TRUTH IN ADVERTISING
He came to the disciples and found them asleep; and he said to Pater, "What! Could none of you stay awake with me one hour?" Matt. 26:40, N.E.B.
The lush sounds of happy voices singing in close harmony poured smoothly from the Christian radio station. I listened carefully to the lilting lyrics, perfectly matched to the upbeat melody, trying to imagine what a non-Christian might feel and understand were he to hear the song. "Just brush away your fears and forget your foolish fears, and you'll never be lonely again."
It seemed so inviting, so promising: Become a Christian and you'll never again feel sadness or loneliness. If Christianity could always deliver what its "advertisers" promise, who wouldn't want to "buy it"?
But my memory tracked to a recent conversation with a Christian mother who had been abandoned by her husband. Though her faith in Jesus remained strong, she wept tears not easily brushed away. After years of closeness she was experiencing a crushing longing for human companionship. And her grief was being compounded with guilt. "As a Christian," she said, "I know I'm not supposed to feel so sad. I know Jesus still loves me. I'm letting Him down too."
And so we spoke of the feelings Jesus had on that lonely night as He agonized in the garden. We spoke of how He longed to have His disciples join Him in prayer. Not because He had any doubts about the effectiveness of His own prayers, but because He craved the warmth of caring, supportive friendship, and because He wished for His friends to be strengthened for the raging conflict to come.
He who grieved in the garden that night was none other than He who created us in His own image, and who said, "It is not good that the man should be alone" (Gen. 2:18). He placed within each of His created friends a deep and wholesome longing for each other. The agonizing and groaning of all creation originates in our separateness from God and from each other. There will be no inner tranquility in any of us who long for closeness with estranged friends while those friends are still outside fellowship with us.
Our Father does not shame us for being lonely and frightened. We need not be embarrassed to face the very needs that He placed in our hearts. He does not plan to eradicate our humanity but rather to sustain it with His closeness while we walk through this dark planet of broken relationships.
He came to the disciples and found them asleep; and he said to Pater, "What! Could none of you stay awake with me one hour?" Matt. 26:40, N.E.B.
The lush sounds of happy voices singing in close harmony poured smoothly from the Christian radio station. I listened carefully to the lilting lyrics, perfectly matched to the upbeat melody, trying to imagine what a non-Christian might feel and understand were he to hear the song. "Just brush away your fears and forget your foolish fears, and you'll never be lonely again."
It seemed so inviting, so promising: Become a Christian and you'll never again feel sadness or loneliness. If Christianity could always deliver what its "advertisers" promise, who wouldn't want to "buy it"?
But my memory tracked to a recent conversation with a Christian mother who had been abandoned by her husband. Though her faith in Jesus remained strong, she wept tears not easily brushed away. After years of closeness she was experiencing a crushing longing for human companionship. And her grief was being compounded with guilt. "As a Christian," she said, "I know I'm not supposed to feel so sad. I know Jesus still loves me. I'm letting Him down too."
And so we spoke of the feelings Jesus had on that lonely night as He agonized in the garden. We spoke of how He longed to have His disciples join Him in prayer. Not because He had any doubts about the effectiveness of His own prayers, but because He craved the warmth of caring, supportive friendship, and because He wished for His friends to be strengthened for the raging conflict to come.
He who grieved in the garden that night was none other than He who created us in His own image, and who said, "It is not good that the man should be alone" (Gen. 2:18). He placed within each of His created friends a deep and wholesome longing for each other. The agonizing and groaning of all creation originates in our separateness from God and from each other. There will be no inner tranquility in any of us who long for closeness with estranged friends while those friends are still outside fellowship with us.
Our Father does not shame us for being lonely and frightened. We need not be embarrassed to face the very needs that He placed in our hearts. He does not plan to eradicate our humanity but rather to sustain it with His closeness while we walk through this dark planet of broken relationships.
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