Introduction: Selections from Nietzsche’s “Parable of the Madman”:
Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place, and cried incessantly: “I seek God! I seek God!”—-As many of those who did not believe in God were standing around just then, he provoked much laughter. Has he got lost? asked one. Did he lose his way like a child? asked another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? emigrated?—-Thus they yelled and laughed
The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. “Whither is God?” he cried; “I will tell you. We have killed him—-you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him…
It has been related further that on the same day the madman forced his way into several churches and there struck up his requiem aeternam deo. Led out and called to account, he is said always to have replied nothing but: “What after all are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchers of God?”
Do you smell something decaying in Adventism, or in the general modern Christian paradigm? Is there something rotten in the core of our churches, something permeating the air? Have we lost something? Could the general feeling that something is not right be explained by the death of the All-mighty we claim to serve? I would like to propose that we have killed God. Perhaps the deed was done years ago, perhaps recently, but I believe we can detect the stench of, to quote the Madman, “divine decomposition.” What other explanation can there be?
If God is still alive, how do we explain the apathy seeping through the church? Starting in August 2011, I was a Student Missionary to Ethiopia. Upon return to the USA in May 2012, I worked in the Rocky Mountain Conference Student Literature Program. Thus, I was able to observe a wide range of Adventists and see a fascinating picture of different continents. The things I have seen and heard do not make sense if God is alive. We have become a church so far removed from the principles of Biblical holiness, we shy from making waves for the God of the universe.
After hearing the sermon at PMC on September 1, 2012, I was so filled with emotion I left right after the closing song and went and thought. The sentiments from the student missionary in Bangkok echoed in my soul. Here is one line from his blog: “Here in the middle of the world there is so much darkness, and the candles that could be out there or any other dark place shining in the darkness are wrapped up in other lighted rooms…” We see presented in this blog a reflection of the frustrations those in the mission field see in the general church. Nobody is going out, nobody cares. That is why I propose we have killed God.
Ironic, that on the Sabbath where Dwight Nelson poured his heart into a sermon designed to wake those asleep to the true darkness of the night enshrouding this planet, the services for the campus churches pushed back their starting times later in the morning and made the services shorter to try to persuade a few more people to get out of their beds and come to church. Try going overseas where people walk for miles just to come to church. Ironic, that the primary reason driving the different worship locations on campus are that we cannot get past our differences in worship or race. I know the arguments on both sides of these issues. However, the fact that we have arguments on these issues at all probably points to a divine murder. Interesting, that the peak amount of mission activity we can persuade our youth to do is at most a year of student missionary work. Anything more than that and they might actually become full-time missionaries! Tragic, that our church has decided to join in the collective joking regarding the Mormons and Jehovah’s witnesses for living their faith out in distinctive ways while we do our best to fit in with the rest of the mainstream heading over the waterfall (do not even try to argue with me on this one, I have heard the jokes and so have you). Have we ever considered that we should be that aggressive in our outreach too?
Our church is spending its collective energies doing its best to work on in-reach of every way. Shorter services? You got it! More technology in the worship service? Sure! MMaybe eventually we can reach the point where everyone on campus can tune in at exactly noon on their Ipads from their dorm room for a 30 second worship service. We have made our worship services cooler, shorter, more hip, more entertaining, less condemning, and more “accepting.” We know this must be working, because these strategies were designed by 14 different committees at every level of the church’s massive bureaucracy. We spend energy on a range of “hot topics,” from Women’s Ordination to sexual orientation. Others engage in debates on which political candidate this fall can transform our troubled nation. Meanwhile, the churches gradually turn into morgues, silent places for reflection on what our church could be. While we bicker over the details of how to get the youth into the church, the last angels slip away unnoticed to a place where God is still viewed as alive.
My conversations with members of our generation have been sobering, at best. I talked to a young man this summer who explained to me how he was not interested in being involved with God because his parents had divorced. Somehow the actions of two other moral, mortal beings other than himself had been enough for him to write off the entire existence of the creator of the universe. Oh, you say, maybe he still believed in the existence of God? Really? So let me get this straight: you are able to believe that God is real, that by default His words are true, which by extension means you have a crystal clear outline of how to live your life, and you can ignore all of that while saying he exists? No, there we have a dead God. If you believe God is alive and live differently you are committing spiritual and physical suicide.
In my own circle of conversation with other pre-professional students, I have seen the growing casualty list stating that they have killed God as well. I have seen students change their tune from impassioned statements a few years back pledging mission service to now a maximum time overseas of a week here or there on trips that primarily benefit those who go from the USA. “Vacationaries” instead of missionaries. Excuses for not being a missionary include:
- “What about my kids and future family?” Interesting to note that in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) Jesus did not say anything about exceptions. Recall that the God of the universe loves little children, do you think He would take care of them if you served overseas? Try explaining that you feel your children might be “socially off” if you went overseas to the Father who sent His son to certain death on a miserable planet for you. Besides, what is “socially on” anyway? Having your children raised in the cesspool that is popular culture, likely by the television while you frantically work to preserve your way of life?
- “I would serve overseas, but I have to set up my retirement.” Definitely a good trade-off, you making sure you can play golf when you are 60 while people die of things you could prevent by serving overseas and without the hope of Jesus. Give me a break! Quit lying to yourself, does this indicate that God is alive? God’s “retirement plan” is out of this world and He has pledged to take care of His own. Mansions in heaven are completely unaffected by fluctuations in the stock market.
- “You know, we are just not all called overseas.” True, very true. However, I highly doubt that such a vast majority of Seventh Day Adventists are called to work in the United States, working comfortable jobs, and giving minimally to missions. Besides, only you know if God is calling you overseas. I would venture to guess that many people say this as a reflex when they feel God calling them. If God has called you to a mission field by your home, by all means go forward. But be careful whether the call is true and of your motives. God knows.
