“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.“
– C. S. Lewis
We are constantly amazed at the “progress” of our civilization. No one can keep up with the advances in technology, medicine, and science. Someone born a century ago would be dumbstruck by our culture in 2024. They would scarcely be able to navigate our world.
However, we might question whether we have progressed spiritually, emotionally, and communally. Are we any happier than those who have gone before us? Are our lives saturated with meaning and hope? Are we any more connected to creation, each other, and our inner selves? Are our souls richer and better grounded? Do we know joy? And perhaps most importantly for those who claim Jesus as Lord, is our love for each and all any wider and deeper than that of previous generations?
Please do not hear me nostalgically calling for a return to the “good old days.” So many of my generation long for the kind of lives lived in the 1950s. They forget the rampant racism, ecological abuse, materialism, and compromised, diluted, and distorted Christianity of that era. When God and country are joined at the hip, God who so loves the world (John 3:16) is replaced by a jingoistic idol who merely reflects white, middle-class, and capitalistic values and goals. The 1950s largely reflected that kind of God.
“Mayberry,” “Father Knows Best,” and “Leave It to Beaver” never existed. (I only remember seeing one Black in any of the episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show,” and she was in a crowd of white folks gathered on a sidewalk. And yet Mayberry was in the southern state of North Carolina!) The heroes of the South I grew up in were George Wallace, Strom Thurmond, and Lester Maddox, all of whom vehemently opposed “liberty and justice for all” (a part of the pledge of allegiance our nation still chooses to ignore). I never heard a single word from a “white” pulpit regarding the sin of racism and segregation. In fact, deacons were assigned to refuse entry to any Black who tried to enter our sanctuary for worship. Should their efforts fail, the police, who were well versed in beating Blacks, were called to “deal with the agitators.”
So, no, I’m not calling for a return to some past which was plagued with its own problems. What I am hoping for is a rediscovery of the wisdom found in past spiritual geniuses which has been neglected or forgotten by a generation which assumes it knows all that matters. We may be the most technologically advanced generation in history, but my fear is that we are fast becoming one of the most insane and misguided generations since Homo sapiens began to form communities.
We know that our way of life threatens not only humankind, but creation itself.
We know that our way of life threatens not only humankind, but creation itself. Our addiction to more is poisoning our planet, bodies, and communities. We have built an economy which is unsustainable and yet requires that we manufacture and consume more. We have created a monster of greed which is like cancer consuming increasingly more until there will be nothing more to consume. We will not be content until the last tree is cut down, the last animal is extinct, the last body of water can no longer sustain life, and the last breath of healthy air is breathed.
And even with all this consumption and luxurious standard of “living,” we are less happy than our ancestors, less capable of creating and enjoying community, and less blessed with meaning in life. (A recent survey in the UK reported that 80% of those surveyed admitted that their lives are meaningless. That percentage goes to 90% for teens and those in their 20s. I would suggest that similar percentages may be found in the USA (if not now, then not too far in the future). An increase in addiction and suicide rates demonstrates the tragedy of this meaning crisis.
Of course, there are many other areas in our culture which reflect the loss of wisdom and meaning in people’s lives: the educational crisis in which bureaucrats dictate curricula and have sabotaged the art of teaching; the rise of neofascist groups which cater to the anger, fears, prejudices, and ignorance of those lacking worthy meaning; the increasing polarization within our culture; the scapegoating of the vulnerable; the crippling of our political system where politicians have no concern for the common good and no concept of integrity and truth; and the powerful and wealthy billionaires and corporations whose primary (if not sole) goal is an increase in profit at any cost (including freedom, the poor, and the earth herself).
We indeed live in a “metacrisis”—a number of individual crises which impact each other and exponentially multiply the problem. The good news is that there are ways out and ways forward. We must turn from our evil and misguided ways. And we must recover voices of reason, wisdom, and truth from the past. For Christians, that recovery will focus on the life, teachings, and destiny of Jesus. We must return to and live out of the wisdom his words and being provide. What the church today, for the most part, does not realize is that Jesus was the most countercultural and revolutionary person in the history of humankind. In the next article I will center on some of those lessons he taught 2000 years ago which are not only relevant for today but are critical if we are to survive as a species and if we are to truly be his followers.
Our problems are monumental. We are headed as a species for an extinction we have brought upon ourselves. We have become a culture to which meaning, joy, belonging, and compassion are strangers. There are ways to address this metacrisis, but not without a drastic change in our way of living and being. Psychological and spiritual genius Iain McGilchrist says that it will only take 3% of the population to change the world. I suggest that this 3% could and should begin with those who claim to follow One whose wisdom is without equal and is indispensable for our current generations. (After all, there are 2.38 billion Christians in the world—roughly 30% of the planet’s population.)
I began this article with a quote from C. S. Lewis. I end with another quote which expresses the hope I have for our common future if we are willing to abandon our foolish self-centeredness and (re)discover a better way.
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
– C. S. Lewis
