Playing it Safe

PLAYING IT SAFE

Granny Hat’s favorite childhood story is The Emporer’s New Clothes. She thinks Hans Christian Anderson  thoroughly exposed the stark, naked truth about peer pressure and pandering. Granny has worried for years about the brave little boy at the royal parade who spoke the bare facts loud and proud.

What ever happened to that forthright, winsome lad? Did he grow up to be an elephant hunter in the rooms of the palace? Or perhaps a kingdom whistleblower? Was he rewarded for telling the truth or was he conveniently silenced? Granny can picture the royal media streaking in to suppress his freedom of speech. It is often best to preserve crowd control at the expense of transparency. After all, truth can be dangerous, a bright light in a dim room; truth can shatter the pageantry, stripping everyone down to their own foolishness. Best for the peasants to play it safe and resign themselves to be dumb and happy.

Granny Hat is often tempted to play it safe. She has noticed that sometimes the only way to KEEP friends is to STOP influencing people. Many people have decided to believe whatever lines their pockets and brings them joy. If they are happily living their truth why should anyone enlighten them?  If they want to express themselves by stripping down and parading naked down the street with their emporer, why would anyone stop them? Will it be any use to even try?
To quote a resigned Willy Wonka, ” Stop. Don’t. Come back.”

Don’t worry readers, Granny Hat is only playing devil’s advocate and the Old Scratch scarcely needs her help.
Of course, she has to stand against the lie, because of God’s mercy. For the sake of the truth, she doesn’t get to play it safe and just wave merrily at the procession of the unclothed. Before the parade passes by, she had better speak up. Sigh.

Granny takes some comfort in the cloud of witnesses surrounding us. She remembers that we are preceded in life’s parade by plenty of saints who refused to play it safe. Often they risked it all and gave their lives. One would think that witnesses in the wings would run for the hills, shrink into the darkness. But no, such risky behavior often accentuates the truth, resulting in an uptick in courage and conviction.

When Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego stood up to King Nebuchadnezzar, refusing to worship the royal idol, God rescued them from the flames of the fiery furnace in epic fashion. Then the King was hit with some holy fear and declared Daniel’s God to be the only God. He even commanded the entire nation to worship Jehovah or else.

In the book of Acts, Peter stood up to the Jewish leaders and defended the believers who had received the Holy Spirit, speaking with conviction about the gospel. Three thousand new believers were added that day. This was Peter, the fisherman, who once tried to play it safe but had learned how to walk through danger armed with truth.

Saint Stephen gave a stirring and convicting history lesson to the Jewish leaders who responded by stoning him to death.(Acts 7) He is listed as the first Christian martyr. The Jews figured they would silence the movement with one disciplinary death sentence. What followed was persecution of the new christians and they scattered, spreading the gospel across the land and the church grew.

Granny Hat got a little carried away there with her Bible lesson. She is preaching mostly at herself, remembering “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return unto me void but it shall ccomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
It is a comfort that no one can thwart the Word of God, you can’t stop it.

Granny wants to thank a few people who faithfully spoke the Word of God into her life, who served a loving God of justice, a God who is truth and light.

Granny’s father and mother were first, helping her memorize Bible verses, old hymns of the faith and how to be clothed with God’s righteousness. They taught her about heroes of the faith like David with the sling, Daniel and his friends, and Queen Esther. These mere humans all walked headlong into danger wearing the armor of God: the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace, the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God).

Granny Hat was also influenced by her Sunday School teachers, her pastor, camp leaders, all unsung heroes.  She is especially fond of Corrie ten Boom, who famously said “Being in the center of His will is our only safety.”  This certainty of safety overcame bitterness and fear, inspiring Miss ten Boom to take her story of God’s deliverance from the Nazi concentration camp all around the world. It even enabled her to forgive her persecutors.

This same conviction gave Elizabeth Elliot courage to take the gospel to the indigenous Auca tribe in the deep jungle of Ecuador, the people who had massacred her husband.

The knowledge of safety in God’s will empowers church leaders to “preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2) This will help them courageously and faithfully stand up for life in the pulpit, to speak truth even when it isn’t popular.. This is the safety that can inspire parents, children, teachers, every believer to speak truth and light into the darkness. No more “playing it safe” by being timid. No more going naked.  Granny wants to be clothed for battle. It will be dangerous, yes. But this is the only way to truly play it safe.

” He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot