When you first encounter the Lion-god of Narnia, "meek and mild" will never enter your head. In fact, Narnian beavers warn the four human children that the mere sight of Aslan will cause their knees to knock so much they may be unable to stand.
"Then he isn't safe?" asks Lucy.
"Safe?" replies Mr. Beaver.
"Course he isn't safe. But he's good."
Not safe but good – a strange description for God. But over and over in these seven stories we learn just what this means. One example occurs in The Silver Chair when the schoolgirl Jill is alone and desperately thirsty in unknown woods. She comes upon a stream, but between her and the water sits the great Lion. Aslan tells her that she can drink, but the terrified girl wants assurance that she will not be eaten. When he refuses to promise, Jill determines to find another stream. But he tells her, "There is no other stream." The Lion of Narnia makes uncomfortable and sometimes extreme demands, and he cannot be manipulated or controlled or bent to anyone's will. "It's not as if he were a tame lion," explains the magician in The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader.'
What do we mean by Dangerous?
By dangerous we mean possible danger to your physical well being.
By dangerous we mean dangerous to the generally accepted way to do things.
By dangerous we mean challenging and confronting.
By dangerous we mean UNSAFE
By dangerous we mean risky
Historically speaking, Christianity has always been risky.
"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for
me will find it. Matthew 16:25"
"So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul- men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 15:25-27"
In 2,000 years 70 million Christians have been martyred
- Half died in the 20th century – approx 45 million
- That’s twice as many in once century than in the previous 19 centuries.
This year:
- 160,000 Christians will die because of their beliefs this year (450 people per day)
Today: Out of approx. 2 billion Christians, more than half live in a developing nation
- 600 million live under discrimination or legal repression of their faith
- 200 million daily live under threat of jail, torture or death
- In Sudan after 15 years of civil war approximately 1 million Christians have died – many starved to death – a fate that wouldn’t have happened expect for their beliefs
The word CHRISTIAN has come to mean a system of belief - 80% of Americans call themselves christian and it's often watered down to.... lying, stealing and murder is bad... possibly Jesus was God's son and rose again on easter... it's just a cultural thing, with no major life impact
The word DISCIPLE is a word that I prefer lately, it's a step-up. It's about people who believe soooo much in Jesus that their whole life's pursuit is to become more like him and do what he did.
BEING A DISCIPLE IS DANGEROUS: (being a christian may not cost you must)
#1 – Dangerous to ME
"If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me. "But don't begin until you count the cost. Luke 14:26-28 NLT
Carry cross – like an electric chair – means a giving up of your whole life. Meant death sentence
Streets lined with Crosses – just a few years before Jesus spoke this
For most of the Christians in the world, it is dangerous to live out the teachings of Jesus.
#2 Dangerous to our PRIDE
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. Luke 5:1-2
He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." 5 Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. Luke 5:3-7
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" Luke 5:8
hamartolos (ham-ar-to-los'); a sinner, less than the mark.
At many points in a journey with Jesus, we will encounter a confrontation with our “good enough”
- May be because of SIN (wrong doing)
- May be because you don’t believe/feel you are good enough to accomplish a task or a life lived for Jesus.
- May be because you actually aren’t good enough at something and you need God’s supernatural strength.
OBEY FIRST ASK QUESTIONS LATER:
"Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." Luke 5:4-5Left to depend on his own intellect Peter would never have “let down the nets” again. Following God is often dangerous to our ways
“…Because you say so…” - you may not understand, but still obey – this is dangerous (or confronts) our independent spirit.
Someone hits you – the rabbi says “turn the other cheek”
Someone flips you off – the rabbi says to bless people and do not curse.
Someone asks for your shirt – jesus says to give them your coat too
Someone says go a mile – jesus said to go two
Jesus says to give and it will be given to you – you may not understand, but you do it because he says so.
Questions are OK – but don’t use that as an excuse not to obey today.
I love questions. If there were no room for questions, then there would be no room for me!
Questions lead to more questions than answers
#4 DANGEROUS TO OUR PLANS
So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. Luke 5:11For the disciples this was a ‘no-brainer’ – the greatest rabbi, the son of God is calling them to join Him in what He’s doing in the world.
THERE WAS NOTHING THAT THE WORLD COULD OFFER THAT WAS BETTER THAN IMMEDIATE ABANDONMENT OF THE OLD LIFE TO EMBRACE THE NEW.
nothing back there was worth hanging on too!
