Arts and Crafts: How to Make a Diety

In a previous post, "The Fear of What God Might Become, if We Let Him," I wrote of my own journey from the Religious Right to wherever I am now, and of the way I tried my very hardest to make Christ accept the oh-so-logical-and-just set of beliefs that I worked for years to form.  Now though, I must say that I am quite sure I was never alone in my rebellion.  I can call out no individuals, and I will not, for the path they take is God's alone to decide for them; however, I have no problem with addressing the problems I see in a movement as a whole.  Thus I must speak to the Religious Right, though I doubt they will hear me (for I have yet to host a radio show). 

When I was a Republican, I am quite sure that I wanted nothing more than to create God in my own image.  I had imagined a God who expected everyone to make right choices (under the threat of eternal damnation), and who existed for nothing but the good of the entire world.  Indeed, anything bad that happened to anyone was surely the result of their own sin.

I was missing something though.  First, right choices don't come so easily to those who are utterly imperfect, and second, man (and least of all a teenager) has no concept of what is good for him.  However, I could not see this; I expected all men to do good things, and for God to reward us with lots of nice stuff, because "my God shall supply all my needs," you know. 

Both of these expectations, I believe, stemmed from where I live.  I live in a society where even many Christians believe in some way that man is "basically good"; that is, Christians might deny it, but they still imagine that a man who is sinful can do things that please God.  I know I did.  I knew all about freedom, and I knew that in the situation I had been raised in, I had found doing "good things" to be quite easy.  If someone else finds these things hard, then, I'd say they deserve whatever they get, whether their reward be poverty, jail time or an STD. 

My society had also taught me that "stuff" is good, and that more "stuff" is better.  You know what I mean; in the world we live in, "Excess is equated with success," as Switchfoot says.  I was conditioned to assume that getting money was a positive event, and that getting sick was a curse straight from the Devil.  Part of this was due to my religious training, but I believe that training itself was the result of the materialism of American society. 

You see, society had molded my beliefs to fit its image, and I in turn tried to mold God to fit my image.  Unsurprisingly, I didn't succeed.  But I did create a nice little god of my own to worship; he was an impotent god who never really did much for me, but I was quite sure that he at least wanted to give me lots of stuff and that he agreed with me that people with AIDS should have really been more careful about whom they slept with.

But what does this have to do with society?  Here's the connection.  American culture is quite materialistic, and America itself is exceedingly wealthy.  Oddly enough, I have found the Religious Right more likely to debate this than the Secular Left; the Right will say simply that "God has blessed us," while the Left will cry until they turn blue that we should spread our blessings around a bit.  Not that they actually spread their own blessings around, much less do it effectively, but despite their being mired in materialism, at least they are able to see that materialism and rail against it. 

But I digress.  Back to our wealth and materialism, consider this:  It is our materialism which causes us to consider "stuff" to be good, and it is our wealth which makes us look down on those who do not have "stuff."  Perhaps this is confusing, so I ask you this:  When a person considers a thing (be it money, health, or friends) virtuous, and he happens have more of this thing than others do, how does he come to think of other people?   Does he esteem them higher than himself (as Paul might counsel us), or does he think "Gee, I've sure got a lot of virtuous stuff going on here"? 

The materialism that makes us regard "stuff" as virtuous is subtle.  It is difficult to recognize, partly because we are so numb to it (it saturates every part of our lives), and also because it has quietly crept in to Christianity from its secular origins.  Chances are a person with plenty of stuff isn't going to admit to himself that he thinks he is better than a person with less stuff, because that would mean he would have to admit that people with more than him are better than him.  However, he still secretly holds to the belief that many in this democracy have:  the belief that everyone has an equal chance, and if one person does not have as much as another person, then it is an indication of poor choices at best, and vice at worst. 

Of course, not everyone has an equal chance of doing equal things for an equal reward.  I'm not talking about men making more money than women, or white people making more than black people.  I'm not speaking of inequality between salaries at all.  Instead, I'm talking about the hand that God plays in the reward of every man, and the hand that sin has in all of man's choices. For God is the rightful judge of what any man should receive, both in this world and the next, and sin affects the choices of all of us, especially those who know nothing but sin. 

Let me say a little bit more about God's dispensation of blessings.  We as humans are finite, flawed, and ultimately it can be said that we don't know very much.  So on what authority have we allowed ourselves to be convinced that material things are good?  To be certain, they are not evil unless there is such a thing as a necessary evil (for we are encouraged to ask for our daily bread), but how can we legitimately believe that any one thing is good? 

