Existential

Existential

We have heard the word “existential,” or, “existential threat” quite a bit in the news lately with regard to the upcoming election. One side believes that the election of the opposing party’s candidate would pose an “existential threat,” but it is not clear what exactly is the risk, or even the meaning of the word.

True to form, this article is not designed to favor one candidate or the other. Our purpose is to think a bit theologically about what is and what is not actually existential.

Biblically, I would point to three events that are existential. The first is the creation of the world by God, including the heavens and the earth, the waters and dry land, the plants and animals, and yes, mankind. We owe our existence to this act, and therefore it is an existential act from our point of view. God had existence apart from creation, but we did not.

The second existential event is in the future, and we can call it “Judgment Day.” It is not that some part of mankind will go out of existence based on the verdict of that day (though some would like to believe that), but the categories that are attached to the verdict are two: condemnation, or justification; continuing into eternity under the curse, or enjoy the blessing of God’s favor forever. Though existence is not in question, one’s experience of that existence is determined at that time, and without any hope of future remedy. One’s experience of existence is one of the ways that the word “existential” is used.

In between Creation and Judgment there was another event that brings focus and fulfillment to the first two events: the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus, the eternal Son of God and intimately involved in creation will also be critical at the time of judgment as well, since each human’s response to Jesus will be determinative of his/her future relation with God. Have you bowed to Jesus’ authority and believed in His work and His words? Is He your Savior and Lord? It is an existential question.

When we as Christians frame the word “existential” in this way, in my opinion, it reduces arguments about other so-called existential threats as rather silly. If Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man in the world in his day, could be reduced by God to a madman who ate grass like a cow, those who would have claimed him to be an existential threat would have been thoroughly wrong. When Scripture says that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39), then the outcome of human exercises and human prognostications may be interesting and important, but so long as God is on the throne and we remember the wonders of Creation and Judgment and the Cross and the Empty Tomb, we can, as Scripture says, risk losing our lives for Jesus’ sake and the Gospel’s, and save our lives (Mk 8:35). If not, we may “gain the whole world, but forfeit one’s own soul” (Mark 8:36).

It seems that other than what God has revealed as existential, we have little knowledge of the gravity of other events. Red lines are drawn for a reason, but we don’t really know what would happen when those red lines are crossed. If the world’s temperature, however it is measured, climbs above a critical point, we don’t know for sure how critical it will be. We never know how good, or how bad the new coach of our favorite team will be; or how a judge or Supreme Court justice will render decisions, or even how a President will perform under pressure. We just do not know.

But the consequence of using a serious word, like “existential,” in silly ways only serves to devalue its proper use. In any case, God is still on the throne, and it is existentially the only throne that matters.