The Myth of a Christian Religion Part 2

Historically, many people have tried to get Life from religious idols. Religious idolaters attempt to get Life from whatever mistaken picture of G.o.d they happen to embrace-including the mistaken idea that divinity can be found in or through physical objects (such as a statue of Vishnu or Buddha). The ultimate worth of religious idolaters is rooted in the religious activities they do or religious doctrines they believe, both of which they think please their G.o.ds. Even when Christians try to get Life from (what they a.s.sume is) the rightness of their behaviors and beliefs instead of from G.o.d himself, they are guilty of idolatry.

But there are as many nonreligious idols as religious ones. In Western culture, s.e.x, wealth, and power are the most common idols. But others make idols of their nation, race, talents, looks, or fame. In fact, just about everything in this world is a potential idol, for just about anything can be used as a means of trying to feel fully alive.

THE MISERABLE FEEDING FRENZY.

When the thing that makes you feel fully alive is something as iffy as s.e.xual vigor, wealth, or power, it wreaks havoc on your soul. On some level you know that you may never attain the s.e.xual experiences, wealth, or power you're striving for.

Even if you manage to get what you're seeking, you know that it's just a matter of time before you lose it. There's a mult.i.tude of compet.i.tors for the wealth, power, and fame you've acquired, and at some moment they might gain an advantage over you. And even if you manage to stay on top of the hill, you know that you're slowly going to waste away and die. Aging and death are never kind to idols.

Not only this, but even if you're successful at acquiring all the worth you can from your s.e.xuality, wealth, power-or whatever idols you happen to embrace-you know it doesn't even satisfy you while you enjoy them. We can distract ourselves from our inner emptiness but it never goes away.

The Bible describes living this way-which Paul calls "the flesh"-as a miserable affair. Life in "the flesh" is full of anxiety, hopelessness, envy, strife, anger, and bitterness. The idolatrous world of "the flesh" is a compet.i.tive feeding frenzy of desperately hungry people trying to scarf up a morsel of fleeting worth from a limited number of idolatrous sources. Idolatry is at the root of most of the misery in the world.

Trace your own despair, anxiety, or bitterness back far enough and, more likely than not, you'll discover there's something other than G.o.d that you're clinging to as a source of Life.

Not only this, but throughout history idolatry has been at the root of all the hatred, conflict, and bloodshed in the world. People will kill to acquire and protect their source of feeling fully alive and worthwhile. Idolatry and violence go hand-in-hand.

THE BEAUTIFUL TRUTH ABOUT G.o.d-AND US Jesus came into this oppressed, idolatrous world to reintroduce us to the true source of Life and thereby rescue us from this futile, miserable, idolatrous feeding frenzy. The reason he can do this is because he reveals who G.o.d truly is-and who we truly are.

In contrast to the pathetic picture of G.o.d that the serpent gave to Eve, Jesus reveals the true character of G.o.d. This is why the New Testament refers to Jesus as the Word, Image, and perfect expression of G.o.d. It's why Jesus himself insisted that if we see him, we see G.o.d the Father. And it's why the New Testament repeatedly encourages us to fix our spiritual eyes on Jesus. The outrageous love and mercy displayed throughout Jesus' life, and especially in his death, is the love and mercy of G.o.d himself.

If we are willing to trust him, Jesus frees us from the bondage of the enemy's deceptive picture of G.o.d. He frees us to return to G.o.d as our one and only source of Life.

At the same time, Jesus confronts the lie that there's something humans need to do, and can do, to acquire Life on our own. The fact that G.o.d himself became a human and died for our sin reveals that we can't find Life on our own. If we had the ability to save ourselves, it wouldn't have been necessary for G.o.d to go to this radical extreme to save us. But the fact that G.o.d did this out of love reveals we don't need to try to find Life on our own. Jesus reveals that, despite our sin, G.o.d remained desperately in love with us and as a result opened up the way for us to enter into the eternal relations.h.i.+p with him that he's always wanted.

