Christianity is Unrest

There are a lot of us who look to religion as a source of comfort and security. It makes sense because we all feel a sense of dis-ease in our lives. We all are looking for stability and an anchor. We all need a steady foundation to jump off from into this world of adventure.

The problem is that Christianity is not, despite what it looks like, a traditional religion. It is the one religion that attempts to dismantle religion by undercutting the notion that religion saves. It is, as Christians say, Grace that saves us - not our own actions or works.

If Christianity is not a traditional religion that attempts to get people to do the right things in order to save themselves, what is Christianity? Søren Kierkegaard called Christianity a state of unrest. That may only be mildly surprising. Perhaps you have heard it said that Christianity comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable? Hearing that Christianity is really a state of unrest is not what is necessarily notable here.

What is notable is what Kierkegaard points out to us: this unrest is initiated by God: “Christianity is the most intensive and strongest form of unrest thinkable. Christ’s coming is intended to disturb life. Where one wants to become a Christian, there will be unrest; and where one has become a Christian, there unrest follows.”

Here we are confronted with the idea that God is the one who gives us this unrest. But why? Why would God initiate a state of unrest in us? I thought God was in the work of rest and peace not unrest and restlessness.

It is this state of unrest that is the engine of our lives. The unrest is the point. The point is to see that in all of life, the thing that gives energy to us all, is an unrest or what we might call a contradiction. No matter where you look, outside or within, contradiction is woven into the fabric of creation. We are busy trying to root out this unrest/contradiction all the while the fabric frays. The more we try to root out the unrest or contradiction in our lives, the more it will explode in the world and many times it explodes in unhealthy ways. You see the unrest is the very engine of our lives, it is the thing that gives us energy. Until we come to peace with the unrest in our lives then we will erupt with violence.

The Comic Book Collector - A Parable

There was once a man who collected a particular comic book. He buys the newest comic book each week it comes out and faithfully puts it into one of those clear bags to help preserve it. He has been doing this for years and his collection is almost complete. Every edition except #3. He has never been able to find issue #3.

In all his travels, he visits every comic book store he can find. He attends festivals and conventions in an effort to find issue #3. No matter where he turns, no one has issue #3.

After a while, the man brings his entire collection to the publisher. He speaks with archivist of the publisher and shows off the entire “almost complete” collection. Even the archivist has never seen such a compete collection of this comic and is impressed. The man asked the archivist if it is possible to have a copy of issue #3 from the archives. To which the archivist says they will look into it.

Two weeks later, the archivist called the man and said, “Good News my friend! Your collection is complete!”

The man became confused and said, “Thanks for the call, but I still am missing issue #3. How is my collection complete?”

“At the time of these early editions, the typesetter made a mistake and it turns out that your issue #4 is technically issue #3! The whole printing system is off by a number and so that makes your collection complete!'“ exclaimed the archivist.

At the sound of this Good News the man grew angry and said, “I have searched high and low for issue #3 and everyone has kept me from getting it. And now even you are in on these efforts to thwart me! I know there is an issue #3 out there and I will not let you keep me from getting it.”

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Maybe you can understand the reaction of the collector. Maybe you too have heard someone say to you, ‘you are complete and beautiful!’ but you refuse to accept or hear it. Many of us, myself included, are convinced and addicted to a sense about ourselves - that we are incomplete. We cannot accept that who we are is loveable and complete. We believe that there is an issue #3. That there must be something “out there” that we are missing, and that only if we had it, then we would be complete. When we are confronted with an idea (the Good News) that we are complete, we resist and even reject the idea. We are dependent on the story we have told ourselves that we are incomplete. So addicted in fact that any news to the contrary is not “good” at all.

What Comics Have That Preachers Do Not... and vice-versa

I love stand up comedy. I love the art and the grind. I wish that I could do it. I have a little theory that goes like this.

• Preachers want to be a comics (to be funny)

• Comics want to be musicians (to be cool)

• Musicians want to be activists (to be influential)

• Activist want to be preachers (to be meaningful)

Many preachers desire the comic’s ability to be funny, but there is something the comic has that the preacher does not have. It is not timing, impressions, or a two drink minimum. It is freedom.

Comics have the freedom to say just about whatever they want, however they want and in whatever formats they want. If the comic has a joke they can build the bit into a segment of the set or they can tweet it out and move along. They can use just about any word they want to, so much so that sometimes a comic has to say the are a “clean” comic just to address that they will not use some words or touch some topics. Comics can roast people, deliver self-deprecation, deal with hecklers, proclaim they have cancer, and even quit comedy all on stage. Comics have a freedom and that is what facilitates the funny.

Ironically, Christian preachers proclaim a freedom in Christ but as restricted on what they can and cannot say. It is not just that certain words (cuss) and phrases (vulgar) are off the table, but also topics (partisan politics) and contexts (bar) are out of line. I once saw a preacher step up to the pulpit, crack open a beer, did not drink it and then preach. At the end of the sermon the preacher said, “I am guessing there are more people here scandalized that I opened a beer than by the number of innocent people who died due to bombs made by our tax dollars.”

What the preacher lacks in freedom, the preacher makes up for with authority. The preacher’s authority is a direct result of lacking freedom. Conversely, the comic lives under such a tyranny of freedom that people do not take them seriously - even when they have something meaningful to say. Comics have freedom and lack authority, preachers have authority and lack freedom.

This tradeoff is not limited to preachers and comics but also has implications for societies and cultures. One could imagine a culture that puts authority as the highest virtue just as easily as one could imagine a culture that puts individual freedom as the highest virtue. In the U.S.A. we continue to put individual freedom on a pedestal (idol?).

If being a preacher has taught me anything it is that when I (we) lack restraint of any kind, I (we) lose any authority to speak change in the world and I (we) become a laughing stock.

For all the things that we reflect and hope for the new year, perhaps the freedom/authority trade off is worth considering as an individual and as a nation.