Modern life is built on safety promises: insurance, surveillance, security systems, endless backups. The message is clear: “If you control enough, you will be safe.”
But control does not eliminate risk — it multiplies anxiety.
How Culture Disciples Us Into Control
- Technology: every app promises mastery over chaos.
- Healthcare: marketed as guarantee, not gift.
- Politics: framed as protection from “them.”
- Parenting: endless blogs on how to secure your child’s future.
Safety is sold as salvation, and we become its worshippers.
The Cost
Safety idolatry makes us brittle.
We hoard, isolate, and worry. We strain relationships with micromanagement. We bow to routines and rituals that promise peace but never deliver.
The Gospel Alternative
True safety is not the absence of risk but the presence of God.
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)
Surrender is not recklessness — it is rightly-placed trust. It frees us from living as our own saviors.
Application
- Audit: Where do you over-buy, over-plan, or over-guard for safety?
- Release: Leave one small thing unfinished this week as an act of protest.
- Reframe: Name safety as God’s gift, not your achievement.
Reflection
- Where do you cling most tightly to control?
- How is safety becoming an idol for you?
- What would surrender look like this week?