In Jesus we discover the beauty of the true G.o.d and the beauty of what he created and saved us to be. In Jesus we discover the unsurpa.s.sable and unconditional worth, significance, and security our hearts were created to enjoy. In Jesus, our hearts finally find what they've been hungry for, so we are empowered to break our miserable addiction to idols.

FREEDOM.

A "kingdom," as I wrote earlier, is a king's domain. To belong to the Kingdom of G.o.d means we surrender our life to G.o.d and make it part of the domain over which he rules. When we do this, we immediately begin to experience the Life that comes from G.o.d and begin to be transformed into the image of Jesus.

Just as the Jesus-looking Kingdom begins as a mustard seed and slowly grows to take over the whole earth, so the Kingdom begins as a mustard seed in our own life and gradually grows to take over our entire existence. We become citizens of the Kingdom the moment we genuinely surrender our lives, but we experience and manifest the true Life of the Kingdom only as we learn to yield to him on a daily basis.

As the Kingdom grows in us, our addiction to idols wanes. As we grow in our capacity to experience the true G.o.d and our true worth in Jesus Christ, we increasingly find that the idols of the world lose their power-and even their appeal. When a person truly experiences their unsurpa.s.sable worth as a child of the King, what could all the wealth, power, s.e.x, or fame in the world possibly offer? Nothing.

Jesus said we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free. This is the freedom he was talking about. To the extent that our longing for worth, significance, and security is fully satisfied by our relations.h.i.+p with Christ, we crave nothing and fear nothing. We are literally a people who have nothing to gain and nothing to lose. Having lost our life, we've found true Life. This is true freedom!

This freedom is what empowers Jesus followers to imitate his radically self-sacrificial lifestyle. While others live out of a center of emptiness that forces them to strive to acquire and protect their idolatrous sources of Life, Kingdom people live out of a center of fullness that frees them to live with abandon as they focus on carrying out G.o.d's will "on earth as it is in heaven."

This is the heart of the Kingdom revolution Jesus unleashed in the world. It manifests the beauty of G.o.d's free Life while revolting against the ugliness of idolatrous bondage.

Viva la revolution!

CHAPTER 4.

THE REVOLT REVOLT.

AGAINST JUDGMENT JUDGMENT.

A man cannot raise himself up above any other man or set himself before him as a model, for he knows himself to be the greatest of all sinners.

He can excuse the sin of another, but never his own.

DIETRICH BONHOEFFER.

WAKING UP TO MENTAL GOSSIP.

About ten years ago I was shopping in a mall with my wife, Sh.e.l.ley. Now, I don't know if this is a male-female thing, or if it's unique to Sh.e.l.ley and me, but shopping tends to excite her while it makes me profoundly tired. As soon as I walk into a store-unless it's a bookstore or a drum shop (I love love drums!)-I get sleepy. So, as usual, Sh.e.l.ley ended up going from store to store while I parked my tired behind on a bench in the center of the mall. drums!)-I get sleepy. So, as usual, Sh.e.l.ley ended up going from store to store while I parked my tired behind on a bench in the center of the mall.

For about ten minutes I just watched people. Then suddenly, as if someone had placed a megaphone to my thoughts, I heard my own running commentary about almost everyone and everything I saw. Much of it was positive, but some of it was, frankly, complete trash. I heard myself say things like: "What kind of parent would treat a child like that that?"

"Could her dress make it more obvious what she wants guys to notice?"

"Definitely gay."

"What a nag."

"Ohhh. Tough guy aren't we?"

"Like that person needs needs that Big Mac." that Big Mac."

It was like I was gossiping in the privacy of my brain. I was surprised by this since I've always thought of myself as a tolerant, nonjudgmental person.

When I started paying attention, I found that in most cases the person I watched triggered an a.s.sociation in my mind. For example, something about the lady I judged to be a "nag" reminded me of the stepmother who raised me.

