Who are we but the stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, and believe?
- Scott Turow
We all want to be happy. Those who aren’t want to believe they soon will be. Those who are want to believe it will always last. To this end, the whole of mankind pursues a kind of waking dream. When circumstances are favorable, it’s easy to relax and enjoy life. When conditions are challenging, happiness is more difficult to imagine.
For this and other reasons, we each develop an inner monologue. A running account of not only our present, but past and anticipated future. Drawing from experience, we craft an image of ourselves. A tale of our relationships and place in the world.
Psychologists, and philosophers, cosmologists and even theoretical physicists have posited we are all part of and/or telling ourselves a story. With thousands of thoughts to sort through daily, this is hardly surprising. We need a way of organizing and dealing with our perceptions and emotions, attitudes and actions. As well as those of others. We also need to make sense of the precarious and fleeting nature of our mortal existence. Billions seek solace in religion. The wisest of these turn to the God of the Bible, thus raising two important questions:
1. With so many competing narratives vying for our attention, is there evidence the Bible’s authoritative?
2. How similar is our story to that of Scripture?
We’re born knowing bupkis. In time, via our senses and situation, once clean slates begin to fill with information demanding interpretation. As more stimuli is stored, by necessity its assimilation and consideration produces an individual’s sense of self or plot. Over time, interaction with the cares of life and the storylines of others augment and amend our own.
This has never been more true than today. Life within developed nations is not only overflowing with input, but trillions of dollars are spent to manipulate mankind as a marketable audience. Sadly, many of modern media’s most lucrative works are heavily laced with immorality and worse. Synergized by the 1960’s sexual revolution, such a strategy has revised the internal and external dramas of billions. In a single generation all but dissolving traditional bonds of family and friends. Too often in favor of the original sin of entitlement and Me-ism.
While the Bible is by far the all time best seller, an ever growing segment of the population has lost interest. Even among the rank and file of modern Christianity, a shrinking percentage can recall, much less accurately interpret, large portions of Scripture. Such Biblical illiteracy, combined with a plague of prayerlessness, creates a vacuum both being filled and enlarged with the concerns and diversions, temptations and deceptions of modern Life.
While this trend is understandable, the net effect has been a secularization of Christianity into Churchianity. This, in turn, has created a many headed hydra of religious belief, with various forms of the gospel and many Christs all claiming to have the true story. In the fading light, opportunistic darkness has left humanity groping and guessing. Synergistic, shadowy sins multiply, staining the plots of our personal and collective chronicles. Even as “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” so billions have developed a sweet tooth for high carb drama. All but loosing the taste for the solid meat of truth.
The situation is further complicated given that God’s narrative is at odds with worldly wisdom:
- “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 New International Version
- “But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 Amplified Bible
- “You [are like] unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love? But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).” James 4:4-6 Amplified Bible
- “Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:1-12 New International Version
- “Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?” Matthew 16:24-26 The Message
- “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in).” Matthew 6:24 Amplified Bible
- “The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”
- “Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash…” Ezekiel 13:10 New International Version
- “Everyone’s after the dishonest dollar, little people and big people alike. Prophets and priests and everyone in between twist words and doctor truth. My people are broken—shattered!—and they put on Band-Aids, Saying, ‘It’s not so bad. You’ll be just fine.’ But things are not ‘just fine’! Do you suppose they are embarrassed over this outrage? No, they have no shame. They don’t even know how to blush. There’s no hope for them. They’ve hit bottom and there’s no getting up. As far as I’m concerned, they’re finished. God has spoken.” Jeremiah 6:13-15 The Message
Naturally the question arises as to why the Kingdom of God should be so demanding. There are two major reasons. The first has to do with the mess mankind has and is making of earthly life. Rather than loving and serving our family and friends, neighbors and even enemies, we frequently choose to “bite and devour one another.” In a million ways large and small. As Jesus reveals in the story of the Good Samaritan, dark acts of theft and violence, as well as lighter toned habits of apathy and indifference, are anathema to being “children of God.” A God whom “alone is immortal and dwells is unapproachable light.”
It’s been metaphorically imagined that being played out in Heaven and Hell are two similar, yet radically different scenarios. In Hell there’s a thirty foot wide steaming hot banquet table filled with every imaginable delicacy. Stretching farther than the eye can see. In Heaven the same. Both are ladened with fifteen foot serving spoons, long enough to reach the middle of the immense table were unbelievably sumptuous food is lavishly placed. Billions in Hell wrestle, jostling their way to the edge of the piping hot table only to burn with frustration at their inability to use such maddeningly long spoons. Sobbing and screaming with hunger, they quickly find themselves thrust up and away by those next in line. Crying and cursing, they are unceremoniously crowd surfed back beyond the horizon.
