S is for Snowboarding

A year ago my son got a video game of snowboard racing. This is called "virtual" snowboard racing. That is, he is not really snowboarding, but the moves are all so realistic, that he is virtually snowboarding. He controls animated characters that race on brightly colored boards and perform amazing tricks. At least, they "virtually" do these things. What is actually (as opposed to virtually) going on is, my son pushes buttons and a lot of calculations inside the computer turn my son's input into changes of the image on the screen. It is all so cleverly done, that it is "virtually" snowboarding.

My son has also tried actual snowboarding, the kind with snow, cold, awkward boots, actual gravity and actual falls on his face into the snow. It takes him much longer to get up from falls than it takes the computer characters. With his video game he doesn't get cold. And on the video game he became a kind of expert within a few days. On the actual snowboard he is very much still learning.

Somewhere in this I asked him one of those absurdly unanswerable dad questions: whether he thought there could be such a thing as "virtual Christianity." He of course rolled his eyes and went back to his 20-button control pad, and you, Dear Reader, may be doing the same thing. But I think there is a "virtual Christianity," and something we should be careful to avoid, since it is not harmless.

For example, virtual prayer. It has all the look and sound of actual prayer: words about God, maybe kneeling. Could be the Lord's Prayer, even. But virtual prayer isn't actually happening, the praying person is not actually talking to God, as one would talk to another person, but is just throwing words up in the air, with her mind on something else.

How about virtual Communion? In this a person eats the host, swallows the wine, but doesn't think about them being the body and blood of Jesus Christ (which they are, by the way, whether the eater believes so or not). Whereas in actual communion, the eater is aware of the body and blood, thinks about all the forgiveness, welcome and promise that is there, is aware of the other communicants and how we who eat and drink are united with each other by this action into the body of Christ.

Is the absolution virtual or actual? When the pastor says "I declare your sins forgiven in the Triune name," is that actual absolution, are my sins at that moment done away with, a cause for rejoicing? Or is it a virtual absolution, it only looks real, but nothing is really happening, and so there is nothing to get excited about?

How about virtual mission? We say we want to share Christ, we have a whole committee devoted to it, we preach it. But does actual mission happen? Do we tell outsiders about Jesus Christ?

A last example: virtual singing. It looks just like the real thing: hymnal open, mouth open, music emerging. In actual singing the heart and mind harmonize with the voice, rejoicing in Christ or confessing unworthiness or praying help or praising as the case may be. In virtual singing, the mind is just thinking about the idea of rejoicing in Christ, rather than actually doing it.

You get my point (probably a long time ago). So I will not describe virtual obedience for you. You probably are familiar with it: if not, just keep a close eye on me.

What shall help us against this danger? Of course our help is the one and only, most powerful thing that we always look to for help: the Gospel (Paul calls it "the power of God to salvation for all who believe"). For the Gospel of Christ ("He was put to death for our sins and raised for our justification") is not virtual but actual Good News of great joy. The Gospel is not a nice idea, it happened. The eternal Son actually did take on humanity. He through Whom everything that is was made, and even for Whom it was all made, walked Galilee among people like us, healing, rescuing, feeding and teaching. Then He really, reallylet His enemies lay hands on Him, beat, whip, spit upon Him and make fun of Him. He actually let them pound nails through His hands and feet and hang Him on the accursed tree to die. And just as actually, just as really, this dead One rose! The grave, for the first time ever, lost one. It could not hold Him, but He appeared and ate and drank with those who had followed Him before.

Focusing on this very real Gospel will help us all to be real, not virtual, Christian disciples. Actual prayer, Communion, worship, love and obedience are much more difficult, costly and painful than their virtual counterfeits, just like snowboarding. But the virtual counterfeits produce nothing at all. And since the outcome of these actual works is connection with the Lord of Life--well, what do you want to do?

tbcm