The zombie apocalypse is upon us!
"American Spirituality" by the bRAiNSaW
Okay, not really. But check out this work by my friend, Mr. Saw. Without a title, one is likely to think it's just a drawing of zombies. My guess is, when my friend created this, for him it was just a drawing of zombies, and he added the title - and the message - later. I don't think his original intent was to create a critique of American spirituality. I think he just wanted to draw zombies.
And why not? Zombies are awesome.
Now consider this work of art in light of its title, and perhaps the mind begins to recognize a few parallels between the undead and the reborn. But that's not Mr. Saw's intention. Here's what he said in reference to this piece: "So many Americans walk dead in their spiritual lives. So many lack a direction and are devoid of the morality that belief and application of a life of faith brings."
For Mr. Saw, this is a critique of people who lack faith - or don't live up to the faith they claim to have. He is a Christian who sees lifelessness, mundaneness, a tired devotion to meaningless routine and ritual and a lackadaisical attitude toward spiritual matters infecting so many people - including those who are part of the body of Christ - in the same manner as, appropriately, a virus. Symptoms range from general lethargy to complete inner decay not unlike that of the whitewashed tombs of which Jesus spoke.
I once shared Mr. Saw's concern. I once believed that life was meaningless without (Christian) faith, and I especially couldn't understand why so many in the Christian Bubble lived like the walking dead. We're supposed to be "born again," "new creations" living a "new life." How will the world ever realize how life-changing our faith is if our faith never changes our lives? Over time these concerns evolved into faith-altering questions. Why does the Holy Spirit seem so impotent? Why does the reality of Christians' actions throughout history - including the present - speak so loudly against the biblical claim that believers are born anew?
I heard a lot of talk in church about how different Christians are from the world: Christians are the "salt of the earth" and a "city on a hill" - a light shining in the darkness. So why is this not evident in the church today?
If the Holy Spirit were moving like Christians say, I suspect things would be different. We'd see more than merely questionable circumstancial evidence of the veracity of the claims of Christian theism. We would see real change in the lives of those who follow Christ. We would see a true peace among them. Instead, Christianity has just as bloody and violent a history as any other religion, along with just as much division, hatred and prejudice that only religious faith can spawn.
Yes, many Christians are happy in their faith. Many feel a sense of fulfillment and even joy in their beliefs. But they are no more at peace, no more content, no more emotionally fulfilled than a Buddhist in meditation or a Muslim bowing in prayer toward Mecca, and certainly no more than a person who holds to no religion at all, who stares in wonder at the stars and contemplates all the incredible discoveries of science.
The only extraordinary quality of Christianity is just how ordinary it is. It's another religion in the long list of religions created by humans, complete with the same flaws, shortcomings, and disfunctions of any other religion. Christians aren't a city on a hill; they're in the valley with everyone else.
Dead-Logic.com
