in the end

it's the monday after thanksgiving weekend; i'm in a funk right now at 2 p.m. in the afternoon. i've been mulling something over all weekend -- started w/ an article i read in rolling stone by a well known author and atheist about the end of faith and how reason will win out, that faith is a notion that is nice and all but foolish and will eventually be proven empty and wrong. it was a 2 page interview that i'll go back and re-read more closely later on...in the same edition, there were interviews with well known actors, political folks, comedians, and musicians; i was shocked to see how many "famous" and influential people were openly dismissive of faith and God. this stuff ran through my head all weekend long, and i found myself pondering it this morning as i sat down to read a bit. here is what i found:

"evangelism is...an open statement of what God has done in Jesus Christ. not everyone is going to like that...when people who have not heard the gospel before (or seen it lived out) listen and respond with hostility or cynicism, what's actually happening is that they have so bought into the values of this world, the longing for success and fame and fortune, that the difference between their aspirations and the offer of the gospel is just too great. straining their eyes for the former, they are completely blind to the latter. it is like someone who is tone deaf or color blind listening to music or looking at a great painting. they just can't see what is attracting other people."
-- n.t. wright, "reflecting the glory, day 6"

whoa.

here's the thing -- i'm not alarmed by the rolling stone thing. the gospel has spread and advanced in the face of all sorts of people saying things like "faith is foolish, religion is a crutch, it's the opiate of the masses". seems to me that Jesus is still around despite the best efforts to discredit Him, leave Him behind, kill Him outright. my hope is actually to live out faith in a way that helps those who just can't see the beauty and hear the notes come to a place that they are enabled to see even a shade of what i've found...