There are as many self-help books on anxiety as there are psychotropic medications, but this little chaplain ran across one that had several interesting and caring thoughts. It’s a classic piece entitled, “The Courage to Be,” written by a Christian philosopher and theologian, Paul Tillich. In his book,Tillich remarks that there are three core anxieties at the heart of mankind. They are death, condemnation, and meaninglessness. These are what he calls fears of existence. While these three fears are ancient and universal, we face them with perhaps a different modern mindset.
Let’s start with the fear of death. Physical annihilation is unavoidable. Considering the multitude of natural disasters, such as the tsunami disaster some years ago in northern Japan, it’s difficult not to feel a little anxious. Scripture tells us that life is fleeting. It’s like a vapor. God’s Word also teaches that a wise man not only thinks about his life, but also reflects on his death. But this doesn’t personally resolve my condition of angst around death and leaves me wondering if one can ever be cured of the anxious awareness of death.
The fear of condemnation is closely related to the fear of death. Condemnation is first experienced as the emotion of guilt. Our moral failures lead to self-condemnation. Considering our awareness that we will stand before the throne of God one day, we feel condemned. We instinctively know that God knows all. More personally, we know God knows what we know about ourselves. We also have this awareness that He is right. He is right in His judgments that we are wrong which les to further anxiety.
The fear of meaninglessness is a little more difficult to explain. It, too, has a close relationship to our anxieties about death. The French existential attempted to deal with these fears in the mid-20th century, and its ideology has stretched into American culture for several decades now. The predominant theme of this movement has been a self-determined actualization process. What this means is that the only meaning life has is the meaning that we assign to it. When we find out what that is for our lives, then that is the thing which will give our existence its worth. So, if we fear that life has no ultimate meaning, we can take comfort by finding meaningful experiences to create. Never mind that we haven’t figured out how to do that yet. But there is still time for us to experience that thing that will give our lives its ultimate value. This reminds us of what King Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes that this, too, is like chasing the wind. There is no absolute truth and that truth as we perceive it is always changing and is relative to everyone. So, we are always chasing the wind that keeps moving. This results in a hopeless, frustrated, and selfish way to live.
So, where does that leave us as believers, as those who are completely human and completely subjected to these anxieties?
They can be crippling to one’s existence! They can lead to a life of paralysis and avoidance. This ultimately ends in a qualitative death of sorts. So,what is the answer to this despairing situation? The answer is not a what, but rather a person! Remember, I am a Christian chaplain, so I view life through a Christ-honoring perspective. May I echo the words of the Apostle Paul, “Thanks be to our Lord Christ Jesus.” The question may be asked, “How can Jesus help us in these three dilemmas?” Glad you asked!
First, Christ gives us the power to move through our fears of death by overcoming death itself! Scriptures reveal that Christ became death to expunge death’s power over us. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that will raise us from the dead,too. We no longer must be obsessed over our health or labor in vain to squeeze out a few more years on this planet. Christ Jesus gives us a resurrection fixation. This is the beginning of hope.
Second, Jesus declares that we are forgiven in God’s courtroom. There is no longer needed to hide behind our rationalizations or our self justifications. We openly embrace being wrong while neither celebrating it nor hiding from it in shame. Jesus has declared us righteous. Because of the power of the resurrection, no matter how wrong you are, you still are right with God. This is truly amazing grace!
Last, when the Lord became flesh, He revealed to us that all of mankind had more meaning than we ever thought before. We are created for an eternal relationship with God who defines Himself as love. God’s Word teaches us that we are born into sin—that is to say, we were born alienated from God. Christ has come to reconcile that detachment. And even when we become Christ followers, we still can experience that alienation.
Whether it is periods of doubt, suffering, disobedience or maybe just tirelessly seeking the face of an invisible God, we, too, can anxiously despair. But the resurrection of Jesus unveils the mystery of a heavenly reality—a place where God will be God and we will be His people.
Nothing will ever threaten our sense of value or meaning in those days. This is the final experience that will give all our existence its total meaning. But it is yet to come.
This is our future glory.
JohnT. Catrett, III Refuge Care Chaplain