- “I’ll support missions with my money!” My personal least favorite line. Response: Missions are about people. Relationships matter. We need to reach people for Jesus! We have the greatest message in the world and we need every last member involved. There are people that only you can reach. Besides, I only will accept this excuse if you give such a large percentage of your money that you live in the USA at the same level you would live if you were overseas. Uh oh, that messes up your pretty little model of the American Dream, does it not? Let me assure you, this level of giving is not occurring. Regardless, even if every member gave at that level, we would have tremendous funding for a tiny group of people. We would still need missionaries in every field! The largest challenge I faced as part of the management team of Gimbie Adventist Hospital was finding personnel. Right now, they still have empty positions for the next year. Truly, the harvest is great but the laborers few.
God is not a game. If we are to take seriously the message of Jesus, if we believe He is alive, we have to live our lives in a way that honors that belief. Otherwise, we cannot continue to pretend we believe God is alive. A divine entity that exists and died for you requires greater obedience and passion than passively acknowledging His existence while continuing your present course. Consider it this way: You are gently floating down a small creek in a canoe, head back, sun on your face, watching the clouds shuffle against the brilliant blue sky, only to have a man’s passionate voice break into your reverie… “THERE IS A WATERFALL AHEAD!” If you believe him, will you not sit up and immediately ground your boat against the bank? At the least, you will stop and walk ahead to check. What lunatic would wave at the man and say, “Yes, I believe you. However, I am going to continue floating.” Further remonstrations are met with the same reassurance that you “believe” the message but wish to continue onward. At some point, the normal force opposing the attraction between your mass and the mass of the earth would be removed and as you hurdled to your doom over the waterfall, at THAT moment, you would truly believe.
It is not necessary for us to lose the battle. It is not necessary for a world to continue on in the pitch darkness, only to realize they have lost the last opportunity to repent. However, it will require a shift in thinking. We must realize that every component of our lives is secondary to the greater purpose – to live for God. We have to stop thinking of our service to God as optional activities after we have ensured our own personal security.
Morning is coming. God has foretold it and it will come to pass. Each one of us has a choice to make. Right now, there are but a few candles piercing the gloom. There are a few areas of great light, but the interesting feature about these lighted areas is that without sending out candles into the darkness the lights are gradually going out. They flicker uselessly and finally fade away, relying on the lights of others. The isolated candles valiantly press on against the forces of darkness but without support and possibility of back-up, they too begin to flicker. The danger is that if we do not choose now to take our candles to the darkness, when the morning finally breaks we will have allowed the tendrils of evil to so ensnare our hearts that we will be destroyed by the glory of the Son. Now is the time to act. At first, the movement may be slow. You may take your candle to a wild location and never seem to make progress. Your friends and relatives will think you are crazy. They will ask you when you are going “to get a ‘real’ job.” However, your candle will be visible. That is meaningful. When will we realize that the morning cannot come if the first wave of candles does not move out to inspire the rest? WHO IS IT GOING TO BE?? I am talking to you. Do you think it is someone else’s job description? Do you think God is dead? If God is alive, do you think you could handle living your life for Him even if everyone else opposed you? The end will not come unless we change. I have heard people say we cannot condemn those in the church or push missions because it “hurts people’s feelings.” It is not about feelings, it is about truth. Every moment we waste, the trends cited by Dwight Nelson continue… a person starving to death every 3.6 seconds… one million suicides a year worldwide…somebody being sexually assaulted every 2 minutes in the US alone. While we delay, content to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, people suffer and die in the dark. A soul is the most precious thing on earth and yet we appear unconcerned about the souls slipping away.
The devil has been quite successful as of late. Missionary numbers have shrunk to 1/3 their numbers from the 1970s. That was not that long ago! What have we lost? Whom have we killed? Is it possible that we have murdered the source of life itself? Again from the Madman: “Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to LIGHT lanterns in the morning?” Even in our own existence, we have to realize how terrible this earth is. Have we not felt sad, broken, and depressed? When we will wrap our minds around the idea that we have the option of going to a place where there will never be a tear? The end will come only when you recognize your responsibility and move out. The first moves will be the hardest. The first valiant ones to forsake the materialistic secure approach will be met with questioning and disapproval, ESPECIALLY from within the dead church. However, as more and more people realize that God is not dead and that He is alive, they will move out. Gradually the force will grow. “Here am I Lord, send me!” Candles will be mobilized and spread across the globe, “Jesus is coming again, He loves you, and wants you to live with Him for eternity!” Concerns about financial security will melt away as we see the security found in Christ. People’s differences will not be as important because we will be focused on Jesus and His purity, to which none of us can attain without His grace. The lonely missionaries in the field now will be bolstered by a wave of reinforcements and assistance. Resistance will come to this push of course. Satan, at long last forced to reveal himself after decades of convincing everyone that God was dead and satan did not exist, will marshal the forces of evil and the Great Controversy will rush to its glorious finish… and we serve the winning side. Jesus will return and the Morning Star will defeat the dark knight’s night once and for all.
Are you with God? Only you and God know your true motives behind your actions. If you have read this, maybe you feel challenged. I urge you to pray as never before for God to reveal to you how He wants to use you. Be honest… is He calling you to do something outside of your comfort zone? Will it mean changing your plans? It will not be easy. It is in satan’s interests for you to stay immobilized as your candle dies. You will be opposed. But you will have the greatest force in the universe on your side. Satan will attempt to convince you that you act alone, but you do not. Contact me, contact others, there are many under conviction, but collectively we are not moving. Be the first! We are promised that the final events will be rapid ones. Realize that all that is necessary for the sudden explosion of light could be your candle!
Is God alive? You are showing the answer in your life right now.
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