In Heaven, one finds nearly the same scene, with a single glaring exception. There’s a incredibly immense party rather than riot. The difference? They’re feeding each other. Here’s were the spiritual disconnect kicks in. Most modern believers hearing this example smile and nod approvingly. Yet hundreds of millions routinely fail the test of Biblical Christian charity. Even within their own families. How much less our neighbors for whom we are called to be salt and light?
Millions of acts of subtle to obvious forms of neglect and apathy, anger and abuse, are daily perpetrated within Christian homes. The vast majority of which set aside little or no time to daily intercede appropriately for their own spouses and children. Not to mention extended family and friends. And such neglected diligence is only the initial hallmark of genuine spiritual care. Still, most of Churchianity consider themselves among those “feeding each other.”
The second reason God makes such demands on humanity is imbedded in a qualitative difference in values. The contrast arises primarily from vastly differing points of view. From the height of eternity, glory stretches outward forever, marking any attitude or action jeopardizing Omnity’s invitation to eternally experience the joys of Heaven foolhardy indeed. Our transient and situational, myopic and mortal self image knows none of this. The rigors and opportunities of life seem to demand our primary focus be on ourselves and our own happiness. The Maker of Heaven and Earth demands we see with better eyes.
Fewer today than ever bother with the Bible’s more challenging principles and directives. Fewer still believe Earth to be a besieged planet where the history of Lucifer’s heavenly rebellion continually shapes our own. Nevertheless, Scripture assures there are two major competing narratives. God’s glory consists of truth, goodness and beauty. So too, Satan has long offered mankind a trinity of his own:
- “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Genesis 3:1-7 New International Version - Emphasis QC’s
- “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17 New International Version - Emphasis QC’s
The following graphic makes clear the basis for why these two narratives are diametrically opposed. Engrossed in the hustle and bustle of modern life, the differences range from obvious to subtle. Scripture reveals that making discernment further complicated is the fact that each “trinity” comes with its own brand of wisdom.
The attractive yet false hope offered by the trinity of sin has proved devastating to humanity. Within modern Christianity, it’s worldly wisdom is responsible for the delayed growth and mutation of countless perspectives and relationships. Truly a thorn in the flesh for all, up to and including those who truly desire to follow Christ, but find their efforts stymied by various forms of spiritual impasse. The apostle Paul detailed the dilemma this way:
- “What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?” Romans 7:15-24 The Message
- “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:12-17 New International Version
- “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 New King James Version - Emphasis QC’s
With such a model, the question of who or what is listening to our thoughts and interpreting our feelings gets interesting. All the more so when God and Satan, other angels and demons, are thrown into the mix. Often our inward narrator may be our soul conversing within itself and/or interfacing with the body. Frequently the voice of our fallen nature (lust of the eyes, flesh and ego) chimes in. According to Scripture, for better and worse, the microphone may be passed to spiritual beings. All the while the core of our essence and existence, our own spirit, may look on in silence. Sometimes strengthened, sometimes weakened, by the stories we tell and are being told.
Here is where the battle for editorial authorship rages. Various voices, continually vying for dominance, often assert themselves as ourselves. This produces a cacophony of good and evil thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears. For better and worse, these in turn lead to attitudes and actions resulting in often negative habits and lifestyles. Chronicling first our earthly, and eventually eternal, lives. With such vital conversations taking place within and without, little wonder Scripture cautions:
- “Time passed. Cain brought an offering to God from the produce of his farm. Abel also brought an offering, but from the firstborn animals of his herd, choice cuts of meat. God liked Abel and his offering, but Cain and his offering didn’t get his approval. Cain lost his temper and went into a sulk. God spoke to Cain: “Why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you, you’ve got to master it.” Genesis 4:3-7 The Message
- “Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts. Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust.” Proverbs 4:23-27 The Message
- “He then called the crowd together and said, “Listen, and take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up… Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.” Matthew 15:10-11,17-10 The Message
- “The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 The Message
- “You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.” Philippians 3:5-6 The Message
- “All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master’s disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem. He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?” He said, “Who are you, Master? “I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do next.”” Acts 9:1-6 The Message
Nature abhors a vacuum. So too the super-natural. As quantum physical/spiritual beings, we yearn to understand and be understood. Searching for relevance, our souls crave company. Both of the seen and unseen variety. We’re attracted by and attractive to kindred spirits telling homogenous stories augmenting our own sense of individual and collective reality. Migrating and/or herded into increasingly larger groups, distinction and personality can be suppressed and/or obfuscated. Even through the auspices of coalitions with diametrically different presentations.
