Rethinking the herd

When it comes to religion, most of us follow the crowd. In Asheville, that path leads to new age gustoes, celebrity worship, craft beer enthusiasm, country club church affiliations, or that most favored spiritual doctrine – cannabis adulation.  

 Hidden amidst the smoke, vapor, and fragrance of stale beer are a few diehard Christians who really are. These folks read and shadow the spirit of the Bible; pray and say grace; hug the Ten Commandments as a guileless life plan; and attend a church as surely dedicated to challenging error as comforting souls.

 People of such character were once in easy reach. Swallowed in today’s carnival of anti-faith cynicism, mockery, distraction, vice, and worldliness, the numbers are shrinking.   

 Being a Christian is not easy. To the extent that almost everything special about America tracks to our Judeo-Christian heritage – it might be smart.  For inquisitive minds who haven’t already turned the page, here are some folks who can point the way.

Meet Mr. Lewis

 C.S. Lewis was raised as a devote Christian. Adolescent skepticism dulled that affection and the hand of man flattened it. As a wounded WW I soldier, Lewis became convinced God was a man-made bunch of nonsense. The darkness of war was not something a real God would tolerate. 

 Lewis thus joined the swollen ranks of the disenchanted and sought refuge in a more earthly vision – liberalism. The stimulations of the occult and ease of pleasure over principle sealed his deal.

 But a rare thing materialized amidst an infatuation with the seven deadly sins – he spotted the con. With the aid of friend J.R. Tolkien, of ‘The Hobbit’ fame, Lewis recognized that liberalism, like war, came from the muffled imagination of man – not God. He turned on the left and back to his faith.

 Uplifted by higher authority, Lewis blossomed into one of the most articulate, enlightened, and prolific voices – ever – for Christianity. In the last century, his radio broadcasts, classrooms, and books – “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “The Screwtape Letters” and “Mere Christianity” – refreshed the spiritual view of millions. Having lost his own way, his passion became throwing a lifeline to others. Mr. Lewis embraced the crucial distinction in a leap of faith toward God and a leap of futility toward the things of man.  

 Those searching for a bright, reasoned, and enlightened Christian model will find C.S. Lewis hard to beat. There are others.

Murdering the opposition?

 Goliath’s shepherding nemesis – David – fought through a host of obstacles before faith cemented his position as God’s favorite king. He retained the title until his last breath.

 David had detours between the start and finish line – including that little thing with Bathsheba. You know, the babe he spotted bathing on her roof and subsequently seduced and married – but not before he sent her soldier-husband to die.  That’s pretty low for a guy running in first place.

 He paid for his sins. Amidst other tribulations was the death of David and Bathsheba’s first child. Nonetheless, he prevailed – David owned his actions, made amends, and sought forgiveness. His next offspring – Solomon – became the wisest man on earth.

So what does David teach us? That Christianity is as surely dedicated to support as oversight. We have backup when we lose our way.  

A thousand women?

Solomon may have been wise, but anybody taking on a thousand women doesn’t know his limitations.

He had it all – fame, fortune, power, and opportunity. What he didn’t have – per all those distractions – was a good ending. He learned that much of what he thought was special wasn’t.

Solomon subsequently elected to leave future generations a gift – Ecclesiastes. It’s a dozen of the best pages you’ll ever read – his parting wisdom as simple as 1,2,3.

It all begins with the conclusion (1) that everything in life rests on a foundation of pursuing God’s will and that doing so is for our benefit, not his.  From there Solomon validates his belief (2) that most of what man pursues is nothing more than a hollow exercise in vanity. He then affirms (3) that the only things in life of true value are what might be called the ‘4 L’s’ – labor, love, learning, and life (as in appreciating the gift of). 

 If you can find a clearer formula for living – that works – grab it.

He didn’t fudge

Ever heard of Edward Fudge? An Alabama preacher in 1970s, the Rev. Fudge was a man of faith with a matching hankering for truth. At a low point in his ministry, he was oddly commissioned to explore Biblical affirmation of man’s prospects for eternal condemnation to agony in hell.  To his surprise – and that of a whole lot of other people – he couldn’t find it.

It seems that when the Bible talks about eternal damnation and being cast into hell, its saying hell is eternal – not our time there. According to the Bible, we are consumed and thus the real hell is permanently losing all connection to an eternal life with God.

Not everyone buys Mr. Fudge’s take. Hell has been used to scare people into the Christian church for a long, long time.

The Bible is clear that God holds us accountable, but worms, fire and brimstone for eternity? That was one of Charles Darwin’s big stumbling blocks on Christianity. The death of his daughter and subsequent suggestion she might be a candidate for hell was further cause for pause. No wonder. Does endless agony sound like a loving God? It didn’t to Darwin. 

I wish he had known Mr. Fudge. This gentleman’s careful exploration of the authentic message of the Bible mirrors a God of love and answerability without that man-made contradictory vision of eternal torture. 

One other guy

Christianity is, after all, about a guy named Christ. A review of his life, example, words, and death offer the strongest testimony on why Christianity matters.

Jesus was amazing – really. Where can you find evidence of anyone in history whose walk more carefully matched their talk? Who else lived in a way so free from snags open to challenge? Who else has been a voice of truths so constant over the course of time?  Nobody in history comes even close – and that’s the point. Christianity finds its greatest affirmation in the guy upon whom our faith is based.

Yes, it has been suggested that he was painted that way. But think about that. Name a person – fictional or otherwise – who has ever been successfully portrayed as perfect. Without exception, no matter how hard the writer tries, flaws emerge. Even if the authors of the Bible had been trying to con us it would not have been possible. Jesus could only be portrayed as perfect if he was – and you know where that lands.

So why do we turn away

That’s easy. Most of us reject the idea of God for the same reason Obama and the left reject the hindrances of the Constitution. He gets in the way of our own vanities.

 It’s never too late to reconsider. In a cloudy world, it’s in our interest to reach for light. That leads to the one who brought us to the dance….           

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 Carl Mumpower is a former vice mayor and former member of Asheville City Council.