Now remember, it may not be a conscious thing that causes us to believe material success is good (or an indication of good), but it is a real belief nonetheless, and one that afflicts us all.  And yet, it is an unfounded belief.  God is the sole determiner of right and wrong, of what is good and what is evil.  He has not told us that a person with little should make better choices, or that a person with much has done many things right.  Instead, He has told us that rich and poor alike need the same thing, and that thing is Him. 

So why, then, has the Church begun seeking riches?  Why do we give money for our church to change lightbulbs and buy new video cameras?  Perhaps the Lost just really want to spend a couple of hours of their weekend listening to knock-off Chris Tomlin music and learning about things that have little or no bearing on their everyday life in a place that is well-lit and video taped.  If that is the case, then the money we give to the Church (secretly hoping that it will be returned thirty, sixty and a hundredfold) has been sown well.  But if the Lost have no interest in such things, and if we have done nothing with our seed to help the World see that their purpose can be found in more than this material world, then we have merely thrown money at God (or in his general direction) to see if He'd give us money in return. 

And perhaps that is our downfall.

We consider money and possessions to be good, even though we have no right to.  Now, what better to lead a person into sin than a false belief that something is good?  For man naturally pursues what seems most good to Him.  So I do believe it could be said that, while money can be a blessing for some who need it to survive, it can also be a curse to the man who believes it good.  And here in America, I find there are very many people indeed who believe it to be good. 

That is why I say our combination of materialism and wealth is a very dangerous one.  We view money as a blessing from God, when it very often may not come from Him at all.  For He will not lead us into temptation, and if money or "stuff" happens to be our vice (as is often the case with materialists like us), then maybe excess isn't in his plan for us. 

I dunno, just a thought. 

But do you see what has happened?  By recognizing materialism for what it is, we can then see that it's okay to have less than everything, and that people who happen to have less than we do are exactly the same as we are.  Their choices aren't their problem, it is their heart, for the heart makes the choices.  And when we recognize that we are materialistic beasts, we can finally begin to allow Christ to turn us into something else, something He can use to provide for the poor, if they need it, and humble the rich by living humble lives themselves. 

This is where I speak to the Church.  You can see for yourself the image of materialism, if you can bear to look upon yourself for a moment.  It's true that in the past, there were people who believed God would give no one any material blessing, but that does not justify your extreme reaction to their extreme position.  While material may or may not be evil, it is not something to be sought; only something to be given, first by God, and then by those who received it to those in need.  It can be nothing else without moving God from his rightful place in our doctrine.  Now you have seen how materialism has infiltrated your institution and affected your beliefs, assuming you are willing to look at yourself as Christ did, and perhaps you see what it has done.  You do not give the World the help they need, because you insist on forcing them to learn (apart from Christ) how to live rightly, when it is their heart of stone which you so happily ignore that causes them to sin and make poor choices.  For the sake of the Lost, for your own sake, and for the sake of the purpose we were all created to fulfill, lay down your possessions.  Give all you have to the poor, pick up your cross and truly follow Christ. 

Comments

[Alex]

Nice post dude.
It is great to see that you are growing spiritually. Keep looking up! God bless.

[CountryGoalie]

Oy, so there's another Christian teenager out there who disagrees with our culture's materialism and is disillusioned with both the Right *and* the Left? I did not believe that any others could exist. I'll be keeping an eye on what you've got to say in the future, as I find that my views are changing and I am uncomfortable with how many in the Church view certain parts of our government and society, and I'd love to hear input from others who are going through a similar process.

Keep your specs on.

[CountryGoalie]

I was reviewing some articles by a fellow whose blog I read often, and I came across this article:

http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2006/08/syncretism-vs-christian-agrarianism.html

Thought you might find it interesting, considering your recent bent.

Keep your specs on.

[Gina]

Hmm,very thoughtfull. I believe you've hit on something here. The church at large does seem "overly fat" with their eyes only on themselvs. However it would be the same thing to say that someone is materealistic just because they have much.(It's judging their heart motives, which only God can see.) Money isn't bad and money isn't good, it's a tool that people use to do eather good or bad. How can you help the poor if you have nothing with which to help them? and why would you help the poor if you did have but coulden't let go? We are chanels by which God is ment to flow through. If were stopped up,(by "hording blessings") then they aren't really "blessings" and of what use are we?! One story in the bible that used to get to me, was the one of the three servants and talants. I always felt sorry for the guy with the one talent. He saved it for his master! I mean he didn't lose it or any thing! and later the one talent he had was taken from him and he was thrown outside! Then the servants with many talents were given more. And the story ends with this:
-Matthew 25:28-30
"Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

29For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

30And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

I thought that the master was a greedy,unfair man who was angry with the poor servant only because he didn't have a lot of money. But that wasn't the point. The amount wasn't what mattered. The fact is he didn't put what he did have to good use.