This weekend, my sermon revolved around the glimpse of heaven offered to us in Revelation chapter 7. In my preparation and research for the sermon, I stumbled upon the following words attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th century atheistic philosopher: “In heaven all the interesting people are missing.”
I didn’t utilize the quote in my sermon, but I have been haunted by it since I first read it. Why would an atheistic philosopher (who most likely found the idea of heaven to be ridiculous) suggest that the heaven’s population is devoid of interesting people? Why would he come to the conclusion that believers in Christ (who, for Nietzsche, most likely represented the heavenly population) are something less than interesting?
Part of me wants to get defensive. “How dare you, Nietzsche! How dare you suggest that we believers are uninteresting! I’m not going to listen to your highfalutin criticism and your philosophical blasphemy! You obviously have a bias against Christianity. Therefore, I will not dignify your quote by giving it any attention whatsoever.”
But here’s the thing: What if Nietzsche had a point?
What if we Christ-followers have allowed ourselves to become so predictable, so formulaic, so dismissive, so mundane–so NORMAL–that we have lost our capacity to be truly interesting?
Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. I am not suggesting for a minute that it is our responsibility as Christ-followers to entertain the masses or to capitulate to all of the proclivities of a sin-sick world. We are after all (according to Willimon and Hauerwas) “resident aliens” who live life by the alternative narrative found in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. A world that does not know Christ as Lord will never fully be able to comprehend our peculiar way of doing life. Therefore, we must tread carefully upon this issue of endeavoring to be “interesting” to the world.
But isn’t there a right way for us to be interesting? Isn’t that part of what Jesus had in mind when he told us to be the salt of the earth? Wasn’t he suggesting that we make the world a more flavorful place, simply by virtue of our presence, our passion, our love, and our unwavering devotion to an always-compelling kingdom?
Allow me to get to the heart of the matter. I want Christ-followers to be some of the most interesting people around. I want us to be well-read and well-versed, not only biblically, but culturally as well. I want us to be good conversationalists who are as comfortable talking about current events as we are talking about the liturgical calendar and worship wars. I want us to be attentive to the stories that our culture is telling in its literature and media, so that we are fluent in the language and imagery with which our culture communicates. I want us to be compassionate scholars of Scripture whose knowledge of the biblical story equips us to discern the creative ways in which the eternal is still intersecting with the everyday. I want us to be the kind of people whose personalities are engaging, whose eagerness to hear the stories of others is authentic, and whose devotion to Christ is so wonderfully secure that defensiveness, dismissiveness, and combativeness are completely unnecessary.
I want us to be interesting, in other words, in all the right ways. I fear that, too often, we are not.
No, that’s a cop out. Let me make it more personal. I fear that, too often, yours truly is not.
Given my journeys into spiritual snobbery, my reliance upon predictable patterns and relationships, my fondness for self-righteousness, and my penchant for dismissiveness, I am often more insular than I am interesting. Anyone else have that problem?
Billy Joel gave fresh expression to Nietzsche’s viewpoint when he sang the following words in his song, ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG: “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun.”
I am simply suggesting that we hear in Nietzsche and Joel a reminder that we live in a world that desperately needs for us to be interesting in all the right ways. Our evangelism, in fact, may just depend upon our willingness to incarnate the truth that Jesus is, among other things, incredibly interesting.
I agree. A quote from Dan Kimball’s “The Emerging Church” which I keep close at hand is:
“Jesus and his teachings will not seem as strange or repellant to non-Christians as will the Christian subculture we have created.” (p. 82)
Too often, with the Christian subculture (esp. the evangelical subculture), it’s as if we’re speaking a foreign language. While our narrative is certainly different from that of the culture (I’m a big Hauerwas/Willimon guy, too), we ought to at least be culturally literate.
As I sit here contemplating a response, I, too, think, “How dare you, Nietzsche! My Christian friends are far more interestng than the people I know who choose to bask in this sin-filled world.” But, when I get to heart of that thinking, it’s because I believe in the same life principals as they do. Once upon a time, I lived in the sin-filled world, and was sin-laden. Today, I am still living in that same world and still full of sin, but my perspective is different because I know His grace and mercy. When I was living that life, I didn’t see Christ followers as that interesting, and that’s where Nietzsche gets his notion that heaven will be filled with non-interesting people. He had blinders on. Imagine a world that the blinders are taken off and everyone knew His grace and mercy. I don’t know exactly what my point is. We as Christians need to find a way to be “interesting” to the rest of the world; to show them the truth in an “interesting” way. Someone take this thought and run with it… please!
I am curious about one aspect of this quote…at what point in his life did he pen these words? My thought is that being “interesting” holds different meanings at various points in one’s life. Some young people tend to equate being interesting to behavior and actions that are extreme or against the grain. But as life is experienced, the interpretation of what makes someone interesting can be altered.
I’m afraid that I can’t answer your question, Allene–at least with any degree of precision.
I am uncertain of at what point in Nietzsche’s life he spoke those words.
I guess that I am more interested in the quote itself (and the various interpretations of the word “interesting”) than I am in how it fits into Nietzsche’s philosophical development.
That said, I agree with your point entirely. What I find interesting today is very different than what I found interesting fifteen or twenty years ago. And thirty years ago? Well, suffice it to say that, thirty years ago, all that interested me was keeping my cheap toy light saber inflated!
And Char….I’m intrigued by your vocabulary. “Sin-laden?”
As in Osama Sin-Laden?!
You’re like a subliminal advertiser!
Eric…great post! I’d like to draw a distinction between being interesting and being relational. A lot of effort seems to go into Christians doing cultural critique. I think we need to do what Jesus did…live with people. Jesus is interesting not just because of who he is, but because of how he shared himself with others. He lived, ate and slept with his disciples. He encouraged, admonished and taught them at a deeply personal level.
This is what Christian evangelism is lacking today. We know the theological language, and we got our cultural accent down, but do we spend time building relationships with others.
Nothing is more interesting than a person who cares. When someone feels loved, accepted and cared for, a whole new dynamic is in play. They will want to be around us. They will be interested.
Unfortunately, this cannot be done through mass appeal. We can only be interesting by caring for one person at a time. The people I find interesting are the ones that that reach out and share themselves with me. Jesus did it. I want to be that way too! I’m just not there yet!
Wow! The most interesting people I know are Christians. I really don’t spend too much time with non-Christians-talk about being a snob. I find that most everyone has a great story and lfe to tell about. All it takes is time to listen and an ear to hear. What a shame Nietzsche didn’t take the time. Maybe he is the snob!
Thanks, Debbie.
There certainly is such a thing as atheistic snobbery.
I appreciate your input.
It is so easy to suuround ourselves with those who are like minded, but I rather find it more ful-filling to take on the challenge of being different in a crowd of like minded folk. You are right when you suggest we know the culture. If someone had not taken the time to undertand the hold of the culture I lived in before I knew Christ, I may still be walking about lost.
Thanks Eric for your wisdom regarding a subject so sensitive to many. I have used this post as a springboard into a few conversations this past week, and I read a paragraph from it in my small group. Thank you for that.