Death in the City - Chapter Two: The Loneliness of Man

The current generation has a hunger for meaning in life (this seems to apply as much today as is did in 1968). Unfortunately, the “dust of death” is everywhere. They hunger for meaning because they have forgotten their main purpose in life. To quote the Westminster Shorter Catechism, our chief purpose is “To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” Both parts of that succinct statement are needed. Since we’re made in His image, genuine fulfillment can only be in reference to God which brings about an “affirmation of life”. In Christianity the whole man needs fulfillment. This is unlike Platonism where the soul finds final fulfillment and the body is minimized.

Even though, like today’s generation, the Jews of Jeremiah’s day turned away from the true God, they at least turned to idols, recognizing that there was something out there. Only recent modern generations have turned away to God to a belief in a purely materialistic universe. But this means we’ve turned away from the only one who can comfort us and bring meaning, the infinite-personal God who is there.

What are the consequences of turning away from God? Not only the loss of individuals but the loss of our culture. Insofar as the culture was built on Reformation principles, turning away brings death to the city. Schaeffer quotes Lamentations 1:19. “I called to my lovers but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city while seeking food to revive their strength”. He extends the word “city” to include the concept of “polis”, the sociological group or culture.

But what sort of death will this be? It manifests itself most sharply in the form of loneliness. If we reject God, believing that there is no God, then there is no purpose for man’s existence. He is surrounded by thousands or millions of others in the city and yet he is lonely.
He concludes, “In Jeremiah’s day God worked into history upon the basis of His character, and He continues to do so….God judged [the Jews] as they had turned away from Him. He will do the same in our generation.”