In 1985, Neil Postman juxtaposed two very different dramatizations, George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, to highlight just such a scenario:
- “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture…”
- “…today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups… Very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know… It is my job to create universes… And I have to build them in such a way that they do not fall apart two days later… The matter of defining what is real—that is a serious topic, even a vital topic. And in there somewhere is the other topic, the definition of the authentic human. Because the bombardment of pseudo-realities begins to produce inauthentic humans very quickly—as fake as the data pressing at them from all sides. Fake realities will create fake humans. Or, fake humans will generate fake realities and then sell them to other humans, turning them, eventually, into forgeries of themselves… It is just a very large version of Disneyland.”
- “Reality is kind of a fiction, in a way. That isn’t to say that facts aren’t real. That experiences aren’t real. That outcomes aren’t real… The reality that we live in day to day is an amalgamation of what we see and what we don’t see. And the seen and the unseen create the world that we dwell in. Because the world itself is too complicated and too vast for us experience. We have to apply filters in order to function… And it’s those filters and how we form them, that creates the reality we dwell in.”
- “…it puts a responsibility on each of us to insure that we don’t fall pray to the seductions of, the word is homophily, you know, how we love our own. Birds of a feather flock together. And it’s so easy. And it creates a seamless bubble. We’re wired to create bubbles.”
Simply put, we are all telling ourselves a story. While insulated in a bubble. A bubble in which we are not alone.
Seemingly fantastic, the Bible reveals the company we keep can be of both the seen and unsee variety. Like dark matter and energy, it may be argued that while not observable, the existence of spiritual malevolence is nevertheless quantifiable. Such physical evidence supports the viability of Scripture’s metaphysical assertion. As may the following variety of interesting quotes regarding the spiritual:
- We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talent. - Mark Twain
- It is so stupid of modern civilization to have given up believing in the devil when he is the only explanation of it. - Ronald Knox.
- But Satan now is wiser than of yore, and tempts by making rich, not poor. - Alexander Pope
- If a man is not rising upwards to be an angel, depend upon it, he is sinking downwards to be a devil. - Samual Taylor Coleridge
- Deep within our secret soul do demons dwell and take their toll. - Shakespeare’s King Henry V
- God created man in his own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor. - Henri Rousseau
- Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding. - Francois de La Rochefoucauld
- We dance round in a ring and suppose, While the Secret sits in the middle and knows. - Robert Frost
Either as a human flaw or spiritual personification, the subjective theological construct and objective sociological fact of evil, in all it’s stages and forms, is serous business. On the one hand, there’s truth aplenty in the bumpersticker, Lead me not into temptation, I can find it myself. On the other, given the apparent expanse of Satan’s heavenly and earthly campaigns, the concept of a demon behind every bush might not be so far fetched. A haunting specter that modern Christianity does well to carefully consider. One expressed by Howard Pittman in his little known books, “Placebo: What is the Church's Dope?” and “Demons: An Eyewitness Account.”
