It’s natural to feel small and helpless in the face of evil. Whether that evil is systemic or individualized, we watch the news or hear about something horrible done by someone we thought we knew, and our world turns upside down. Like Alice through the Looking Glass, you may find yourself disoriented, searching for a way back home where reason and logic once held everything together.
Opium des Volkes
While many of us look to God to free us from the pain of this world, our pain becomes even more acute when we see the many ways our own religion has contributed to the problem. There’s a joke that giving contracts to big pharmaceutical companies to create drugs to end the opioid crisis is like throwing a brick through a window…the note on the brick says “We fix windows!”
With Karl Marx’s famous paraphrase, “religion is the opium of the people,” it’s easy for some to imagine churches doing the same thing…throwing a brick through the window of our souls and saying, “Hey you’re broken! We can fix that!”
Opioids are addictive pain-killers that reward the pleasure center of our brains. While they mostly just numb the pain and give you a temporary fix, they can also have the minor side-effect of, you know, death. Marx’s sentiments about religion (made in 1844) mark a criticism of escapism, a self-consolation that all will be made right in the next world, and there’s nothing to be done here and now.
So we sing songs and hear uplifting words to placate us, we talk about a personal savior who will one day free us from all these troubles. The world is too big and immoral and unjust for us to make a real difference, so we just focus on saving souls, on being nice people. I can’t really work on the world, but I can work on me.
OK, So Who R U?
Are you really just called to work on yourself? I mean, you are only one of 7.7 billion people in the world right now. Do you really believe just working on yourself is the end goal of humanity? Sure it’s important, but personal salvation and individual piety is only half of the Greatest Commandment. Loving your neighbor as yourself (often called works of mercy) is key to true Christian identity.
Most churches, even the ones that are pre-disposed to social action, struggle to speak an incarnational Gospel for fear of offending constituents. We are much more comfortable with generic platitudes that make us feel like we are part of the solution. It’s easier to talk about “loving God” and “loving neighbor” without making it clear what that looks like on the ground.
What I mean is this:
We say “All Are Welcome” because we hope gay people will know our church is somehow safe for them. Then we wonder why the LGBTQIA+ continue to leave the church. Have we started any meaningful ministries for that community, or are we just saying “All Are Welcome” because it makes us feel better about ourselves in the face of an overwhelming issue?
We say things like “racism is bad,” but refuse to make a commitment to anti-racism. Could a White Nationalist feel comfortable in your church? Is that what you really mean by “All Are Welcome”? You don’t want to offend the White Nationalist?
We believe “blessed are the poor in spirit” (Mt 5:3) to mean all the wealthy people who are still so sad. We ignore “blessed are the poor” (Lk 6:20) because they should be able to take care of themselves.
Time for a Check Up.
- Take two minutes to think through: What else does my church say that provides temporary relief, perhaps even pleasure or numbness to the pain of this world? Does it truly challenge me to take action?
- How has over-personalized and generic religion numbed you from the real joy of suffering with the poor, the oppressed, the imprisoned, the infirmed?
- What are other “opiates for the masses”? What is the difference between self-care and distraction? How can you work on self-care in a way that motivates you and re-energizes you to love your neighbors?