"Hear, ye deaf, and look, ye blind, that ye may see. Who is blind, but my servant; or as deaf as my messenger that I sent? Who is as blind as he that is perfect, and as blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not." Isaiah 42:18-20
There is a difference between the mechanics of a thing and the function of the thing, between its practical operation and its teleological significance. The mechanics of the eyes is to see, while the mechanics of the ears is to listen. However, the function of the eyes is to observe, and the function of the ears is to hear. In other words, both of their practical operations are that of receptors of information, while their teleological significance is a comprehension and understanding gathered from that reception. In addition, you can see things without observing anything, and you can listen without hearing anything. Though the function necessarily includes the mechanics, the mechanics do not necessarily include the function.
"Who is as blind as he that is perfect...?" This paradox is a sad statement on the (perhaps unconscious) hypocrisy that was plaguing Israel. Their "perfectness," their status as a separated people, the people of God, was merely nominal, mere formalism, a form of godliness that denies that godliness's power, a dead godliness, works without faith, whitewashed tombs, etc. This is the same exact state that Jesus would find Israel in when He came: all of the mechanics of the covenant people were there (ceremony, ritual, temple worship, Torah observance, festival days, etc.), but its function was absent (i.e., God's presence was not there). The Pharisees exemplified this (and hence made good literary villains): seeing many things, they could not observe God, even as He walked amongst them; listening to much, they could not hear Him, even when He spoke right to them. "He that is of God heareth God's words; ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God." (John 8:47) Israel was the spitting image of a lifeless religion: lots of motion, yet going nowhere.
Much of Christianity today is a lifeless religion. This lifelessness is very deceptive because it comes with all of the mechanics (even the most pious ones) of Christianity; it just lacks (and, oh, what a lack!) the function, the teleological significance, the vital thing, i.e., the presence of God. Lifeless Christianity is an atheistic religion because it is a Godless Christianity. I say "Godless" as opposed to "godless" because lifeless religions all have the same god: the form of religion. We do all of the things (songs, ritual, sermons, invitations, revivals, tent-meetings, mass, etc.) for the things themselves and not for the God that they are to lead us to. All Christendom has fallen prey to this, from the most liturgical to the most emergent, from the most ardent congregationalist to the most open ecumenicist. We some times describe their plight with different words (from "stuffy," "dull," and "dead," to "fluffy," "shallow," and "hollow"), but we all are talking about the same thing: they are all lifeless. The presence of God is not amongst them, and when He is lost from the faith, then the mechanics must lead to something else, typically either us or the religious form, and it usually stops with both: songs we like for song's sake, sermons we like for sermon's sake, liturgy we like for liturgy's sake because that's how we like it.
Godless Christianity is yet another blight of Modern Christendom. It is a wasting away of ourselves with the mechanics of religion while completely ignoring the object of our faith. It is perhaps Modern Christendom's greatest crime (and tragedy). God lays Himself open before us as a vast ocean to be explored forever, but we are quite content (and even prefer!) to play with our mud pies.
Lord have mercy on us,
Christ have mercy on us,
Lord have mercy on us. Amen
"O make me Thine, forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love for Thee..."
(from "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded")
-Jon Vowell
There is a difference between the mechanics of a thing and the function of the thing, between its practical operation and its teleological significance. The mechanics of the eyes is to see, while the mechanics of the ears is to listen. However, the function of the eyes is to observe, and the function of the ears is to hear. In other words, both of their practical operations are that of receptors of information, while their teleological significance is a comprehension and understanding gathered from that reception. In addition, you can see things without observing anything, and you can listen without hearing anything. Though the function necessarily includes the mechanics, the mechanics do not necessarily include the function.
"Who is as blind as he that is perfect...?" This paradox is a sad statement on the (perhaps unconscious) hypocrisy that was plaguing Israel. Their "perfectness," their status as a separated people, the people of God, was merely nominal, mere formalism, a form of godliness that denies that godliness's power, a dead godliness, works without faith, whitewashed tombs, etc. This is the same exact state that Jesus would find Israel in when He came: all of the mechanics of the covenant people were there (ceremony, ritual, temple worship, Torah observance, festival days, etc.), but its function was absent (i.e., God's presence was not there). The Pharisees exemplified this (and hence made good literary villains): seeing many things, they could not observe God, even as He walked amongst them; listening to much, they could not hear Him, even when He spoke right to them. "He that is of God heareth God's words; ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God." (John 8:47) Israel was the spitting image of a lifeless religion: lots of motion, yet going nowhere.
Much of Christianity today is a lifeless religion. This lifelessness is very deceptive because it comes with all of the mechanics (even the most pious ones) of Christianity; it just lacks (and, oh, what a lack!) the function, the teleological significance, the vital thing, i.e., the presence of God. Lifeless Christianity is an atheistic religion because it is a Godless Christianity. I say "Godless" as opposed to "godless" because lifeless religions all have the same god: the form of religion. We do all of the things (songs, ritual, sermons, invitations, revivals, tent-meetings, mass, etc.) for the things themselves and not for the God that they are to lead us to. All Christendom has fallen prey to this, from the most liturgical to the most emergent, from the most ardent congregationalist to the most open ecumenicist. We some times describe their plight with different words (from "stuffy," "dull," and "dead," to "fluffy," "shallow," and "hollow"), but we all are talking about the same thing: they are all lifeless. The presence of God is not amongst them, and when He is lost from the faith, then the mechanics must lead to something else, typically either us or the religious form, and it usually stops with both: songs we like for song's sake, sermons we like for sermon's sake, liturgy we like for liturgy's sake because that's how we like it.
Godless Christianity is yet another blight of Modern Christendom. It is a wasting away of ourselves with the mechanics of religion while completely ignoring the object of our faith. It is perhaps Modern Christendom's greatest crime (and tragedy). God lays Himself open before us as a vast ocean to be explored forever, but we are quite content (and even prefer!) to play with our mud pies.
Lord have mercy on us,
Christ have mercy on us,
Lord have mercy on us. Amen
"O make me Thine, forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love for Thee..."
(from "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded")
-Jon Vowell
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