Addressing mankind proclivity to seek drama in all the wrong places, Scripture cautions against nefarious influences. Human and otherwise:
- “The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth.” 1 Timothy 4:1-2 The Message
- “I can’t impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don’t ever quit. Just keep it simple. You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.” 2 Timothy 4:1-5 The Message
Human dualism and double-mindedness make it unbelievably easy for even the best of us to loose perspective. Peter was no stranger to such difficulties. As a disciple, he once received Christ’s highest praise, only moments later to feel the lash of His most stinging rebuke:
- “When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” He pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus came back, “God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. And that’s not all. You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven.” Matthew 16:13-19 The Message
- “Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive. Peter took him in hand, protesting, “Impossible, Master! That can never be!” But Jesus didn’t swerve. “Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works.” Matthew 16:21-23 The Message
- “When it came close to the time for his Ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead. They came to a Samaritan village to make arrangements for his hospitality. But when the Samaritans learned that his destination was Jerusalem, they refused hospitality. When the disciples James and John learned of it, they said, “Master, do you want us to call a bolt of lightning down out of the sky and incinerate them?” Jesus turned on them: “Of course not!” And they traveled on to another village.” Luke 9:51-56 The Message
- “There’s nothing to these people—they’re dried-up fountains, storm-scattered clouds, headed for a black hole in hell. They are loudmouths, full of hot air, but still they’re dangerous. Men and women who have recently escaped from a deviant life are most susceptible to their brand of seduction. They promise these newcomers freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for if they’re addicted to corruption—and they are—they’re enslaved. If they’ve escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they’re worse than if they had never left. Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back, repudiating the experience and the holy command. They prove the point of the proverbs, “A dog goes back to its own vomit” and “A scrubbed-up pig heads for the mud.” 2 Peter 2:17-22 The Message
Litmus Tests
GodBlog's Quantum Christianity provides topical information essential for sorting through various false narratives. Even in regards to the just the dubious storytelling tendencies within modern Christianity, a less wieldy synopsis seems helpful. To this end we purpose to clarify the following:
- What are three litmus tests revealing the most critical gaps between Biblically mandated Christianity and modern Churchianity?
- What are the appropriate responses to each of these crucial spiritual deficiencies?
Litmus Test 1: Abortion
Over two dozen pro-life GB articles, and scores of references in Quantum Christianity Introduction Volumes 1 and 2, clearly testify to the devilish nature of the global holocaust of abortion. Suffice it to say that in a very real sense, abortion is the pinnacle sin of mankind in quantity, if not quality. With over 60 million performed in America and more than a billion world wide, clinical abortion in the U.S. alone has taken ten times more lives than WWII. Globally, a single generation has killed the equivalent of five to ten times the entire world population during the days Jesus walked the Earth. Figures terrifying in and of themselves without even considering the specter of the abortifacient nature of many popular forms of contraception used by hundreds of millions. Christians and otherwise.
But no worries. For well over half of Christendom’s 2.5 billion participants, pro-life is the default religious worldview. Unfortunately, only a fraction of a percentage of that number live authentically pro-life lifestyles. As in the story (which is not a parable) of the Good Samaritan, when the Priest's and Levite's pro-safe travel and anti-robbery sympathies failed to produce the appropriate response, they themselves were rejected.
What constitutes a Biblical pro-life lifestyle is as debatable as any genuine spiritual concern, up too and including salvation. In this case however, the issue can be succinctly addressed by the use of a simple yet distasteful analogy.
Imagine that parents, and society at large, used abortion clinics to kill newborns and toddlers instead of embryos and fetuses. Take a minute or two and let the scenario sink in. Let the picture run through your heart and mind. Mothers, accompanied by fathers, or perhaps grandmothers, watching as doctors slice the throats of their precious little children or grandchildren. Now replay this world wide phenomenon millions and billions of times.
Consider the ramification. What might God think? Particularly when considering that modern Christians could easily have ended abortion in a single day, 365 days a year, for decades by merely sending 1% of church membership to have a pro-family picnic in front of abortion "clinics." This would equate to over a thousand non violent and friendly protesters blocking every entrance across the country, thus ostensively ending abortion in a day or two.
In light of Jesus’ teachings regarding salvation in such famous passages as the Good Samaritan, Rich Man and Lazarus and Sheep and Goats, what might Christ require of genuine Christians? How fully would the Holy Spirit anoint the prayers and worship, much less ministries, of those turning a blind eye? What excuse for years and decades of our apathy and inaction would suffice? How long would judgment for such atrocities tarry?
Rest assured that before God there is little or no spiritual difference between an embryo and child. We know this because Scripture conveniently records a key snippet of a conversation between Elizabeth and Mary:
- "When Elizabeth heard Mary speak, the baby moved in her body. At the same time Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth spoke in a loud voice, “You are honored among women! Your Child is honored! Why has this happened to me? Why has the mother of my Lord come to me? As soon as I heard your voice, the baby in my body moved for joy.” Luke 1:41-44 Living Bible
Two thousand years before abortion’s devastation, the Bible explains that as a “baby” John the Baptist, a second trimester fetus about the size of a fist, leapt in Elizabeth’s womb in the presence of the “Child” Lord Jesus, a first trimester embryo about the size of a thumbnail. Far from the discardable “clumps of cells” or “inviable tissue masses” of pro-abortion rhetoric, Scripture declares that the pre-born are babies and children.
