that I see as resonating with Jesus’s teachings. I’ll include a great deal of their article and then show you the connection I see.
“Many may not see these plot elements as particularly profound, but I believe the theme was included for a reason. Increasingly, modern society is drifting away from a culture of freedom and toward one of “safetyism,” a term coined by authors Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. In their best-selling book “The Coddling of the American Mind,” Mr. Haidt and Mr. Lukianoff describe safetyism as a belief system that treats safety as “a sacred value.” This includes not just physical safety, but emotional safety, and it has given rise to the censorious culture we see on college campuses today. “Safetyism,” writes Mr. Haidt, “inflicts collateral damage on the university’s culture of free inquiry because it teaches students to see words as violence and to interpret ideas and speakers as safe versus dangers rather than merely as true versus false.”
“It’s precisely this culture that has eroded the tradition of free speech in America, which is now considered “unsafe.” But as the speaker T.K. Coleman recently observed, free speech may not be “safe,” but it is good. Safetyism goes beyond emotions and free speech, of course. The government routinely violates individual rights in the name of safety. During the pandemic, we witnessed the widespread propaganda of “stay home, stay safe”—a slogan designed to make people overlook the clear violation of civil liberties from government lockdowns (not to mention the obvious economic tradeoffs of forcing people to stay home). Governments also forced people to take vaccines in the name of public safety.
“Using safety as a pretext to suppress civil liberties is hardly new, however. For decades, lawmakers have been doing it to various degrees. We force people to wear “safety belts” while driving. We abridge the rights of gun owners in the name of collective safety. Millions of Americans today are even prevented from pumping gasoline because lawmakers determined it was “unsafe.” (Pumping gas is perfectly safe, of course; safety is merely a false pretext for such laws.) None of this is to endorse recklessness, of course. Safety is important. I choose to wear my seatbelt because I want to be safe. And when I pump my gas, I try to be careful about it.“
“But Paw Patrol reminds us that doing what’s safe isn’t always doing what’s right, and that’s a lesson many desperately need—especially those seeking to exploit the natural human desire to be safe to undermine individual rights.”*
Did you hear what I heard? I heard this article describing safety as an idol in our culture. As the technological advances of the 20th century led to vast improvements in public health, mortality, nutrition, communication, education, economics, and many other things, we as a people have become more and more removed from suffering and death. While that generally sounds good, our culture (not necessarily every individual) gradually has begun to rely on our technologies or governments or science or whatever else to keep us “safe.”
I do believe that we should do reasonable things to prevent undue suffering and death. However, God never promises us safety. He promises that if we follow him we may have no home, that we will be persecuted, that he will comfort us in suffering – none of which sound great to a world that is focused on “staying safe.” Following Jesus can be one of the most “dangerous” choices we ever make, depending on our circumstances. People like Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, and Bonhoeffer are just three of the 20th century examples of martyrs for the faith. Giving up a seven-figure job to serve the homeless or go on the mission field seems insane. Speaking out at a county board meeting or a school board meeting for Righteousness, Truth, and Godliness will not make you friends with those who have ungodly agendas. Doing what is right in God’s eyes isn’t necessarily “safe” in the world’s eyes.
Whether you agree or disagree with the more political points in this article, we can probably agree that our first – and maybe our only – calling is to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27 NIV) Loving God with all we are and loving our neighbor is already “dangerous” and “risky!” When we make something else, including safety, a god in our lives, we are bowing down to an idol. God never promises us safety. What he does promise is his presence, his love, his protection, his provision, and his faithfulness. Thanks be to God!
God,
You are our righteousness, our Champion Defender who answers us when we cry for help. Today we ask you to cleanse us of all thoughts and deeds that make safety and things other than You a “god” or “idol” in our lives. Forgive us when we do not come to you first and do not trust you with our struggles. Give us wisdom to make reasonable and appropriate choices to preserve health, safety, and life, but kept us mindful that you are the One who is the True God, the Healer, our Shelter and our Protector. Help us to love you with all we are, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
“For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.” (Psalm 27:5 NIV)
“Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’” (Matthew 8:19-20 NIV)
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10 NIV)
“Indeed, all who delight in pursuing righteousness and are determined to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be hunted and persecuted [because of their faith].” (2 Timothy 3:12 AMP)
“God, you are my righteousness, my Champion Defender. Answer me when I cry for help! Whenever I was in distress, you enlarged me. I’m being squeezed again—I need your kindness right away! Grant me your grace, hear my prayer, and set me free!
“Listen to me, you elite among men: How long will you defame my honor and drag it down into shame? Will you ever stop insulting me? How long will you set your heart on shadows, chasing your lies and delusions?
“May we never forget that Yahweh works wonders for every one of his devoted lovers. And this is how I know that he will answer my every prayer. Tremble in awe before the Lord, and do not sin against him. Be still upon your bed and search your heart before him. Bring to Yahweh the sacrifice of righteousness and put your trust in him.
“Lord, prove them wrong when they say, “God can’t help you!” Let the light of your radiant face break through and shine upon us! The intense pleasure you give me surpasses the gladness of harvest time, even more than when the harvesters gaze upon their ripened grain and when their new wine overflows.
“Now, because of you, Lord, I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once, for no matter what happens, I will live unafraid!” (Psalm 4 TPT)