Man’s Castles are God’s Anthills

Today I got a great Retweet from John Bevere. His son Addison is entering the ministry. Addison said this: “Sophistry is born when the wisdom of man attempts to define the wonder of God. True religion is marked by faith!”

Amen. If brains were what mattered, we would all be taking our cues from Jews. Christian religious scholarship is not very good, although it’s certainly better than the childish stuff we hear from Muslims. Jewish scholarship is on a much higher level. Nonetheless, we believe our way is correct. The reason is that our faith, power, and virtue are imparted to us supernaturally, not through effort or study. A Christian who isn’t bright at all can be a powerful teacher as long as he allows the Holy Spirit to speak through him, but many of our ancient, revered authorities, though learned, were completely wrong about major issues. That’s a nice way of saying they made things up.

Sometimes people tell me I need to read this or that moldy old book, in order to understand God. Meanwhile, God manifests himself to me every day and does wonders in my life. It’s like being in Paris and getting a phone call from a travel agent in Des Moines, offering to send me a pamphlet.

It reminds me of a line in the movie Patton. The general had just captured Palermo, and a Lieutenant Colonel named Codman told him General Alexander had ordered him not to take the city. Patton said, “Send him a message, Cod. Ask him if he wants me to give it back.”

Before tomes and treatises existed, what did people do? They dealt directly with God. I doubt he shut them out because they didn’t have degrees. Where did Adam go to college? What about Moses? Actually, I suppose Moses would have learned a lot of useless garbage from Egyptian tutors. But we know God spoke directly to him, as did the angels. Many modern Christians would have told him he was doing it wrong. “Tell those angels to get lost; we have to go study God.”

One of the great things about Christianity is that you don’t have to be smart to do it well. Jesus used fishermen to spread his word. You don’t have to be a scholar. Isaiah predicted this in what would later be known as his 35th chapter:

1The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.

3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Whatever the literal meaning of this passage may be (people obsessed with reason will get lost there), it also refers to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who guides and strengthens and changes us. This world is a desert, and the Holy Spirit is like GPS (or a pillar of fire), leading us through it. It’s as though there is a highway before us, and he keeps us on it, even if we are fools. That’s what the Hebrew says, even if some translations change it to say fools will not walk on it.

The Bible is a strong authority. Things that came after it? Not so much. Jesus himself condemned them. In the book of Mark, he said, “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.”

We have a lot of nutty ideas working their way into the charismatic churches now. A famous TV preacher has people convinced they can command the angels. Which is true. If they practice voodoo. Otherwise, no. Jesus himself said he would ask the Father to send angels, showing he recognized heaven’s command structure. The Bible calls Jehovah “the God of armies,” referring to the spirit beings he commands. When men start talking to mere spirits, they get in trouble, as Adam could tell you.

If you’re a Christian, you have to compare everything to the highest authority you have, and scripture outranks the rantings of publicity-hungry preachers who are eager to come up with the next big supernatural craze. It also outranks the Talmud and the early church scholars.

The book of 1 John says. “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” Either John was right, or he was a liar, and his whole book should be banned. I think he was right. I think the Holy Spirit teaches me, better than any man could, and I think it’s a good idea to discard crusty doctrines that don’t jibe with scripture. If that’s controversial, so is the Bible.

But then the veracity of the Bible is always controversial, especially in the church. “Oh, it doesn’t really MEAN that…”

I’ve also noticed that people from the older churches have a real problem tolerating other denominations. You can go into a room full of Baptists and criticize Billy Graham and escape with no damage beyond a few dirty looks, but if you even hint that Catholic doctrine is wrong, you can encounter some serious hostility, and if you do it in a bar, you may get a beating. I’ve had close Catholic friends who instantly turned hostile at the mention of the possibility that other denominations might be right. It’s like the Mormons; there are some things you can’t discuss with them.

I agree with what Addison Bevere says. Wonderful bit of wisdom.