Try this three-question quiz:

1. Who once warned people to recognize that some spiritual views are dangerous?

2. Who referred to certain leaders of an ancient world religion as “blind guides,” “hypocrites” and “whitewashed tombs”?

3. Who labeled everyone failing to recognize Jesus as the only door of salvation as “thieves and robbers”?

Would it surprise you to know that, according to the Bible, the answer to all three questions is Jesus? See Matthew 16:1-12, Matthew 23:24-27 and John 10:1-8.

The idea of Jesus taking such obviously offensive positions is itself offensive to many people. “Saying such things doesn’t seem loving,” they contend. “Jesus was gentle and nurturing. He wouldn’t judge or condemn.”

To hear some describe him, one almost gets the impression that Jesus would lack the inclination to ever challenge anyone on anything. That regardless of the sin, he would just prefer to overlook it and move on. That goodwill should always takes precedence over an insistence on objective standards.

Insofar as this view prevails, it seems clear that modern man has traded the biblical Christ for a version made in his own fallen image.

C.S. Lewis corroborates: “We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven – a senile benevolence who, as they say, ‘likes to see young people enjoying themselves,’ and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, ‘A good time was had by all.'”

Take it or leave it, believe it or not, Scripture is unequivocal – Jesus is not always all that soft and accommodating. He was not when he walked on earth. And he is not today.

Does he love people? Did he come to save the world? Absolutely. But he simultaneously took stands that today would be labeled intolerant (Mark 7:6-13), mean-spirited (John 2:14-16), narrow-minded (John 8:24), judgmental (Luke 13:3), and exclusivist (John 14:6). Check the documenting references.

In his book “The Jesus I Never Knew,” Philip Yancey says that “Jesus’ audacious claims about Himself pose what may be the central problem of all history, the dividing point between Christianity and other religions.”

Of course, what is true of Jesus is also true of God, since he is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and the “exact representation” of God’s nature (Hebrews 1:3). Which really compounds the dilemma for those who struggle to conceive of a God who is at once loving and unbending. “Isn’t a just and merciful God oxymoronic? How could God be both wrathful and good? How can hell be real if he is compassionate?”

Noted Bible teacher A.W. Tozer explains: “Between God’s attributes no contradiction can exist. He need not suspend one to exercise another, for in Him all His attributes are one.” He is always tough in His love, but He is loving nevertheless.

“Did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into radical life change,” according to a translation of Romans 2:3-4 called The Message.

Jesus is tender, but never a wimp. Be careful not to confuse one with the other. His tenderness is meaningful precisely because he is also demanding, firm and uncompromised.

All of which is powerfully illustrated in a passage from “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis – a series of dramatic stories that is scheduled to debut as a movie in theaters across America next month.

“Is – is he a man?” asked Lucy.

“Aslan a man?” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.”

“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and make 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?” asked 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.” (Oxford Press, 1997)

The Rev. Daryl E. Witmer is founder and director of the AIIA Institute, a national apologetics ministry, and associate pastor of the Monson Community Church. He may be reached via AIIAInstitute@aol.com or through ChristianAnswers.Net/AIIA. Voices is a weekly commentary by Maine people who explore issues affecting spirituality and religious life.