Medical ethicist Charles Camosy brilliantly offers the following analogy about the current state of Western culture. The West, he argues, is like a flower that has been recently cut at the base of its stem. It will retain its beauty for a time but not forever. Cut off from its roots – its source of nourishment – it will wilt, then fade, then perish altogether in the vase in which it sits. The root system, he continues, is Christianity. Western culture has divorced itself from the profound mysteries, intricate philosophies, cherished theology, and amazing history of the Church founded by the Son of God over two-thousand years ago yet, curiously, wants to retain its nicer, more convenient fruits. No to Jesus but yes to Christmas. Nostalgia is good for the bottom line. No to the cross but yes to the Easter bunny. Who cares about self-sacrifice when the flowers are blooming and summer fun is on the horizon. Forces hostile to the one true faith have worked overtime to remove it from the public square while at the same time preserving an incredibly watered-down version of Christianity – a version, I hasten to add, that does not and certainly should not challenge anybody to live differently. The Nativity is not about the coming of our Savior; it is now about family gatherings and Hallmark movies. To say otherwise is radical; it is to impose one’s Christian beliefs on another. And that is something polite people simply do not do.
The logical end of Camosy’s point, however, is that Western society will collapse. If it rejects the very movement that created and sustained its core, then falling to pieces is imminent. We can delude ourselves all day long, but the fact remains: without its roots, a flower will perish. Without Christianity, so, too, will the West.
But is there anything to be done? Is the writing already on the wall?
In a recent interview on NPR (of all places), Rainn Wilson, the actor who portrayed Dwight in The Office, remarked that what our society desperately needs is a spiritual awakening. Russell Brand echoed this sentiment in an interview he did with Tucker Carlson a few months later. Country singer John Rich said the same. A conversation is beginning to emerge, calling for a return to faith. Notably, this is not the first time this has happened, at least in America.
From the early 18th century to the 20th century, America experienced The Great Awakening – a spiritual revival that was largely a response to the Enlightenment’s focus on reason to the exclusion of all other facets of being human. The Great Awakening arguably helped to unify the colonies against their British overlords while also making distinct American culture – its people, values, and general orientation. This is why many believed the Revolution was God-inspired. America was meant to stand on its own two feet. What another Great Awakening would do for us now, therefore, is twofold: 1. It would help to unify our country and 2. It would recall what made the West a dominating force to begin with. Prosperity, strength, and safety means returning wholeheartedly to the embrace of Christ. We need to rediscover as a nation and as a culture our place in His kingdom. We need to collectively remember that we are adopted sons and daughters of God. It stands to reason, then, that those who would oppose this move are in direct opposition to America, in specific, and Western culture, in general. Would it be too far to suggest that these forces are demonic? Perhaps not. To be a member of the flock is to recognize the reality of spiritual warfare after all. There is much more than the flesh. Unseen battles rage, and the stakes are very high, indeed. The flower may be severed from its roots now, but a return is possible only through Him who heals, Him who restores, Him who saves and raises the dead and makes whole what was once fractured.