But beneath these psychological reasons I discovered an even deeper motivation for my internal gossip: I was engaging in mental gossip because it gave me a heightened sense of worth. Contrasting myself with others made me feel more fully alive. I was trying to get Life from an idol, and the idol was my judgment of others. The motivation was profoundly subtle, which is why I'd never noticed it before. But once I woke up to it, it was undeniable.

Like all judgment, my mental gossip was predicated on the a.s.sumption that I am qualified to be the insightful arbiter of other people's parenting skills, dressing styles, s.e.xual orientation, dietary habits, and the like. It presupposed my superiority. However imperfect I may be, at least I wasn't like that that person. And though I was unconscious of it before then, on some level this private judgment game made me feel significant. person. And though I was unconscious of it before then, on some level this private judgment game made me feel significant.

Some might think I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. After all, I didn't actually verbalize my thoughts to anyone, so was I really really judging them? And doesn't everybody think like this at times? Sure, having private judgments may not be ideal and, technically speaking, may even be sinful-but it's surely not a serious sin. What's the big deal? judging them? And doesn't everybody think like this at times? Sure, having private judgments may not be ideal and, technically speaking, may even be sinful-but it's surely not a serious sin. What's the big deal?

This is is a big deal. The fact that everybody does it, and that we tend to minimize it, simply demonstrates how serious a problem this is and how hard it is to confront. a big deal. The fact that everybody does it, and that we tend to minimize it, simply demonstrates how serious a problem this is and how hard it is to confront.

JUDGMENT AND DISCERNMENT.

First, we need to be clear about what "judgment" is and what it is not.

On the one hand, Jesus and the New Testament writers repeatedly and emphatically forbid us to judge others. On the other hand, we're repeatedly and emphatically told we can, for example, know a tree by its fruits. Doesn't that involve judgment? We're also instructed to grow in our ability to distinguish between good and evil, and we're told to hold one another accountable. In fact, in cases where a brother or sister will not turn from a seriously harmful behavior, we're told to remove them from our fellows.h.i.+p. Don't these instructions involve judging people?

The answer is no no, not in the sense that I am using the term-and here's why. The Greek word usually translated "judgment" is krino krino. We get the word "critic" from this word, and it literally means "to cut, divide, or separate things." A movie critic, for example, is one who helps us separate good movies from bad ones.

Now there's a kind of separating (krino) that is appropriate and necessary, and a kind of separating that is utterly inappropriate and sinful. For the sake of clarity I'll label the good kind discernment discernment and the bad kind and the bad kind judgment judgment. Every day we need to discern whether certain things are helpful or unhelpful, G.o.dly or unG.o.dly, wise or stupid. We need to continually discern the difference between a good use of time and money and a bad use of time and money. We need to discern whether we're safe or in danger, whether we think its going to rain or not, whether we think a person should be hired for a job or not, whether it's wise to trust a person or not, whether we look better in the blue dress or the hot pink one, whether we agree with an author or not, and a million things of this sort. This sort of discernment is obviously good and natural. We couldn't live without making such practical distinctions.

This sort of discernment obviously is not what Jesus and New Testament authors are talking about when they forbid us to "judge." For when we judge, as I was doing in the mall that afternoon, we aren't distinguis.h.i.+ng between things. We're rather separating ourselves from other people and placing ourselves (or "our" group) above them. We're contrasting ourselves favorably with others as a way of making ourselves feel more worthy, more significant, or more secure.

