Recently a friend pointed me back to an article written a number of years ago about The Beatles and spiritual hunger. In their meteoric rise from obscurity to fame, The Beatles quickly discovered that fame and fortune were not everything it was cracked up to be. "At a later time in Lennon's life he addictively found himself watching popular television preachers in search of answers. It was reported that Lennon sent a fascinating letter to the Rev. Oral Roberts in 1972, regretting having said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus and confessing that he took drugs because he feared reality. Additionally, he quoted the famous lyrics 'money can't buy me love' and sent a donation."
"It's true. The point is this, I want happiness," read the letter to Roberts. "I don't want to keep on with drugs.... Explain to me what Christianity can do for me. Is it phony? Can He love me? I want out of hell."
In the midst of a thoughtful and lengthy response, Roberts wrote, "What I want to say ... is that Jesus, the true reality, is not hard to face. He said, 'Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ... For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'"
Despite the letters exchanged between the rock star and the TV preacher, Lennon's restless journey eventually led him to embrace philosophies and beliefs that were all over the map.
"You could rattle human authority by growing your hair long, but you couldn't conquer your inner demons in the same way," observed [author Steve] Turner [in his book, The Gospel According to the Beatles]. "To 'change your head,' as John referred to it in [the song] 'Revolution,' required something much more radical" (Steve Beard, "Summer of Love," Good News, May/June 2017, p. 9).
I am convinced and convicted that we live in a time and culture seeking something greater, something more, than what we have. Society-wide, we have a desperate search for meaning and truth which often exists just below the thin soil of American hedonism. Hurricanes like Harvey and Irma force people to confront this truth. They challenge us by making us face what matters most.
There is a deep spiritual hunger among us. We all need wisdom and guidance. Faithful and fruitful churches understand this truth. It is a cry we hear behind the words spoken by someone who says "I don't go to church, but I'm very spiritual." It ricochets around this county. It reverberates in conversations held across social networks. It is part of the background noise of our searching society.
Great churches live out of this focused center. They understand that people are not seeking an institution but a relationship with God in Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. The focused center we are called to live out of is the same one that captivated the struggling conflicted early Christian church. Thus, the Apostle Paul wrote the small struggling house church in metropolitan Corinth his second letter of instructions. "Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own" (II Corinthians 5:14-15, The Message).
Bishop Will Willimon writes: "There may be religions that begin with long walks in the woods, communing with nature, getting close to trees. There may be religions that begin by delving into the recesses of a person's ego, rummaging around in the psyche. Christianity is not one of them" (William Willimon, Peculiar Speech, p. 19). It is about an encounter with Jesus, the God/Man. It is the divine answer to the hunger within, around and among us. This focused center brings us to faith - faith as trusting obedience that encounters Christ in our everyday lives through our following Him. It is no more nor less than the way of the cross. This is the true path of salvation. Jesus says, "Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor" (John 12:26).