Nietzsche Was Right

   That's a crazy statement, isn't it?

   I mean, coming from me. 
 
   Not long ago, the Newsboys came out with a song, "God's Not Dead". Then there was a movie. Mr Nietzsche was mentioned in the movie as an atheist. Nietzsche gets a lot of credit for being a bold atheist. I don't know if Nietzsche was an atheist or agnostic or any other $6 word you can come up with, but, I think he was frustrated. Spiritually. All this current notoriety made me think, "Why would he say that? Who is this guy?"
   Google!
   Mr. Nietzsche was the son of a minister. A minister that was dedicated and committed to his church. So, I'm pretty sure, he was taught about God, Jesus and the Spirit. He certainly had knowledge of the Bible. He may have even been a believer. I don't know. But, one thing for sure, he was very critical of the Church. Not so much so God. More so Christianity and how God and Christians related to each other and with those outside the faith. He displayed anger and displeasure with God which makes me think he wasn't really an atheist. He believed in God enough to want to argue with Him.
  Near as I can tell, Mr Nietzsche said "God is dead" three times. The first and infamous time was in a short story called "The Madman" from the book The Gay Science. The story is of a man running through town searching for God. "I seek God! I seek God!". The townies begin to mock him and then this angers the man for which he says, "God is dead! And we have killed Him!"
  This is interesting. Mr Nietzsche's claim to fame is "God is dead", but, no one remarks what comes after that. He goes on to tell that it was ..."you and I" who have killed Him. Further more, he asks who can wipe away the horizons? As if to say you can ignore, disregard God, but, He is still there. "Does empty space breathe upon us?" We can't see Him but He is there. What brought this on?
  Let's look at what was happening in Germany at the time Mr Nietzsche wrote this. From the late 1870's in to the early 1900's, Germany was much like our late 1960's. Things were happening very fast. Economic change. Ideology change. Social changes. Spiritual changes. The industrial revolution was taking off. Modern science was escalating and people were becoming more skeptical of religion.
   The Catholic church was prominent in Germany, but, alas, could not keep up with the times. Socialism was on the rise and it had the church in its cross-hairs. For a brief moment, Catholicism rose up equally, but could not sustain. The government made laws and regulations directly at the church. Religion became wildly unpopular.
   So, I don't believe Mr Nietzsche was an atheist. At worse, he was a cynic. He was saying, in my opinion, all things considered, we have dismissed God from our lives and replaced Him with, well, whatever suits us. Because, later in his story the Madman asks,"Is not the magnitude of this deed too great for us? Shall we not ourselves have to become gods, Merely to seem worthy of it?" The answer is yes. If we are to remove THE God from our life what are we to do but become our own god.
  Mr. Nietzsche wasn't saying that God was dead or nonexistent. He was saying that God was dead in our hearts. The Madman is the one that was labelled old fashioned. Stuck in the past. The towns people were the "modern" people. The ones that put no value in the old ways of life. That belittled traditions and values. That looked to themselves before looking up. Much like now.
   Look around. Who is #1? Me. No, me. Please don't wear that shirt. It offends me. I need my safe space. Your opinions are not mine, therefore, you do not matter to me. We try to one up everybody and everything. Better phone, better car, better shoes, better house, better job.  
  The story ends with the Madman saying that by the time they notice what they have done, it may be too late. He then takes it one more step. Perhaps a step over the line. He goes into the churches claiming the same as he did in the town. They lead him out and rebuked him. His reply was always the same because they too were just as guilty.  He called them murderers of God. "What are these churches now, if they are not the tombs and monuments of God?" Nowadays we call it playing church. Some call it being a cultural Christian. Living by a set of standards, morals. Appearing to have it together because you worship better than they do. Instagramming your devotions. "Diving deep in the Word today." Religion.  
   1 John 2:4-6  If someone says,"I know God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love Him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. 
   Many people will say they believe in God. Many will say they go to church. Many will say they worship and they give. And, sadly, many will say that's good enough. "I'm a good person." Compared to who? The god you worship is you and you're banking on that?
Matt 7:22 Jesus says, "...many will say to me, 'Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons...performed many miracles in your name!' But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from Me..." 
   God wants your heart and this is why we try to run from that. We don't want Him to see it. God will get in there and be like, "Oh, this is nice. I like this. Hey, uhm, what about this over here. What's this in this dark corner?" Then we're all,"Hey, whoa... don't be lookin at that. That's my comfort zone right there. That's where I can still be accepted. Come over here, where I post verses on Facebook." 
   Don't get me wrong. Stuff like that is good, but where is your heart in that? Is He alive in your heart? Or is God dead and you are your god? Is church where you go to renew your affection for Him? Or is it a tomb or monument you visit once a week? Is God dead to you? It's a valid question. No matter what you think of Mr Nietzsche.

Baseball, Coffee and God

    A certain Sunday school teacher stood before his class and placed a large, empty pickle jar on a table. He then dropped a baseball into the jar and asked,"Is this jar full?" With puzzled looks on their faces, they shook their heads.
   He then dropped in a bunch of golf balls. "Now is the jar full?" The young people began to chuckle and replied,"Yes...", not knowing where their teacher was heading with this. "Are you sure?" he asked. Some changed their answer and reasoned their choices.
   As they discussed, the teacher brought out a bag of corn and poured it in the jar. The kernels filtered down into the gaps between the golf balls and some reaching the baseball. "Now is the jar full?".
  They all agreed that now the jar was full and nothing more could go into the jar. With that, the teacher then brought out a cup of ground coffee and poured it into the jar. He then gave the jar a couple taps and the coffee settled down between the corn and golf balls leaving no room at the top of the jar. Patting the coffee down so that it was even with the top of the jar, he asked,"Now is it full?"
  "YES!" they exclaimed exasperated by this nonsense.
  "You see", he explained,"if this jar is your life, you have a full life. The ground coffee is the stuff that doesn't really matter. It's like Facebook. There's stuff there that grabs your attention and occupies your time, but, it really doesn't matter in the long-run.
   "The kernels," he continued,"are the the things that do matter. Your material needs. Clothes, money, job or school. Things you should care about but shouldn't obsess about.
   "The golf balls," ignoring the comments about obsessing over clothes,"are the important things in your life. Family, relationships, your health. These things require your attention. Although, most of the time, these are the things you take for granted. When was the last time you really noticed your parents? Took out your ear buds and asked them about their day?"
   "And the baseball?" someone asked.
   "The baseball is what we take for granted the most." Pointing to the baseball in the jar, the teacher continued, "Although the baseball is a huge part of our life, we give it the least amount of attention overall. The baseball represents our relationship with God. In Matthew 6:25-33, Jesus says,   
²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?... ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." 
   "By 'seeking' Him first, all the things in your life fall into place. I'm not saying it will all be butterflies and cupcakes, but, you can have order if you start your day with seeking God first. Pray, read your Bible. Sincerely seek God"
   With that, he pulled out another jar just like the first. He then poured a cup of ground coffee in the jar. Followed by a bag of corn and the same number of golf balls as . Not all the golf balls fit in the jar and 2 or 3 fell to the table.
  "What about God?" a young man asked.
   "Exactly Jesus' point! If you aren't putting God first in your life, where does He fit in?!"

How about you? Is your life full? Are you occupied by the things that don't matter? How do you start your day? With God or coffee?