Despite the fact that Christians tend to minimize the sin of judging (in fact, many seem to specialize in it), this is is a big deal! In fact, not only is judgment a form of idolatry, it's the most fundamental form of idolatry there is. It's why the forbidden tree in the garden that brought about the Fall of humanity was called "the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil." When we reject G.o.d as our sole source of Life, we invariably try to acquire Life by pretending we're G.o.d and judging others. This is the foundational sin in the Bible, because it blocks the foundational command in the Bible, which is to love G.o.d, ourselves, and others. a big deal! In fact, not only is judgment a form of idolatry, it's the most fundamental form of idolatry there is. It's why the forbidden tree in the garden that brought about the Fall of humanity was called "the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil." When we reject G.o.d as our sole source of Life, we invariably try to acquire Life by pretending we're G.o.d and judging others. This is the foundational sin in the Bible, because it blocks the foundational command in the Bible, which is to love G.o.d, ourselves, and others. 1 1 Judgment is is a big deal! a big deal!

JUDGMENT AND IDOLATRY.

Not only is judging a form of idolatry, it's involved in all other forms of idolatry. Every idol contains a particular version of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Here's an ill.u.s.tration.

Throughout history most people have found some element of their core worth, significance, and security in their national ident.i.ty. They are certain that the things their country values are also the things that "G.o.d" (or "the G.o.ds") values. Consequently, most have been naively certain that whatever furthers the interests of their nation is good while whatever hinders or threatens the interests of their nation is evil.

Since the interests and values of nations frequently conflict, human history is largely a macabre river of blood, supplied by people killing and being killed for their nations. And they've almost always done so in the name of defending "the good" (their nation, their G.o.d) against a threatening "evil" (the opposing nations and G.o.ds).

While some wars may be more justified than others, what drives the whole enterprise is that people embrace differing nationalistic idols and thus differing versions of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. People on both sides whose source of Life is wrapped up with their patriotism just know know that they happened to be born on the side of the good, while their enemy happened to be born on the side of evil. that they happened to be born on the side of the good, while their enemy happened to be born on the side of evil.

In America, for example, most people (including, it seems, most Christians) just know know that G.o.d is on the side of political freedom and that it is worth killing for-despite Jesus' command that his followers are to love and do good to all enemies, and despite the fact that neither Jesus nor anyone else in the Bible ever said a word about political freedom. that G.o.d is on the side of political freedom and that it is worth killing for-despite Jesus' command that his followers are to love and do good to all enemies, and despite the fact that neither Jesus nor anyone else in the Bible ever said a word about political freedom.

The same thing can happen with religion for religious people, race for racists, political parties for the politically minded, and sports teams for overzealous sports enthusiasts (hence the occasional b.l.o.o.d.y riots at soccer matches). Whatever advances and protects our particular idolatrous source of Life is "good" while whatever hinders or threatens our particular idolatrous source of Life is "evil."

The same thing is true for a million other idols. If a person's source of Life is s.e.x, whatever affirms, advances, and protects their s.e.xual vibrancy is "good," while whatever negates, hinders, or threatens it is "evil." If wealth is a person's idol, whatever advances or protects their money and possessions is "good," while whatever hinders or threatens those things is "evil." So it is with the idols of power, fame, intelligence, achievements, or any other idol you can imagine.

The kid in second grade who stole my show by getting into more trouble than I did was, in that moment, an "evil" to me, for he detracted from my twisted, juvenile, idolatrous source of Life.

Of course, only in certain circ.u.mstances do we explicitly think of our compet.i.tors in the idolatrous feeding frenzy as technically "evil." More frequently we identify them merely as bad or stupid or losers or greedy or by some other derogatory term. But however we think of them-and this is the crucial point this is the crucial point-we are detracting from their G.o.d-given dignity and worth by the way we think, speak, and respond to them. And to this extent, we are not agreeing with G.o.d that they have unsurpa.s.sable worth as evidenced by the fact that Jesus died for them. We are not self-sacrificially loving them as Jesus called us to. Instead, we are rebelling against G.o.d and judging them. We are eating from our particular version of "the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."

RECEIVING AND ASCRIBING UNSURPa.s.sABLE WORTH.

Judgment is the foundational sin in the Bible because it prevents us from obeying the foundational command in the Bible, which is to love others the way G.o.d loves us. To fully appreciate why judgment is so heinous, therefore, we need to explore why love is so important.

