In The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, there is a part where the Pevensies meet the Beavers. They are speaking about Aslan, and this conversation has always stood out to me:

“Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion,” said Susan.

“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

“I’m longing to see him,” said Peter, “even if I do feel frightened when it comes to the point.”

Not safe, but good. What an accurate description of the great Lion. What an accurate description of Jesus.

Throughout life, I have found myself trying to fit Jesus into a mold of my own making. One in which He is perfectly safe, where He doesn’t challenge me, displace things in my life, or poke and prod all of my weaknesses to call me higher.

Even in church, I have found that we strive to present a perfectly tame version of Christ so as not to offend the regulars or, heaven forbid, the newcomers. But Jesus wasn’t ever safe, nor are we meant to present Him this way. And yet, what we are called to do is to remember His goodness and point others toward it, despite His untamed nature.

Jesus’s character falls into this paradox of not safe but completely good. What does this even mean?

An Unsafe God

What does an unsafe God look like? And shouldn’t a good God be safe?

For Aslan to stay true to his nature, he needed to be a just King who would vanquish evil. This meant that he couldn’t truly be “safe”. He couldn’t be controlled by others, kept in a cage, or be a big cat just for petting. He needed to be tough. He needed to be able to fight, face death, rise up again, and finally defeat the evil witch and her followers. He couldn’t have done this if he’d been safe.

Many question why a good God would allow certain things. This is why: He is good, but not safe. Jesus couldn’t be safe if He was to fulfill His assignment here on earth. He couldn’t be safe when He confronted the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. He couldn’t be safe when He chose to heal on the Sabbath. He couldn’t be safe when he ran the tax collectors away from the temple with a wip.

The reality of Christ is that time and again, He proved Himself to be quite dangerous. Following Him cost many disciples their lives. It involved risk, trial, and tribulation. Why then, would anyone follow Him? It sounds like absolute insanity.

A Good God

Through The Chronicles of Narnia, following Aslan proves to be risky. But through each adventure, one characteristic stands out. He was good. He always showed up just in the nick of time. He constantly healed and restored wherever he went. He brought things back to life, and infused joy and hope wherever he went. He was good.

Why would the disciples, or for that matter, why would we follow Jesus? Because while He isn’t safe, He is good. In the Bible, He revealed the Kingdom to His followers. He conquered death, and sent His Spirit so as to always be with us. He healed, delivered, restored, redeemed, resurrected, and provided. If you read the book of Acts, you will see how time and again Jesus proved to be faithful and good. Was it safe? Absolutely not. Peter and John were beaten and put in prison. Stephen was stoned. Many more were persecuted. But how many more were saved? How many more were healed? How many more experienced the goodness of God despite it being unsafe?

My God Isn’t Safe, But He Is Good

Paul, who’d once persecuted the Church and then experienced persecution himself after deciding to follow an untamed God, said the following:

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NIV)

When we choose to follow an unsafe God and refuse to water Him down or tame Him to fit our molds and standards, then we encounter His true goodness. It isn’t a goodness that is experienced in a perfect environment; rather, it is a goodness experienced in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death. When we stop shoving God into a box of our expectations, then we can truly experience Him for who He is.

Peter Pevensie put it beautifully:

“I’m longing to see him,” said Peter, “even if I do feel frightened when it comes to the point.”

We were born with a desire to see God rightly, even when it is frightening. When we do encounter Him, we will experience His goodness. We may still encounter trials. We may still struggle, face confusion, and be struck down. But will we ever be crushed? Will we ever fall into complete despair? Will we be abandoned? Will we be destroyed? No. Because while our God is not safe, He is good! God will always stay true to His nature. He will challenge us, but He will always remain by our side through the process.

There is a real cost to following Jesus. It won’t always be comfortable. It won’t always be easy. In fact, it may cost more than we ever bargained for. But even though it will be costly, it will always be worth it. It is with Jesus that we will experience victory, see our enemies vanquished, and have all our fears scattered to the wind with just one mighty roar. It is with Him that we will experience true life.

May we learn to stop trying to fit God into our boxes and expectations, and may we encounter Him as He truly is—not safe but good.

Thanks for reading!
Anna

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Photo by Paréj Richárd on Unsplash