Brennan Jacoby comments on Christianity's true purpose

Brennan Jacoby

In the Huffington Post this week, biopsychologist Nigel Barber argues that religion can no longer compete with feel-good products such as psychotherapy, anti-anxiety drugs, and entertainment. 'However hard religions struggle to be modern, relevant, and entertaining,' he writes, 'they seem destined to fall behind in the sense that attending church has become an exercise in self-imposed tedium.'

On Barber's view, religion's primary function is to help people feel better about their lives, and today there are simply other ways to receive comfort. For example, if we find a sports team, film genre, or video game to pour our energy into, we'll have less time to worry, and we may find a positive sense of belonging.

If Barber is correct, and the primary function of religion is to provide comfort, then his claims might cause the religious to be concerned about the legacy of their institutions. However, while many Christians do find comfort in owning up to their rebellion against God and still being loved, forgiven and part of a community, Christianity's primary function is, arguably, not to provide comfort. Jesus himself emphasised the persecution his followers would face (John 15:20), and even said that those who wanted to follow him must hate their own lives by comparison (Luke 14:26).

Further, while simply joining a religious community frequently does bring a level of wellbeing, Christianity will only provide substantive comfort to the extent that its claims about God and humanity are true. Christianity is only really comforting if humanity actually has wronged God, if God really does offer forgiveness, and if Jesus truly does provide a way for humans to flourish now and in the future. If that is not true, then any comfort Christianity affords will likely be as temporary as any other opiate. Those interested in lasting comfort should pursue truth.

As C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, 'If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth - only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair.' Though it may at times seemingly take us away from God, it is better to pursue the truth than to float along in a comfortable but unquestioned haze - whether it be seated in church, in the stadium, or at the cinema.

This article was first published by LICC and is used with permission.