People today have a lot of screwy ideas about what love is. Part of the problem is that we use the word love love to cover everything from s.e.xual intercourse ("making love") to pets ("I to cover everything from s.e.xual intercourse ("making love") to pets ("I love love my cat") to hairstyles ("I just my cat") to hairstyles ("I just love love your hair"). No wonder we're confused. your hair"). No wonder we're confused.

The Bible gives us a profoundly simple and beautiful definition of love. The Bible uses the word agape agape-the most important kind of love there is. This is the love G.o.d has for us and that we're supposed to apply to ourselves and extend to others. The Bible defines this kind of love by pointing us to Jesus Christ.

"This is how we know what love is," John says. "Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another" (1 John 3:16).

G.o.d expressed his opinion of our worth by becoming a human and laying down his life for us. This This, John says, is love. It is about expressing the worth of another by what you're willing to sacrifice for them. It's about ascribing worth to another at cost to yourself when necessary. In fact, real love, as defined by Jesus, is about expressing the unsurpa.s.sable unsurpa.s.sable worth of another by being willing to sacrifice worth of another by being willing to sacrifice everything everything for them. for them.

As we saw in the last chapter, G.o.d created us with a desperate need to receive and experience this kind of unsurpa.s.sable worth. But G.o.d also created us to express this kind of perfect love and therefore ascribe to others this kind of unsurpa.s.sable worth. Having our innermost hunger satisfied with the unsurpa.s.sable love and worth that comes from the one true source of Life, we are to extend this same love and worth to others.

This is why John adds "we ought to lay down our lives for one another." We are to love all others the way G.o.d loves us. As G.o.d ascribes unsurpa.s.sable worth to us, despite our sin, we are to ascribe unsurpa.s.sable worth to others, despite their sin.

This is the central defining mark of the Kingdom. Whatever else is implied in acknowledging G.o.d as King, at the very least it implies that we commit to agreeing with G.o.d's opinion about what people are worth. And he expressed this opinion on Calvary.

Our most fundamental job as Kingdom people, therefore, is to express to all people at all times our agreement with G.o.d that they have unsurpa.s.sable worth. And we are to express this by our willingness to make sacrifices and, if necessary, be sacrificed on their behalf.

Insofar as we do this, and only only insofar as we do this, we look like Jesus and manifest the beauty of the domain over which G.o.d reigns. insofar as we do this, we look like Jesus and manifest the beauty of the domain over which G.o.d reigns.

THIS IS WHAT THE KINGDOM IS ALL ABOUT IS WHAT THE KINGDOM IS ALL ABOUT.

Nothing is more central to the Kingdom than agreeing with G.o.d about every person's unsurpa.s.sable worth and reflecting this in how we act toward them. Nothing is more important than living in Christlike love for all people at all times. In fact, compared to love, nothing else really matters in the Kingdom.

In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul says that all the most impressive religious and humanitarian activity in the world is completely worthless, except insofar as it expresses love.

A person may speak in tongues-even the glorious tongues of angels-but if his speaking isn't motivated by love, it's just religious noise.

A person may have the gift of prophecy and be able to proclaim the word of G.o.d in ways that dazzle audiences and build incredible megachurches. But if the use of these gifts isn't motivated by love, they are, from a Kingdom perspective, utterly worthless.

It doesn't make the least bit of difference that a person has breathtaking insight into all mysteries or that they possess all knowledge. This would undoubtedly impress crowds and maybe even get them on the cover of Christianity Today Christianity Today, but if their activity isn't motivated by a desire to ascribe unsurpa.s.sable worth to all people at all times, it's meaningless.

Nor does it matter that a person has faith such that they can command mountains to be relocated and the mountains actually obey. This sort of miracle-working ability would certainly land them a nice spot on Christian television and would undoubtedly make them an excellent fund-raiser. But, according to Paul, it's completely devoid of value unless it's fueled by an agreement with G.o.d that every person alive was worth G.o.d himself dying for.

