Many, many, many years ago I wrote a paper at Bible College that dealt with the issue of syncretism and the western church. Syncretism, is that tendency of a people group that adopt Christianity to mesh their new found beliefs with those of their previous religious beliefs – resulting in a variety of Christian hybrid religions – some that you could say were essentially Christian, with a few errors – some you would have to say are so removed from any sort of Christian framework that they were no more Christian than the original peoples religion (Voodoo is probably a great example of this).
The question that I asked in my paper was; as western Christians, have we combined our Christianity with the beliefs of the west? & if so to what degree does it affect the salvational (I think I may have made that word up sorry) value of our religion? I kind of took the easy way out with my paper focusing primarily on the Word of Faith Movement (Kenneth Hagan, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, etc), saying that the Word of Faith Movement had lost the plot, and that their influence over the broader church was to its detriment. I still believe this, if there is a movement that can really get my blood boiling it is the WFM, Their teachings spring up all over the place in regular church circles, and millions of dollars are sent out of third world countries by well meaning but misguided poor Christians to help fund the ministry & lifestyle (and search for a more realistic toupee) of such people as Benny Hinn.
But as I think about it more, I start to feel that the WFM is not the cause but probably a symptom of a wider problem (surely it is a symptom that nurtures and feeds the disease but that is another story for another day). I think the key word here is magic. Magic means various things to us as westerners, from illusionists such as David Copperfield to the use of white or even black magic that seems to have become so in style over the last ten years or so. But taking it away from entertainment or the occult, on an anthropological level, magic could probably be defined as the manipulation of spirits through rights, rituals or offerings to the benefit of the practitioner. In contrast, religion probably could be defined as submission to the will of a higher being. Magic is about what self wants; Religion is about what God wants. As I think about it, Western Christianity is so much more about self than it is about God, and a good serious look at the shelves of any Christian bookshop would prove my point… We employ good Christian principles to get more wealth, health, dates, well behaved kids, etc. There are numerous self help books out there that somehow combine the secular pursuit of psychology with the Christian belief system. There are countless CD’s coming out where the importance seems to be more on how much they sound like the secular world or how cool they are rather than on actually worshiping God, or instilling Christian values.
Now I am not saying that self improvement is not a way of life for a Christian, because it is – the bible is clear on how we must live our lives and become more Christ like; God is very concerned about our lifestyles. But it seems to me that Jesus has become our little genie in a bottle, which we call on to answer our needs and see our wants met. We love the passages in the bible that speak about all things being possible, ask and it shall be given to you etc, etc, etc. We plaster them on our walls with cute pictures of kittens, or bunny wabbits. But we forget about (or trivialize) the passages that call us to forsake all for his sake – sell all, give it to the poor and follow me, pick up your cross and follow me, die to your self, those that wish to be the greatest amongst you must humble themselves and become as servants. Maybe it is because verses like these don’t go well with pictures of fluffy animals & eagles or maybe it is because this is not what we want to hear – it is too hard work – it cramps our lifestyles too much… it is submission of the will to Christ – it is religion…
What do you think? Have I gone too far again? Am I too cynical? Or do I have a point? – Please leave some feedback and let me know!
Peter
Oh and by the way, Merry Christmas!!
The question that I asked in my paper was; as western Christians, have we combined our Christianity with the beliefs of the west? & if so to what degree does it affect the salvational (I think I may have made that word up sorry) value of our religion? I kind of took the easy way out with my paper focusing primarily on the Word of Faith Movement (Kenneth Hagan, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, etc), saying that the Word of Faith Movement had lost the plot, and that their influence over the broader church was to its detriment. I still believe this, if there is a movement that can really get my blood boiling it is the WFM, Their teachings spring up all over the place in regular church circles, and millions of dollars are sent out of third world countries by well meaning but misguided poor Christians to help fund the ministry & lifestyle (and search for a more realistic toupee) of such people as Benny Hinn.
But as I think about it more, I start to feel that the WFM is not the cause but probably a symptom of a wider problem (surely it is a symptom that nurtures and feeds the disease but that is another story for another day). I think the key word here is magic. Magic means various things to us as westerners, from illusionists such as David Copperfield to the use of white or even black magic that seems to have become so in style over the last ten years or so. But taking it away from entertainment or the occult, on an anthropological level, magic could probably be defined as the manipulation of spirits through rights, rituals or offerings to the benefit of the practitioner. In contrast, religion probably could be defined as submission to the will of a higher being. Magic is about what self wants; Religion is about what God wants. As I think about it, Western Christianity is so much more about self than it is about God, and a good serious look at the shelves of any Christian bookshop would prove my point… We employ good Christian principles to get more wealth, health, dates, well behaved kids, etc. There are numerous self help books out there that somehow combine the secular pursuit of psychology with the Christian belief system. There are countless CD’s coming out where the importance seems to be more on how much they sound like the secular world or how cool they are rather than on actually worshiping God, or instilling Christian values.
Now I am not saying that self improvement is not a way of life for a Christian, because it is – the bible is clear on how we must live our lives and become more Christ like; God is very concerned about our lifestyles. But it seems to me that Jesus has become our little genie in a bottle, which we call on to answer our needs and see our wants met. We love the passages in the bible that speak about all things being possible, ask and it shall be given to you etc, etc, etc. We plaster them on our walls with cute pictures of kittens, or bunny wabbits. But we forget about (or trivialize) the passages that call us to forsake all for his sake – sell all, give it to the poor and follow me, pick up your cross and follow me, die to your self, those that wish to be the greatest amongst you must humble themselves and become as servants. Maybe it is because verses like these don’t go well with pictures of fluffy animals & eagles or maybe it is because this is not what we want to hear – it is too hard work – it cramps our lifestyles too much… it is submission of the will to Christ – it is religion…
What do you think? Have I gone too far again? Am I too cynical? Or do I have a point? – Please leave some feedback and let me know!
Peter
Oh and by the way, Merry Christmas!!
4 comments:
You're right, Peter... too right, unfortunately. I work in a Christian bookshop (OK, I run one: I'm the shop manager), and I'm constantly appalled at the amount of fluff and candy-floss theology (can we really call it 'theology'??) that Christian publishers are flooding the market with. As a general rule I refuse to stock it: if someone asks for it, I'll order it, but I don't give most of it any shelf space.
Thanks for this reminder of what following Jesus is all about, bro: grace and peace and strength to you as you carry your cross with him.
Sorry, forgot the "http://" in my URL...
Thanks Phil, it's great to get some feedback - that is the problem with blogging - everyone says they read my blog, but no-one leaves feedback so you don't know if you are actually writing stuff with any value or if you are wasting your time...
Mate thanks for your thoughts, I don’t think you’ve gone too far. (This time… I don’t know about the other times, because this is the first time I’ve read your thoughts; but this time you’re alright. )
I agree that the narrative of Jesus is far too wild, uncomfortable and out there for most of the Churches/Christians that I know. Sadly, I feel that I can’t be excused from that statement myself. Having a raised level of awareness/faith about Jesus and his mission, is not enough; equally having a life style without a faith the journey I feel is about meshing the two paths together, the awareness/faith and the life.
In continually seeking to do that I am sure that I will uncover my own little pockets of magic, but that’s ok,
Thank God, for the grace provided for the journey.
Thanks for you thoughts
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