“I think you can get to a point where nihilism, if that’s the right word, is overwhelming, and the basic laws that society has set up—either religious or social laws—become meaningless.” – Bruce Springsteen
I don’t like horror films. I’m not sure I get why folks want to intentionally scare themselves to death. There’s a new dystopian horror/action film out called The Forever Purge. It’s actually the fifth Purge movie. The Purge is an imaginary 12 hour time frame where any crime including murder is legal. It’s a scary, nihilistic idea. NIHILISM is the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless. The Latin root nihil actually means ‘nothing,‘ or ‘that which does not exist.’ In philosophy, nihilism is an extreme skepticism that maintains that nothing in the world has a real existence. The famous proponent of this idea was German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. In nihilism, “”Every belief, every consideration of something true, is necessarily false because there is simply no true world.” Thus, nihilism is the belief that all values are utterly worthless, that nothing can be known or communicated. The philosophy of nihilism is also associated with extreme pessimism and deep-seated skepticism about life. It has no allegiance to anyone or anything.” (GotQuestions.org) In nihilism, God does not exist or He is dead and there is no distinction between good and evil. Consequently, everyone and every thing is dispensable. There is no real care for, or embrace of life—and I don’t just mean embryonic life. Each Summer in inner cities across the Country, we brace ourselves for an increase of shootings. I watched an alarming 60 Minutes expose on mass shootings in the US that are now being committed with AR-15 assault weapons. Psalmist King David said, “Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!” (Psalm 14:1) We often talk about and aspire to be godly—we talk much less about the possibility that we might become godless.
Belief in the existence of God is a prerequisite of faith. God and all that He has created are by no means ‘nothing.’ He is definitely Someone, and His creation is something. Christ-followers are the opposite of nihilists—we are Believers. The Book of Jude warns us about being influenced by this nihilistic culture and exhorts us to hold onto and contend for our profession of faith in Jesus Christ, “3My dear friends, I really wanted to write you about God’s saving power at work in our lives. But instead, I must write and ask you to defend the faith that God has once for all given to his people. 4Some godless people have sneaked in among us and are saying, “God treats us much better than we deserve, and so it is all right to be immoral.” They even deny we must obey Jesus Christ as our only Master and Lord. But long ago the Scriptures warned that these godless people were doomed.” (Jude 3-4, CEV) Nihilism is becoming more and more prevalent in our society, but let’s not let it creep into the Church.
