Nietzsche famously proclaimed (or more accurately, prophesied) the death of God, and while Christians would contend that such news has been greatly exaggerated (to quote Mark Twain), most would agree that society is following Nietzsche’s prophecy in practice. Modern society certainly seems to be functioning as if God is absent. We typically see this as a lamentable reality, and certainly there is much to lament. But in his book Bulwarks of Unbelief, Joseph Minich alerts us to a way in which God’s perceived death can be considered an opportunity:
“…the evaporation of God could be seen by modern Christians as an opportunity because of the many idols (on their account) that have been evaporated with him. Our being un-homed from the cosmos and from our various traditions has actually demonstrated that most of these traditions are radically contingent and unfit to bear the burden of the human story. This has, of course, happened in other contexts. Just as Augustine treated the tragic fall of Rome as an opportunity for Christians to recognize their chief citizenship in the city of God, modern Christians can recognize, in the heritage-consuming world of modernity, that many of the cultural norms and mores in which we might be tempted to find our ultimate orientation are only contingent pieces of history (able to be removed from the main story). For the Christian, however, what passes through the historical flame of modernity are nevertheless the essential things of God and his word.” (p.241)
I want to take special note of this line: “most of these traditions are radically contingent and unfit to bear the burden of the human story.” This resonated with me particularly in my role as a missionary in Japan. The history of missions in Japan could be seen as a mixture of colonialism and ideological battle. One period of missions in Japan operated heavily through the lens of both geopolitics and the attempted westernization of “backwoods pagans.” In more recent history, much of missions in Japan has been seen through the lens of ideology, that is, pitting the truth claims of Christianity against the truth claims of idolatrous folk religion (or sometimes nihilistic atheism). What seems to be emerging over the past decade has been a more narratival approach, appealing to a sense of the human story and the place of individual persons within it. I personally believe this approach is bearing and will continue to bear more fruit than any of the past methods have.
However, this is where Minich’s point becomes important. I do not believe this approach would have been as available to previous missionaries as it is to those of us ministering here today (if at all), and the reason is precisely because of the vacuum which the evaporation of God/religion1 has left in society. What is happening in Japan has happened all over the world: as the traditional anchors of society and life were increasingly abandoned, at first people reveled in their newfound freedom. But then (much like the prodigal son) they came to realize that they were perhaps not so free as they had imagined. The evaporation of existential anchors leads to a life that, even if filled with fun and material success, seems increasingly devoid of meaning. We find ourselves disoriented from the past, the present, and the future, and from the universe we inhabit. With the evaporation of God/religion, there has come the distinct impression that we are lacking something essential for human flourishing; that all of our innovation and increasing knowledge is insufficient to fill the eternal longings of humanity.
However, as Minich points out shortly after the above quote, “in the Christian interpretation of history, our lack has shape!” The lack in modernity isn’t merely religion as such, as though any old religion or transcendental worldview could fill the gap. What is lacking now is something capable of grounding any ultimate orientation towards reality. The idols we have abandoned were in part abandoned precisely because they were deemed unfit to bear the burden of human story. Going back to them is not an option. On the Christian view it is only the God revealed in Jesus and his kingdom which is capable of bearing this burden, not simply because it “fills the God-shaped hole in our heart” but because it uniquely has the ability to orient humanity within the context of God’s story revealed through his word and the Word.
That’s not to say that Christianity hasn’t been impacted by modernity as well. As Minich later notes, “it is entirely possible for Christian practitioners to miss the essence of their own faith and to reduce it to mere ideology.” We, too, have had to shed some baggage with the advent of modernity (baggage we created, not something inherent to the faith). But as Minich says, through that fire something essential, beautiful, and powerful maintains which offers clarity and orientation for modern man. The church, therefore, is in a unique place at this unique cultural moment to address the lack people are experiencing, because she uniquely possesses this ultimate-orientation-grounding story. This cultural moment is an opportunity which God has provided us. But it has been provided through the deconstruction (even the destruction) which modernity brought with it.
Here in Japan, you can see what Minich points out in a more literal way. While interest in God and religion has been at an all time low, with this declining religiosity has also come the shedding of literally idolatrous practices and traditions. Fewer people than ever are visiting temples and shrines each year.2 Festivals which once involved idolatrous worship are now practiced as mere summertime fun with no religious element whatsoever. On the other hand, people are also seeing that modernity isn’t capable of bearing the burden of the human story. This, I think, has been a more recent development (both in Japan and in the West). There is now a deep vacuum which is providing Christians the opportunity to show how the Christian narrative fulfills even Japan’s story and longings.
So, while we may rightfully lament aspects of our cultural moment, we should not overlook that in this moment there is perhaps a greater opportunity than there has been for some time, and that this opportunity brings with it fresh possibilities for the future. We need not naively long for “the good old days” (Ecclesiastes 7:10). With the essential things of God and his word, we can move forward boldly, taking hold of these new-found opportunities to show how Jesus and his kingdom uniquely have the ability to bear the burden of the human story.
[1] In his book, Minich is focused primarily on belief in God, but here in Japan this may approximate more closely to adherence to religion. The concept of God in Japan (and even the Japanese word itself) is more nebulous than in the west, where we are almost always referring to the Judeo-Christian God.
[2] See, for example, Nelson, John K. “Japanese Secularities and the Decline of Temple Buddhism” Journal of Religion in Japan (2012): 37-60.
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