So why do so few believers take this issue seriously? Because like everything else, our attitude about abortion is a judgment call. Once made, justification solidifies our level of response, or lack thereof. Mindful of the process, God employs a variety of means to draw attention to our mistakes, if and to the degree we are willing to see, hear and respond. Through the honest and diligent study of Scripture we are invited to grow in spiritual discernment, learning to more fluently understand and speak the language of the Holy Spirit.
Regarding modern Christianity's lack luster response to abortion, the following verse is eerily prophetic:
- "Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.” This is God’s Message: “If your sins are blood-red, they’ll be snow-white. If they’re red like crimson, they’ll be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 The Message
Litmus Test 2: Inversion of Morality
The 1960's saw a global Sexual Revolution wash over the modern world like a tsunami that never receded. The release of such rising flood waters, combined with a nearly sixty year rain of temptation, has turned every aspect of earth into a "Water World" of immorality. While lacking the staggering death toll of abortion, its main precursor and intensifier has been the inversion of morality. In a single generation millennia of traditional and religious values have been turned upside down or swept away entirely. The most obvious and immediate manipulator of society is the media. While claiming to simply reflect the values of its audience, by constantly pushing the envelope, it influences and directs habits and trends that become lifestyles and societal norms. This creates a feedback loop with far less concern for public welfare than for the almighty buck. Sex sells. Hollywood, Motown and Madison Avenue know the hotter the better. By targeting baser instincts, they fan into flame the original sin of entitlement.
The genius, expertise and success of societal engineering by the TV, movie and music industry is rarely fully appreciated. In conjunction with the influence of modern advertising, mainstream media has dominated public thinking while amassing unprecedented wealth and resource. In only a few decades, practices such as abortion and other acts strictly forbidden by Scripture, have gone prime time enjoying alternative lifestyle status. Acts largely illegal and unthinkable for thousands of years have become inalienable constitutional rights, upheld by many of the very institutions long considered bastions of ethics and morality.
Far worse has been both modern Christianity's response and lack thereof. Looking the other way, or even joining in, millions of believers habitually condone or even practice immoral acts. And the shrinking minority of those holding the line, spend little or no serious effort in meeting, much less overcoming, such devilish challenges to our most holy faith.
For centuries men and women of God have warned against the encroachment of worldliness, including such notables as John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards, Søren Kierkegaard and Charles Finney. More recently Oswald Smith and Leonard Ravenhill, George Barna and Jackie Pullinger have sounded the alarm.
Such Youtube videos as Revival Hymn and A Call to Anguish are powerful pleas against apathy and worse. In A Call To Anguish” (abridged version) David Wilkerson begins with:
- Folks… I’m tired of hearing about revival. I’m tired of hearing about awakenings… Of last day outpourings of the Holy Spirit… I heard that rhetoric for 50 years… Just Rhetoric. No meaning whatsoever. I’m tired of hearing about people in the church who say that they want their unsaved loved ones saved… I’m tired of hearing people say I’m concerned about my troubled marriage when it’s just talk… Rhetoric. And I look at the whole religious scene today and all I see are the inventions and ministries of man and flesh. It’s mostly powerless. It has no impact on the world. And I see more of the world coming in and impacting the church rather than the church impacting the world. I see music taking over the house of God. I see entertainment taking over the house of God. An obsession with entertainment in God’s house, A hatred of correction and a hatred of reproof. Nobody wants to hear it any more… Whatever happened to anguish in the house of God? Whatever happened to anguish in the ministry? It’s a word you don’t hear in this pampered age. You don’t hear it. Anguish means extreme pain and distress. The emotion so stirred that it becomes painful. Acute deeply felt inner pain because of the conditions about you, in you, or around you… Anguish. Deep Pain. And Sorrow. Agony of God’s heart…
- All true passion is born out of anguish. All true passion for Christ comes out of a baptism of anguish.
- Hear’s what God said, “I’ve heard the words of this people. They have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such a heart in them. That they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always that it might be well with them, and their children forever!”
- "When I (Nehemiah) heard these words (regarding the ruin of Jerusalem) I set down and wept. And morned certain days and fasted. And prayed before the God of heaven.”
- We face a similar situation except ours is many times worse.
- Does it matter to you at all that God’s spiritual Jerusalem, the church, is now married to the world?
