Monday, October 3, 2016

The Christ Virus

Legend holds that some 2000 years ago, a man named Jesus of Nazareth, imbued with the power of Christ, was executed for threatening the livelihood of the moneychangers of the time, among other reasons. Many wondrous deeds are attributed to the man: walking on water, feeding a multitude, transforming water to wine, healing the sick, casting out evil spirits, even raising the dead and return from death himself.

This man's legacy continues to this day, and many anticipate his return to remake human culture into paradise. While this would be a boon to all mankind, it has the negative effect of promoting passivity to the current state of mankind. "Why spend a life in service to fellow man when Jesus the Christ will return to do this?"

It's my belief that when Jesus died on the cross at Golgotha, the power of Christ that lived in him shattered into infinitely many pieces, almost virus-like. Like a virus, these tiny pieces of Christ have dispersed throughout humanity from then to present day. Unlike a Biblical plague, these "viruses" have quite a different effect. Through his execution and death, Jesus infected humanity with Christ, and innumerable humans all over the world now have some fraction of the power of Christ. Christ can't return to re-make human culture and society because it never left us -- it is within us. Consequently, it is incumbent upon us to carry on the legacy left by Jesus the man, rather than waiting indefinitely for Jesus' return.

I see evidence of this all across the globe. Individual humans with some unique gift have chosen not to use their gift only for their own aggrandizement, but to benefit society at large. One of my favorite examples is that of the creator of LINUX, Linus Torvalds, who incited a movement to bring computing to everyman. Today,we know this movement as FOSS: free and open-source software, and it has leveled the playing field for developing nations by releasing them from the onerous costs of packaged software.

We cannot afford the indulgence of passivity. Find your gift; claim it and make it your own. Develop it, then return it to humanity. In this way, we can remake humanity...through you.