Buddy Christ

I somehow managed to make it all the way through public high school without ever being required to read Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. After discussing this shocking fact with my friend Josh Johnson, he gave me a copy of it for my birthday. I finally got around to reading it (after forcing myself to take a break from Tom Clancy) recently...

In so doing, I stumbled across what I thought was a rather poignant statement that reflects on our society as much as it does Bradbury's fictional one. (SPOILER ALERT) The statement takes place when Montag, the protagonist, has met with an elderly former professor whose vast knowledge and skills have no place in a world that deemphasizes personal knowledge and wisdom. Quality education has ground to a halt and free thinking is discouraged. Books, the keepers of information and thought, are targeted as the actual source of discord within mankind. The knowledge and wisdom of one individual creates a schism between him and his fellow man who lacks the same knowledge. This rift causes disharmony and thus the book, or more accurately the thoughts and words within it, is evil as it turns man against another. The solution? Systematically hunt down and burn all books, thus destroying the knowledge they contain.

Upon locating what very well may be the last remaining copy of the Bible, (which literally means "book," by the way) Montag brings it to professor Faber. The Bible is the best selling book of all-time and in my opinion is the most important book in history. But in Montag's world, it is forgotten... just another book to be burned. Some of the teachings and the concepts within it still remain but are distorted, dumbed down, and bent to the whim of the government. For instance, Jesus Christ, the focal point of the New Testament and the Messiah the Old Testament alludes to, is still a recognizable figure. Recognizable in that Christ appears on the TV to market certain commercial products. In Montag's world, Christ, the King of Kings, is relegated to selling deodorant.

Upon seeing the Bible and reading the Scriptures again for the first time in decades, professor Faber says: "I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we've dressed him up, or is it dressed him down?"

Is our society in America any less guilty of "dressing down" Christ? Guilty of putting Him in a box, bending Him to fit our picture of how we think He should be? Guilty of twisting His teachings to be more palatable? Guilty of neglecting those teachings that aren't convenient? Guilty of seeking wisdom apart from that which He offers? Guilty of removing Him from a place of prominence? Guilty of trivializing who He is and what He did? Guilty of dethroning Him from being the Son of God to just another salesman peddling another philosophy? We may not be burning Bibles, but how faithful has this "Christian nation" been to its groom? Have we exchanged the truth for a lie?

Would God recognize His Son the way He appears in society today? In our homes? In our schools? In our churches? I'm sure in a lot of places He would, but I'm equally sure there are others that He would not... All I can say is that I pray and strive to make sure that if God looks at my life, at my family, at my church, He'll see someone He recognizes... He'll see His Son.