Despair in the Church

The great thing about the philosophy major is that I get to take classes called "Religion, Science, and the Quest for Meaning," in which we try to determine if religion and science are reconcilable, if they attempt to answer the same questions, and how this fits into discovering one's own sense of meaning. We are in the midst of reading Lewis and Freud, and because Lewis is a Christian, the faith often comes up.
It is interesting to discover how many people in my classes have a Christian background that they abandoned later in life. This past Tuesday, a couple of them mentioned how they felt burdened with sin while growing up in a Christian home. A cloud loomed over them, a demon of some sort was perpetually tripping them up. They continually found themselves in the midst of sin and they did not escape it until they left Christianity.
This is troubling for various reasons. One is that Lewis, the man we studied, had a joy-filled life. His companions had only good things to say about him once he came to call Christ savior. This burden that my friends described is foreign to me as well. Despite the darkness in the world, knowing my King brings incredible joy to the life, even in the troubling times.
The discussion held in my class shows the urgent need to evangelize to spread the joy and freedom found in Christ, not because we have an agenda or not just because "Bible says so," but because people are perishing underneath a heavy burden, and they are desperate for relief.