The Last Man Alive

"How would you know if you were the last man on earth? he said.
I don’t guess you would know it. You’d just be it.
It wouldn’t make any difference. When you die it’s the same as if everybody else did too.
I guess God would know it. Is that it?" (McCarthy 169-170)


I pose a question:

What if I was the last man alive?

I struggle to answer:

I don’t know what my faith would look like if I were the last man alive. So much of Christianity is based on community and relationship. There are individual aspects of Christianity, but there are also communal aspects of Christianity. Is a Christian life complete when only the individual disciplines are exercised? How do I live like Jesus when there is no one to express Christlike character towards? The mission of the Church is to make disciples of all people. How could I make disciples without people to disciple? The Church is made up of many members. I would be the only member left. Is that Church? Scripture tells us that where two or more are gathered God is in the midst of them. Would He still be there the same if He had only to be in the midst of one? The great commandment of the Church is to love God and love people. But there are no people. Is it possible to love God without any people to love? How can I exercise my faith? How can I feed Jesus when He’s hungry, clothe Him when He’s naked, and visit Him in prison without other people alive?

The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Maybe I can do this alone. Maybe I don’t need people around me with whom I can exercise my faith, but I don’t know. Maybe I do. There would be struggle involved. How would I relate to God in a world that is all dead except me and Him, and He not even physically manifested or fully revealed to me yet until I die too?

These questions find no rest.




McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Vintage International, 2006. Print.