- Does it matter about the Jerusalem that’s in our own hearts? The sign of ruin that is slowly draining spiritual power and passion? Blind to lukewarmness. Blind to the mixture that’s creeping in.
- You won’t fight. You won’t labor in prayer anymore. You won’t weep before God anymore. You can sit and watch television and your family go to hell!
- Does it really matter to you that your unsaved loved ones are dying and we’re getting closer and closer to the end?
- Where’s the anguish. Where’s the tears. Where’s the mourning? Where’s the fasting?
- It’s going to take more than preaching. More than a new revelation.
- There’s going to be no renewal, no revival, no awakening until we’re willing to let Him once again break us. Folk’s it’s getting late and it’s getting serious.
- Please don’t tell me you’re concerned. Don’t tell me you want your unsaved loved ones saved while you’re spending hours before the internet or television. Come on…
As the next litmus test shall reveal, the crises is far more systemic than our own salvation or even that of family and friends. Nevertheless Wilkerson is spot on. If modern Christianity is for the most part unmoved over the fracturing of Christianity into hundreds of factions and worldliness metastasizing through the body of Christ, the innocent blood of a billion abortions and the inversion of morality, hundreds of millions of lost spouses and siblings, children and grandchildren, then what in God's name will move us?
Litmus Test 3: Mutation and Judgment
Abortion, and the inversion of morality, represent only two of the highest peaks of a growing global mountain range of sins commonplace in today's society. With temptation and deception, entitlement and doctrinal error pandemic, time would fail to list half the forbidden lines daily crossed by billions. Believers or not. Even something as mundane as spending hours a week, if not daily, watching TV would have been considered anathema to the New Testament teaching of Jesus and His apostles.
Another area of misunderstanding is the regrettable progression of willful or even uniformed rebellion against Biblical directives. As the supremely practical epistle of James explains:
- "Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters." James 1:14-16 New Living Translation
- "Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5 The Message
Only Options
Sin not only warps and transforms people but society at large. So much so that once begun, any and all sin faces only one of three possible outcomes:
1. Repentance: Genuine Biblical repentance is best exemplified in the military command, "Halt, about face, march." Complete and abiding repentance for rebellion against God's authority and/or harm to another includes lifestyles of brokenness and contrition, sanctification and restitution if and when appropriate. While this preferable option remains open to humanity, mankind has yet to fully repent of a single sin. Much less such pinnacle sins as abortion and immorality.
2. Commensurate Judgment: Outside of God and His word, all things change. Unrepentant, corporately and individually we face the specter of God's judgment. In time and eternity. Should justice be satisfied in this life (a rarity) without complete repentance the cycle of sin would simply begin again. As evidenced throughout the whole of Scripture from Cain's murder of Able and Noah's flood, to Christ's denunciation of His people and Revelation's warnings. One can only imagine what the commensurate judgment of abortion's holocaust of 5-10 times the planet's entire population in Christ's day might be…
3. Mutation: Should sin proceed without repentance or eradication by judgment, it must continue to grow in scale. Eventually to the point of mutating into another kind of aberration altogether. Such a principle holds true from the least to greatest of sins. For the sake of brevity, again the example of abortion will suffice.
Simply put, the aborting of billions may in fact be summoning the Antichrist.
Many mistakenly hope or believe Divine silence equates to at least acquiesce. That in His apparent absence, the Publisher will simply rubber stamp the novella of our lives. Scripture repeatedly warns this is not the case. As in Jesus’ parable of the talents, God expects a return on His advance through productive character developments filled with truth, goodness and beauty.
The good news is that it’s not about us, but rather those in need. Christ so identifies with the least among us as to explain that what we do or fail to do to them we’ve done or failed to do to Him. In fact, the second Great Commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” is so foundational to living faith that the first and greatest commandment to love God can only be fulfilled by how we treat each other. When Scripture separates the two, it's loving our neighbor that's emphasized. In this light, the Bible reveals God as ever present in those about us. It’s therefore up to each us, as author and editors or our individual narratives. Let us thoughtfully decide how to treat the cast and crew of our lives. As well as to Whom or what to dedicate the leading role.
Note: For various reasons, admirable and not, mankind is inexorably drawn to drama. To the degree billions fail to correctly recognize and respond to the Cosmic Drama playing out to and us, we inevitably become entangled in lessor ones. The vast majority unworthy of out time and effort. Often usurping whole lives and families, cultures and generations. As Shakespeare insightfully noted, "It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
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