By Mathew Maavak
This piece is mainly directed at practicing Christians... and Good Samaritans. If evangelical Christianity has reached a unique juncture in its history, it will have to exorcise a spiritual abuse I call the Caiaphas Oracle. The most startling example happened 2,000 years ago:
"You know nothing at all, nor do you consider it expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish." Now, this he did not say on his own authority; being High Priest that year he (Caiaphas) prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not only the nation, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God scattered abroad. (John 11:49-52)
That prophecy should have been a reality check. But the next verse states:
"From that day on they plotted to put him to death."
How bizarre? Here was a prophecy given, but it was interpreted and mangled for a license to kill. How accurate was the interpretation? In a few years, the nation did perish, the temple would be destroyed and the people would be scattered abroad.
Caiaphas got it wrong, and not for the first time.
If the High Priests needed a divine confirmation on the character of the Messiah, here it was, given at the last moment. Following a slew of signs over three years, this came as a last minute reminder. God doesn't play games, He tempts no man, and he did warn protagonists in this famous episode. Pilate's wife had a dream. Divine foreknowledge comes with compassion.
But the Sanhedrin thrived on exclusivity. No divine communication can flow truthfully here. In fact, truth is rarely found among the self-righteous.
Such follies have never ceased. Even today, exclusivity rapes prophecy to induce disaster, fear and death.
Along the road, errors of interpretation lead to outright errors.
How many of you have heard of an impending impeachment of Bill Clinton, an impending Y2K bug on Dec 31 2000 and other apocalyptic visions that never transpired?
The Problem
One of the central messages of the crucifixion is the torn curtain, which, Caiaphas would have personally seen. Henceforth, there would be no mortal intermediaries between God and man.
There are those entrusted to edify, to build upon the cornerstone. No one is supposed to lord over their fellow brethren. But some take it upon themselves to regard the shepherd's rod as a divine scepter, filled with the keys of knowledge. This is a recipe for spiritual, moral and mortal disaster.
Throughout Christianity's growth, a colossal number of murders have been perpetrated by those who claim ultimate authority and knowledge. The image of God has become harsh - depicted by the heirs of Caiaphas, just like it was 2,000 years ago.
Impressions of God
I remember my first encounter with a charismatic church. During one sermon, the visual impressions of God were broached, especially the moments when eyes were closed in prayer. From the pastor's experience, the common impressions were 'light, thunder, lightning, fireballs…"
They were explosive stuff; charging even "light" with tindery sparks. No one thought of a part of God, sent and personified by the Good Shepherd who is ever willing to leave 99 of his flock to look for the lost one till he finds it. Till he finds it.
Now, that's less incendiary and more assuring. It is backed by numerous verses. Try Romans 8:34-39 & 1 Peter 3:19-20, Lamentations 3:31-33, Ezekiel 16:53-55 for starters.
When the image of God becomes distorted, so do prophetic insights. Destruction is the child of the Caiaphas Oracle. That church I went to exploded within four years and I am thankful I wasn't around when it happened. God gave me no option but to study abroad, away from this setting. While I went through a bizarre journey - where my fear of text books became inverted into a flair for writing - some who remained suffered greatly.
People who needed comfort went insane, a drug addict who sought solace found condemnation, and died of an overdose. There were more sick hallelujahs until the pastor was caught having an amorous side to his stern "hotline-to-god holiness" on Sundays. He speedily fled the country with money pilfered from his flock. It was typical of the scandals that rocked evangelical churches worldwide in the 90s, and pretty much exclusive to firebrands adept at invoking heaven and hell to point an accusatory finger.
One notable similarity was their lack of a worldly skill or qualification. The result is a dependency on the chief tithe-bearers. Expect different treatment for different people for the same "sins." If wealth is desired, invent a software, win the Wimbledon, or rock away towards a chart-topper. No problem. Never use the church for that purpose. It's a sanctuary of help, not of self-enrichment.
Churches have since tried to temper their tone but no change can occur until the seed of exclusivity dies to sprout the central message of divine love.
