Faith, Perfection and Marx

I was working on a book report today for my Theology of Suffering class at seminary. I was outlining C.S. Lewis' 10 main ideas as I saw them from 'Problem of Pain'. It was an odd moment when I realized I was stuck on #9 - the idea that although God seeks to perfect us, perfection is not the goal. I could see the use of suffering and pain, I could see how we play a part in creating and inflicting pain but I got stuck on the idea of how we can never be perfect yet have a God who seeks to perfect us. I can handle the idea that because God loves us He does not want to leave us as people who could be better, after all I work with youth - I get it! There was just so much to take in - the idea of pride and humility and that to be perfect is to not be perfect and to be humble you can't say you are humble. It began to spin too fast in my brain!! I needed to pour things out so I could again focus. 
So, although I have much to get done in an incredibly small amount of time, my last two hours constructed these thoughts:

We need God because we’re not perfect. If we were perfect we would be able to save ourselves and wouldn’t need God. If we were perfect we wouldn’t need anyone else. If we didn’t need anyone else we would not need love for love calls us to take care of each other and that care would not be needed because there would be nothing we couldn’t do for ourselves. If we did not love each other we would avoid each other. If we avoided each other and did not love each other we would not create an environment necessary for procreation. Obviously with no such environment the human race would cease to exist. The only way we have gotten this far, then, is from not being perfect. If we are not perfect we must need help.

It has been suggested that, “Religion is… the opium of the people.” (Karl Marx). Such a phrase suggests to me that religion does not work to fix a problem; it only seeks to give the illusion that the problem is not there. It is the morphine to a broken leg. After reading the quote in context with the rest of the paragraph, I believe that Marx is, in short, suggesting that religion is seeking after hope in hopeless situations and if the situation did not exist the need for hope wouldn’t either. So, once again, if the world were perfect we wouldn’t need hope.

But I am yet to see evidence of this perfect world.

In many different ways it has been suggested that religion is simply a way to control people. If that were the case, as I consider Christianity, I figure whoever dreamed it up must have been quite intelligent. I say that because they discovered how to get the people to take care of themselves and while the controllers themselves remained on the sidelines. You see, Jesus’ command was to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:37-39) Jesus told the people to love God. If Jesus and Christianity were a farce, those creating the farce wanted the people not to focus on them and instead look to a fictional character they created. Also, the ‘controllers’ would not have to bother themselves with caring for the people for Jesus commanded the people to love each other. Most would consider to this mean that we are called to look out for each other, help each other out and not fight.

Personally, I cannot see how those seeking to control the people through a farce would have much concern for the people themselves. In fact, it would seem to me that such ‘leaders’ were more interested in power and distracting the people so they could do as they pleased at the ‘top’. This is not to say that I think Christianity is a distraction (well, perhaps it is but it would be distraction me from seeking to live in selfish materialism). The thing that really does not line up for me is that if there were actually leaders who dreamed Christianity up so they could seek power they would have no love for the people, only themselves, yet created a farce based purely on loving others. They also created one where the people would not be looking to the government for answers but to a made up character that they then placed in the hands of the people and cease to have control over. How does this make sense?

When push comes to shove, whether I am able to prove my faith or not, whether I get to the end of my life only to discover I had faith in a farce or not, my life is better for believing it. My sorrow is less deep for having hope. My love for others is richer and deeper. My passion for life is stronger. I do not simply behave because it has been suggested I will go to Heaven if I do but I desire to live well because I can see how life is better that way, how misbehaving has so much more to overcome and I want to help others to be able to live better as well.

Let me ask you this, if religion is simply the attempt to give the illusion that problems do not exist why do so many religions seek to better the world? Why do they seek to offer love and hope to others? Why do they work to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless? The church must be aware there are problems and are willing to face them or they would not be doing these things whether those bent on control are or not. William Temple said, “Church is only society on earth that exists for the benefit of non-members.”

Quite frankly, if it is true that my faith is based on something manifested by some greedy, power-seeking leaders who want to distract me while they play games of ‘who has the loudest voice’ and ‘who has the most toys’, that’s fine. It means that I don’t have to bother with them while I live a life focused on loving others. Let them have what they think is power. Let them live for their toys. I’d rather live and die for something far less petty. 

