What Good is a Shell?

A commercial once asked "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?" The cartoon owl would start to count the licks before peremptorily chomping through the remainder of the fruity exterior. Thus, the answer was "The world may never know."

But what would happen if one bought a Tootsie Pop, only to find a hollow center? That is what is happening to the younger generation of Christians. In a recent US News cover story, "A Return to Tradition," the return of many young Jews and Christians to ancient practices is highlighted.

"More substantial than a trend but less organized than a movement, it has to do more with how people practice their religion than with what they believe, though people caught up in this change often find that their beliefs are influenced, if not subtly altered, by the changes in their practice. Put simply, the development is a return to tradition and orthodoxy, to past practices, observances, and customary ways of worshipping. But it is not simply a return to the past--at least in all cases. Even while drawing on deep traditional resources, many participants are creating something new within the old forms." (p. 44)

In the earlier twentieth century, the modernist worldview took hold in the Christian Church, propagating the lie that doctrine is an expression of the Christian life and thus necessarily changes with each passing generation. That view absolutely undermined the Christian Church in the West. People saw Jesus as a moral example instead of a Savior from sin, and developed truth out of their experiences in following this "moral man." The diminishing body of orthodox believers across denominational lines vigorously argued against this theological atrocity, reminding the confused Church that the Christian life has always sprung out of doctrine; practice out of belief.

Thus, the "subtle alteration" of beliefs brought amongst young Christians by a return to traditional practices cannot be considered substantive. As Sean Michael Lucas noted in his introduction to his book "On Being Presbyterian," the lack of a fixed identity in the present, postmodern age leads to a continual shape-shifting of individuals who constantly alter beliefs and practices. The "subtle alteration" is just another example of a temporal fluctuation in belief.

So does this new trend exhibit a "return to tradition and orthodoxy?" To the former, yes; to the latter, no. Those disparate answers spell trouble for this next pseudo-movement. A return to true Christian tradition means a return to orthodoxy: a submission to God's supreme historical revelation in the Scriptures and an alignment with the historic creeds and confessions of the Church. That type of tradition has a core--it is a history of life springing from doctrine. That is not what is currently happening. Postmodernism rejects traditional orthodoxy and its claims over the human mind and heart because of modernist abuses of "truth" and "reason." After generations were wiped out in concentration camps and gulags in the name of "truth" and "reason," the generations that followed became weary and fearful of any such claims.

The present generation craves a generic tradition because it precedes the age of "might makes right" modernism. The symbolism and rituals of previous ages provide a rallying point for community without exploitation, as opposed to the machine of economic efficiency. Quoting Brian McLaren in the article: "Protestantism has been in a centrifugal pattern for so long, with each group spinning away from the others, but now there is some kind of pull back to the center." The fact that the words come McLaren should already be dissuasive, but his explanation is unsatisfactory as well. The centrifugal pattern has resulted from the Church treating Christianity as a means to an end, neglecting its Gospel truth in favor of political power and social influence. It sought to unite itself last century in order to wield the greatest influence, but lost its soul.

A new quest for unity around a false "center" of changing generational expression will simply result in a forthcoming Big Bang of diminishing hopes and bonds. A return to traditional symbolism is meaningless if not accompanied by the symbols' corresponding realities. The taste of grape or orange will be pleasant until the inevitable bite, when the promised tootsie roll is exposed as a hollow nothingness and a new era of despair sets in.