The Exclusive Paradigm: Us vs. Them
In an exclusive setting, there are strings attached to any work of God. One mistake and it may be over. "Spiritual insights" are stretched to the extreme. Parables are supplanted by studies on demonology. A cellphone ring during healing time can be attributed to the devil and your breakthrough is lost because God isn't in charge of time and space. Dark principalities are named and rebuked too often by mortals who, I suspect, take a secret delight in being beribboned generals in their spiritual warfare. Jesus, on the other hand, was a man of few words when he healed.
Within this exclusive paradigm, there is a craving for more. I have heard this too often: "I am not like other pastors…" They are men of great faith - some of whom spend hours naming and rebuking a condition - but lack the prerequisite called for in 1 Cor 13:1-8. Verse 8 begins with "love never fails."
That's the central message preached 2,000 years ago. If love never fails, it can only come from above. Faith that "never fails" too is a gift from above, not a superhuman achievement (Ephesians 2:8). Human faith, as with love, however, rides through the calms and tempests of life. When a wrong notion of faith is ramrodded into another, death can result. One young convert I knew died of an epileptic seizure as he was abandoned to "faith" rather than his medication.
That's why statistically, God had more problems with mortals than the evil one. Check the stats.
However, it is ego-boosting to brandish spiritual swords above mundane duties, and end up slashing bruised reeds. The dragon remains and so does error.
And Caiaphas Oracles.
Last year, an unknown group prayed for me and a "divine insight" turned into an avenue for vitriol and condemnation. God said it, so it must be true. From then on, fish-scaled eyes saw me in a different light. That's how the Caiaphas Oracle works. These people could neither see my inner wounds nor my random acts of kindness. Or one root problem besetting me, for that would expose their own complicity in one almighty sin (Matt 18:6), leading ironically, to a crisis of "faith."
In such settings, the best one can expect is a mixed bag. Eight years ago, I received my first baptism of the Holy Spirit in one of these churches. As soon as the prayer meeting began, the church elder pointed to my direction and announced a new life by the time I got home. Just what I wanted.
The prayer went on till people with "sleeping problems"* were told to come forth. I am a chronic insomniac and I qualified first class. When hands were laid on me, I felt an arcane, supernatural experience for the first time and I began - in Christian parlance - to "speak in tongues." The provenance of this experience is true, and I did everything right - with fear - till I hit the sack.
But sleep eluded till a pill helped. If I ever approached the church I knew the harsh "lack of faith" denunciation. However, when you refer to scriptures, hardly a biblical prophet escaped doubt, fear and despair. Moses himself told God: "If you are going to treat me like this, you might as well kill me." ((Numbers 11:12-15).
The endowed Moses can say it; not lesser mortals. This is the antithesis of the Gospel. There can be no breakthrough in an environment brimming with fear and a judgmental image of God. If God is love, then He surely must love better than any father, husband or wife. He is the ultimate protector as well, which reminds me of the first words of the church elder upon introduction: "No weapon fashioned against you will succeed." Within seconds of introduction, there was a cognitive appreciation on both sides on the struggles I faced. Some of them amazingly passed, including a rare calisthenics on academic entry.
However, when the image of the divine protector becomes distorted, it's best to stay out. God and fear of summary punishment don't mix.
I felt vindicated on Dec 31 2000. I was holding a mug of beer behind a pillar while revelers counted down the final seconds to the new millennium. Seconds passed...till I joined the revelry, with relief.
The church was only a hundred yards away, and members had disbursed hours earlier to prepare for the coming Y2K scourge. Food had already been stockpiled at home.
The lights never went out that night because there is one Light that shines on everyone.
Caiaphas Motives
There are many, many sincere ministers but there are also those who cling to the exclusivity paradigm for more sinister reasons. If wars can boost a profitable military-industrial complex, then demonology and hell fire provide the fruits of the church-tithe complex.
When people are spooked, they cough up more. I have heard sermons on the operative law of tithing. If you don't tithe, you lose some reward. Never read Jesus or Paul preach on that as they understood another law: the Law of Sweethearts, one attested by the romantic Solomon in his Songs.
If you love someone, 10 per cent is nothing. In fact, it is rather cheap. When you are drawn closer to your creator, you willingly give more. No prodding or coercion needed.
However, when church becomes an industry, expect hypocrisy, judgmental types and fear. Years back, on one particularly vulnerable day, a bible-toting freak, with the look of a demon, started thundering "read bible, not stupid" along a major thoroughfare.