Finally, and perhaps most surprising, even if a person gives every single thing they own to the poor and endures great hards.h.i.+ps in the course of their ministry, if their actions aren't motivated by a love that looks like Jesus dying on the cross, it accomplishes absolutely nothing.

Love, clearly, is the all-or-nothing of Kingdom living. The "only thing that counts," Paul says, "is faith expressing itself through love." We are to "do everything in love," he says. Love is the primary expression of Kingdom Life. Where G.o.d truly reigns in an individual or community, they will look like Jesus, sacrificially ascribing unsurpa.s.sable worth to all people, no ifs, ands, or buts.

REVOLTING AGAINST JUDGMENT.

Judgment and life in the Kingdom are ant.i.thetical to each other. It's impossible to ascribe unsurpa.s.sable worth to another while we're detracting worth from another.

Every single judgmental thought I had toward others as I sat in the mall that day prevented me from doing the one thing I was supposed to be doing as a Kingdom person. Instead of getting my whole worth from G.o.d, I was trying to get worth from the idol of my judgment. And instead of submitting to G.o.d and agreeing with him that every person I saw had unsurpa.s.sable worth, I was rebelliously disagreeing with him and detracting worth from others to idolatrously ascribe worth to myself.

Jesus came to free us from idols and restore us to the Life G.o.d intends for us. He thus came to free us from judgment and restore our capacity to love the way G.o.d loves us.

To help us get free, Jesus and the rest of the New Testament emphasize the importance of revolting against judgment. In one crucial pa.s.sage, Jesus says: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Matthew 7:2).

This is a truly remarkable teaching. Jesus is teaching us that we can either play the judgment game or the grace game. If you don't want to be judged, he says, don't judge others. Extend to them the same gracious love that G.o.d has extended to you. But if you insist on playing the judgment game, then know that the judgment you give is the judgment you'll get.

We simply can't eat from the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil at the same time. We can't love like G.o.d loves while trying to judge like only G.o.d can judge.

This teaching becomes even more remarkable when Jesus goes on to say, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye" (Matthew 7:3 4)?

Now, Jesus wasn't talking to people who just happened to have much greater sins than others. In fact, by the social and religious standards of the first century, the people Jesus was talking to were probably considered better than average. So what is Jesus getting at?

Jesus was helping them, and us, get free from our addiction to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And he was doing it by telling them how to revolt against it. He was in essence instructing them to think the opposite of the way the fruit of the forbidden tree inclines them to think.

When we try to ascribe worth to ourselves at the expense of others-when we judge-we always minimize our own sins and faults and maximize the sins and faults of others. As I was doing in the mall, we feed off of the idolatrous illusion that, however imperfect we may be, at least we are not like that that person. person.

As a revolt against this, Jesus says we're to regard our own sins-whatever they happen to be-as plank-sins while regarding other people's sins-whatever they happen to be-as speck-sins. In our own eyes, we are to maximize our sins and faults and minimize the sins and faults of others. Whatever faults we think we see in another, we're to regard our sin as worse. With the apostle Paul, we're to see ourselves as "the worst of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15 16).

UNLEAs.h.i.+NG KINGDOM LIFE.

When we revolt against judgment and return to getting all our Life from G.o.d, it unleashes the Life of the Kingdom within us. Let me return to my mall experience.

Soon after I woke up to the mental gossip going on in my mind, I could almost hear the Lord gently rebuking me. In effect, he said, "I don't recall appointing you to be judge and jury over people, Mr. Boyd. The job I've given to you is to simply agree with me that each and every person you see is worth me dying for. So I want you to reflect that agreement in your thoughts about them."

It was a much-needed rebuke.

The Lord was really just repeating what Paul taught us when he said we are to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Everything we do is to be done in love, and this obviously includes thinking. Every judgmental thought we entertain is like a cork that blocks the flow of Kingdom Life through us.