The Quick and the Dead

“ Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. ”

Out in the teeming streets of downtown Chico walk a thousand people a day, even in this sweltering heat. They wear bright pastel shorts, sandals, tee shirts and little else. They pop in and out of stores, hang out in coffeehouses, talk on their cellphones, then jump in their cars and drive away, radios and air conditioners blasting. But are they alive?

People take up bungee jumping, skydiving, rock climbing, motorcycling, and snowboarding, just to feel alive. Our world has so over-convenienced us, pampered us, computerized us, given us everything so easy that we aren't sure we're alive until we stare death in the face a couple of times, just for a thrill. Living dangerously has for some time been the mark of those who challenge the peace and order of civilization. For some, their thrill is found in drugs, having an affair, pornography or drinking themselves into a coma. The pain, trouble, fear and disruption these things cause them is their welcome sign they are still alive. And yet are they?

That odd phrase we say in the Creed causes newcomers to ask me its meaning. “What does it mean, ‘ the quick and the dead' in describing Jesus Christ, who shall come again ‘to judge the quick and the dead'?” King James English contains such wonderful translations of the old dualities of language and philosophy used to indicate everything. When God made the heavens and the earth , it was supposed to include the earth and everything that is out beyond the earth; in other words, all that exists . When the earth was without form and void Gen 1:2 , that meant it had no shape or design yet, nor did it have any substance that would fill it up; in other words, it wasn't there at all. And as God created all things, they include things visible and invisible , meaning physical matter as well as energy, spirit, and space itself—the things we can't see, but we know are there.

‘ The quick and the dead' means those alive and those who have died; in other words, every human being who has ever existed or ever will exist . Jesus Christ will be the judge of all. He will take all of humanity, raise them up in new bodies that never age or die, and stand them before Himself for the Judgment. Quick and dead is meant to exclude nobody. You don't have some other option. He is your Judge. This phrase wasn't newly coined for the Nicene Creed as so many other words and phrases were in order to explain the Biblical truths in concise and understandable language. It's not like “very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father.” The phrase “the quick and the dead” is from the Bible.

St. Peter uses it twice. Peter preached to a Roman centurion and his Gentile household, converting them on the spot. In his talk, Peter explains how God accepts all people, Jews and Gentiles, for the word Christ taught was heard outside as well as inside Judea. “And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; … And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” Acts 10:39-43 Peter also uses the phrase in his first Epistle. He explains that suffering has a good feature, being a sign of having given up the sinful life of former friends who are still lost in the party mentality. “Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” 1 Peter 4:4-6

St. Paul writes Timothy about a great apostasy coming in the Church, and exhorts him to face it bravely. “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. … I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” 2 Tim. 4:1-8

Now, Peter and Paul would not be people you would associate with if you were watching your image, keeping up appearances, being socially acceptable and in the smart set. These guys were living dangerously. They lived so dangerously that they both were executed for the same crime in the same great city: the crime of being Christians. I have asked this before: If Christianity were still a capital crime today, would there be enough evidence for them to send you to the gallows? The test of our Christian life is not whether we mind our p's and q's, wear Christian hairdos, associate with nice people, and use Christianese lingo when we speak to others. It's not whether we drink alcoholic beverages or not. Nobody was ever executed for being a teetotaler. Peter and Paul weren't sent to die by Emperor Nero for having a fish on their tailgates. These men lived dangerously, and stared danger in the face, unblinking.

The danger they faced was a compliant society that held to gods they did not truly believe in, to the so-called divinity of an insane emperor, to a system of laws and government and social order that left no room for a Galilean Savior. They faced sober, rational men whose lives were settled and peaceful with a message of coming judgment for all men, a judgment that can only be survived by coming to terms with our mutual sinfulness and disgrace and giving our lives and hearts to a man called Jesus. It sounded like madness to the men living in the very heart of civilization. It sounds like madness again to most people in our age, though they've heard the words before. Being a Christian in any age, a true and committed servant of the living God, has always been a dangerous business. It might lose you friends. It might lose you money. It might lose you your position in society, work, political ambition, romantic interest. It might lose you your life. How much more fulfilling, more meaningful, more significant, more important is that than bungee jumping or riding a bull named Fu Man Chu?

Another thrill seeker, St. James, challenged the church to live the faith outwardly, visibly, doing more than just giving the Christian life lip service. “What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? … faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. … You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? … For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” James 2:14-26 What he was driving at was a Christianity with grit, with the courage to living a life of evident grace, where faith is more than a bumpersticker and a holier than thou attitude. Faith means I'm willing to die for the Man on the Cross. Are you willing to die for whatever it is you believe, huh pagan?

John Eldredge has written several of my favorite recent books about setting our hearts free and alive to experience love, life, and real Christian zeal. Without our hearts alive, we merely mentally accept the truths of Christianity without making them our own at the core. We don't live from our hearts because we are afraid of our hearts, he says. Yet, without our hearts, we can't truly be brave, can't truly obey in love, can't truly serve a God who calls for our hearts, not just our minds, to belong to Him. Hearts are tricky things, it's true, but out of the wells of our hearts we express who we really are. Our minds can tell a lot of stories, stories we'd like to believe, stories we want others to think are true about us. But without our hearts, we can't tell the truth, we can't do the works of faith, we can't begin to know the depths of the love of God for us, or appreciate what His Son did for us in coming, living and dying. It's just platitudes. It's just show. And it's so modern.

The modern world has killed the passionate hero. We've gotten so skilled at dialing a cellphone while driving, booting a computer while sipping coffee, renting a DVD thriller, and killing our souls in the process. People frequently ask me to put wifi in Augie's—for you non-techies, that means wireless access to the internet and email service for people with laptop computers. It would be convenient for them to come and do their homework and other business while sitting at our tables and drinking our mochas. I'm torn by this request. I want them here, doing homework, sure. But I want them here, looking up from their laptops, engaging in conversation with another live human being far more. I want them here, not plugged in to the heartless beast of our information superhighway, but daring to rub shoulders with a few dangerous Christians who may be lurking about a Christian coffeehouse. I want to challenge the culture. I want to create culture, not accommodate only what is already there. What is already there isn't working. Faith without works, death, heartless existence. So, for now, no wifi .

If we as heart-felt, dangerous Christians, walk in newness of life, it ought to have an effect on those around us. When I die, whether by firing squad for being too much of a Christian, or simply in old age, I'd like to think some people will know I've been here. Then I'll know that I've truly lived.

PFH+