In his famous Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis' Christ-figure is Aslan, the kingly lion who oozes with mystery, adventure and ferocity as well as tenderness, strength, and love. Who can forget that incredible quote in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, in which Mr. Beaver, speaking of Aslan, says, "Safe? Of course He isn't safe! But He's good!" In Lewis' mind, there is an arresting quality about Christ that is far removed from the "gentle Jesus, meek and mild" of our overly sentimentalized evangelicalism.
Lewis' fellow Britishers seemed to share this view of Christ. In his popular work Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton wrote, "People have fallen into a foolish habit of speaking of orthodoxy [that is, authentic Christian faith] as something heavy, humdrum, and safe. But there was never anything so perilous and exciting as orthodoxy."
Likewise, Dorothy L. Sayers issues this scathing reminder about the One we Christians supposedly follow: "Somehow or other, and with the best intentions, we have shown the world the typical Christian in the likeness of a crashing and rather ill-natured bore--and this in the Name of One who assuredly never bored a soul in those thirty-three years during which He passed through this world like a flame."
These are salutary reminders from Christian masters of the last century. And yet sometimes I wonder: how exactly are we American Christians to communicate the stunning, stalwart features of Christ that so scandalized and confounded His contemporaries...not to mention the legions of believers in the centuries since?
The modern church has tried to "repackage" the faith by almost shamelessly exploiting mass media, technology, and contemporary art forms...and in the process watering down the message. Mega-churches, and their less-mega imitators, seem to be more enamored by the latest leadership books out of Harvard Business School, the latest musical styles out of Nashville or Detroit, and the latest communication methods from Hollywood.
Some Christians feel the need to reassert the traditional "hard edges" of traditional Christian belief and morality, directly confronting the world in its error and rebellion. Yet the very uniqueness of our current cultural moment is the tendency we all have to simply shut off any message that comes across as threatening or critical to our own individual sensibilities.
Other Christians seek to re-ignite the flame of faith with praxis -- proclaiming and living (almost to a fault) a radical type of compassion that they see reflected in the human life of Jesus. But once again, I see our society as almost sick of compassion. Our liberal elites, in my opinion, have taken the life out of genuine compassion by bureaucratizing and depersonalizing it.
Don't misunderstand me...I am not trying to be cynical here. But I am trying to understand a genuine challenge that we Christians face as we try to communicate the Gospel with the kind of perilous excitement that Lewis, Chesterton and Sayers rightly request. Obviously, any presentation of our faith must be saturated with prayer and informed exclusively by the Biblical witness. And obviously only the Holy Spirit can provide the real passion. But we Christians must make sure that, from our human perspective, we do not cling too tightly to any of the "methods" that I have outlined above.
So what am I saying here? Maybe nothing. I don't think I'm offering an answer to anything. I think I'm joining Lewis and his friends in asking a very pertinent question: How can we American Christians once again present the wild and unsafe Jesus in a way that truly evokes wonder in the minds and hearts of people living in a seriously jaded world?
I'd love to hear your thoughts....
