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The Demands of Letting Go

In First Things Magazine's most recent issue, R.R. Reno makes an interesting point concerning apologetics and the reason that some people won't respond.

"When I conjure in my mind the objections that people I know maketo Christianity, I am reminded of my friend on the couch, enervated by life's manifold demands. Most of these people are not confident rationalists dismissing the supernatural or wanton hedonists rejecting moral constraint; they are not dogmatic about the universe being purely material, and most want to live according to some moral code. Their real objections have to do with stretching, and the fear of breaking. Faced with the Sermon on the Mount they collapse on the couch, as it were, and protest that the degree of demand is just too much. Christianity promises new life in Christ, and our reaction is to shrink from the prospect. We think of our present lives, and we cannot imagine enduring the long commute. We hear St. Paul's appeal-'present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God'- and we worry that we lack the inner resources to stretch so far. We fear breaking across the difference."

R.R. Reno, "Fear of Redemption", _First Things Magazine_, June/July Issue, pg. 29.


Isn't it interesting that a faith that teaches "let go, let God" can be seen as too demanding?

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