True, I was having a crisis of faith but such "boldness with insight" happens when you are down and only when you are down. From my experience, such people shrivel away from any daredevil on a sinfest.
That's the Caiaphas Oracle again. Thankfully, I was weaning myself from the fireballs paradigm. I felt vindicated through the years though rough times can get rougher.
When it becomes rougher, I yet cling on and sometimes encourage people in distress - often online. On one particular forum, there was a google ad that linked to a Christian site, supposedly dedicated to such people. It started off with "Do you believe, do you believe..."
Never finished the questionnaire. The Good Samaritan didn't whip out his list when he saw someone dying by the roadside.
There are bible-toters who can walk past the wounded, puffed up by a twisted "knowledge." Weasel words follow weasel knowledge. "The man sinned...or he is reaping what he had sown...'read bible, not stupid' (my favourite)...or he should just trust God, heal his own wounds and leap out with a Eureka."
Truth is the first casualty of those more sanctified than the good Lord Himself.
I am where I am
Right now, I am going through the biggest crisis of my life. Call it a make or break situation. My writings too have undergone a metamorphosis. For some time, I have been linking tyranny at the top with tyranny below. Biblical verses have been interpolated alongside characteristic historical references and humor. Those verses popped out - among other quotable options - as they made perfect sense in this world. The world has never been short of wars and tyrants since Eden. To those who believe, human conflict began with a lie.
Every lie and cowardly compromise leads to conflict, derived not from a top to bottom dictatorship, rather from the actions of individuals at ground level. As Éttiene de la Boétie reportedly said:
The only power tyrants have, is the power relinquished to them by their victims.
Hypocrisy and tyranny is the child of lies and falsehood. Misery, despair and violence are the result. It happens everyday, everywhere. TV screens, Internet publications and even human rights campaigning may focus on the big - Iraq and prominent dissidents - but rarely on the hundreds of millions of faceless individuals who face despair, hunger or death.
A publicity-driven world has failed them. The "do you believes" are also of little comfort to them. Like Caiaphas, those who can galvanize succor, rather consort with the Romans of today, perpetuating a symbion of wealth, authority and "reputation." Out of these adulterous liaisons, come forth false witnesses, willing to lie their way, day after day, to save their own sanctified hides. Out of these, are drawn the swords of conflict.
And conflict begins from bottom up. If there is one weapon still fashioned against me, it comes from my own household!
From a personal experience, governments and societies may place obstacles that can be overcome. Setbacks can lead to a new avenue, a new gifting, something new to write.
I have been an optimist under the most pessimistic circumstances. But if there is another lesson to be drawn from the 2,000-year-old saga, it is the enemy within who delivers you to peril. For I waged one struggle after another but I find my own flesh and blood to be the greatest scourge. Outward piety and reputation truly belies what is within. (Matt 23:27).
Quo Vadis? Miracles?
If there is a prophetic hint on what might transpire, it happened five years back during a telephone conversation. A complete stranger on the other end detected some chest pains no one knew. After a prayer, the pain vanished, never returning in its terrifying intensity. No further ECGs were needed either. I was also told of a journey ahead, subsequently backed by others, often strangers. If there is an apparent delay - I am not supposed to be where I am for long - it yet served a purpose. I began to write. Never knew that I had a facile flair for it.
It was one niggling obstacle that sublimated my anger into words. There is a reason for everything and Bon Jovi's Welcome To Wherever You Are attests to it. Being the lilt du jour, this is heard on my radio:
Remember every new beginning is some beginning's endWelcome to wherever you are
This is your life, you made it this far
Welcome, you got to believe
That right here right now you're exactly where you're supposed to be
Welcome to wherever you are...
God makes no mistakes.
If God makes no mistakes, then I am where I am, seeking both the end of a painful beginning, and a beginning of the promised. Even the fiery pit did not see the end but a new beginning for Daniel's three friends.
Right now, I can only think of their defiant response...
* Advise to insomniacs: Watching soccer does wonders! It follows the same somniferous psychology of counting sheep
Most of Mathew Maavak's commentaries can be read here or visit the Panoptic World homepage.