The Church and Mass individualism
Image via WikipediaOh the cruel trick fate played on Nietzsche. Christians aren’t apt to afford compassion to the man who coined the phrase “God is dead.” Nevertheless my heart goes out to him. The man who some say is the father of Nazism, existentialism, and modern relativism is the victim of one of the cruel ironies of history.
The core of Nietzsche’s ethic was what he called the “will to power”. He bemoaned the baleful influence of Christianity which he claimed promoted a “herd morality.” The “will to power” was a rejection of herd morality, a bald affirmation of individual autonomy so radical as to be indifferent to the autonomy of others. It was an ethical Darwinism, survival of, indeed conquest by, the fittest.
The good news is that this “will to power,” the elevation of self, has caught on like wildfire. The bad news is that this bold, defiant ethic has spread so wide, infecting even the church, that it has become the morality of choice among the herd. Just as rock and roll, the music of rebellion, has been co-opted by corporations, so radical individualism has found a market in the masses. Nietzschean rebellion is all the fashion, making it no rebellion at all.
In the church it is sanitized. We don’t quote Nietzsche; we quote psychologists and church growth pundits who justify our obsession with our own “needs.” We don’t deny the authority of Scripture, we subvert it by filtering its teaching through our own sovereign experience. We don’t cease to worship, but we demand to be served at the service. We don’t talk about the will to power, we just blithely seize the throne.
Nietzsche picked the wrong metaphor in describing true Christian morality. We have a flock morality. We are the sheep; He is the Good Shepherd. The Shepherd cares for us, watches over us, and protects us. In a word, He loves us. Living coram Deo, however, means remembering that we exist for Him, not the other way around. It means never allowing the cacophony of our experience to muddle the clarity of His voice. It means never going to public worship to get our fill, but to fill His temple with sacrifice. The Nietzschean way leads to destruction. The Good Shepherd leads us to still waters, where we will thirst no more.
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