Historical Anxiety and the WORD

 

Frederick Dale Bruner On Historical Anxiety And the WORD

 

 This morning, as I was pondering a passage in Matthew Chapter 13, I referred to Frederick Dale Bruner’s Commentary on Matthew, Volume II. The passage below is one I had previously marked, and as I read it this morning it encouraged me. I hope it will also encourage you in these difficult times. Bruner’s comments are on Matthew 13:22, the seed sown among thorns in what we typically term the Parable of the Sower.

 

I have lightly edited the passage, removing some references to Greek, a Latin word or two, and to other sections of the commentary.

 

“The third or thorny soil is the person who hears the word but then, literally, “the anxiety of the age” and “the humbug of wealth” choke the Word in this hearer and the result is unfruitfulness…

 

“The “anxiety” or “the special nervousness” of the age is the dis-ease that history brings with it; “history” maybe a more contemporary translation of the Greek than “age”. And it is “the [special] anxiety” singular - and not just “some anxieties” generally - of which our text speaks. This special anxiety that is life, this special nervousness that is the craving to master life, weighs upon us, leans upon us like a heavy wind…seeking to make us practical unbelievers…

 

“ “Historical anxiety” is a tricky foe, for there is a sense in which Christians are supposed to take the world's anxieties upon themselves (compare Matthew 25:31 – 46). Christians are supposed to enter history, bear it, and take on its cares and sorrows; believers should be like their Lord, “afflicted with the afflictions of my people.” And yet if the focus of disciples’ lives becomes the reigning historical anxiety, the power of the Word is choked. If we become so absorbed by history's special nervousness that the Word is no longer the Word of God to us, but is just one important word among many other important words, then these other words will invariably push this Word off center and so push us out of fruitfulness.

 

“The frequently heard council that Christian should live with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other can be sound advice, but it can also be seductive if it suggests that historical anxiety, the real business of newspapers, should share equal time with the Word of God. As if the news was on equal footing with the News with equal right to our time and attention! As if the News wouldn't itself engage us in the news; and do so profoundly. The Word of God is the Word of God, and so towers above every other word. The newspaper may and must be read, but not with the same gravity, ultimacy, and finality as the Holy Scripture is read, or else Christians will be tossed about by every new wind of opinion and there will be little stability in believers or fruit in the church.

 

“The humbug of wealth” or, as one can render it, “the successist delusion,” is history seen from its more alluring side. Anxiety (of the age) depresses us, down, and away from the Word; delusion (with wealth) impresses us, up and away from the Word. Historical anxiety is the world's fears; successist delusion, the world's promises. The world promises salvation through success, security through wealth, happiness through beautiful things. A certain desire to make a success of one's life is as inevitable, as human, and even as right as a certain immersion in historical anxiety. 

For these reasons historical anxiety and successist delusion are real temptations and are so much more dangerous than external persecution, which is a more obvious evil. Wealth seems so good, success so noble. (For wealth, see most ads and cover stories; for success see the sports and business pages. The church must be careful about what and whom it praises, for “what is exalted by men is an abomination before God,” Luke 16:15.) The Word must reign alone. Where two thrones are set up on each side of the Word, one for life's anxieties, the other for life's ambitions, the Word is reduced to a word.”

(Italics and brackets [ ] those of the author, Frederick Dale Bruner).