Insiders, Outsiders, the Meek and a Rich Guy

I was in church at on Sunday and our pastor was talking about Mark 4:10-12~

When He was alone with the Twelve, those who were around Him asked Him about the parables. He answered them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been granted to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables so that

    they may look and look,

    yet not perceive;

    they may listen and listen,

    yet not understand;

    otherwise, they might turn back—

    and be forgiven."

The pastor poised the question of whom Jesus was talking about when he spoke of the ‘outsiders’? (No, the answer is not Ponyboy and his friends in the book by S.E. Hinton)

He was suggesting that those on the outside were actually those who were thinking they had the inside track to God. You see the Sadducees and Pharisees of the day were the Jewish religious leaders thought they held the monopoly on knowing God – strict dedication to the Law. They felt they had a divine inside track to God because they were descendants of Abraham.

In the minds of these leaders those who were poor, sick or oppressed obviously did not hold God’s blessing because of sin in their lives and were therefore unholy, lost sinners – outsiders.

Jesus suggests that those who believed they had divine right to God and worked hard to earn it were the outsiders as they could not see the truth that we are saved through faith in God and are willing to accept the Glory He longs to bestow upon us.

In Matthew 5:5 Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” Why the meek? Because they are the ones who understand that they cannot do it alone. They know that they rely on God’s goodness and mercy. They are the insiders. They can accept help. Really, we are all meek – we all need God’s help, it’s just that some of us choose to accept that we need it while others instead choose pride. Perhaps it should read, “Blessed are those who know they are meek.”

So… this got me thinking. We like to be independent. We like to know that we are able to handle things on our own. Consider little kids – they are so proud when they can do something without help! It is build within us. My mind wandered (I know, hard to believe – look, a bird!) to the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-25. Jesus told us through this story 

“How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." (Luke 18:24b-25 [HCSB])

Many people believe that wealth is the ticket to security. There is much that can be obtained through wealth but it is easy to come to rely on it and begin to rely only on your money to take care of yourself. The rich can easily come to hold to money the same way the Pharisees and Sadducees held to their laws (although the Sadducees had both!).

Suddenly it hit me! That which we cling closely to in order to find security can actually be what trips us up and stands in our way of finding salvation and the list is way longer than money or obsession with the Law. We who work hard to be independent and do everything on our own are at risk of letting stubbornness stand in our way of all that God wants to do in our lives.

Ouch.

We need to accept our need for God. We need to remember we are not going to make it if we do not realize our desperate need for God and His Grace, his Love and His Mercy! Now amount of money, pride, independence or good works are going to make us for all we stand to lose if we do not realize just how meek we really are!!

 Luke 18:18-25 (HCSB)

A ruler asked Him (Jesus), "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

 "Why do you call Me good?" Jesus asked him. "No one is good but One—God. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother. "

"I have kept all these from my youth," he said.

When Jesus heard this, He told him, "You still lack one thing: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."

 After he heard this, he became extremely sad, because he was very rich.

 Seeing that he became sad, Jesus said, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

Thoughts on Solomon's Wisdom

As I am taking a class on the 'Theology of Suffering' I am currently (minus the time to post this thought) reading Ecclesiastes, Solomon's book of thoughts and whining. We look at Solomon and think how grand it was for him to ask for wisdom when God said he could ask Him for anything. As I am reading today I find myself wondering if it was the best thing to request. Consider Adam and Even in the garden. When they ate from 'the tree of the knowledge of good and evil' they came to understand they were naked, were cast out of the garden and had to live separated from God. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon is sounding quite glum and hopeless, suggesting it is better to have not lived than to know evil. It seems as though having so much wisdom has overwhelmed him to the point of depression. There are somethings that perhaps we are better not knowing.

Find this art: http-//browse.deviantart.com/?q=king%20solomon&order=9&offset=192&offset=240#/d27qv7y.jpg

Find this art: http-//browse.deviantart.com/?q=king%20solomon&order=9&offset=216&offset=264#/di0n9.jpg

Read the story this art is about in the Bible ~ 1 Kings 3:16-28