Army of Priests

Merry Christmas everyone!

I was at a local church yesterday known for espousing the prosperity gospel on a regular basis. As usual the sermon was all about how God would bless us abundantly with whatever we ask for. Unlike similar churches tithing isn’t seen as necessary to get this blessing but it definitely helps. They had a ‘pledge’ that they read out before the offering saying asking that when they gave their incomes would increase, settlements would be favourable, health problems would go away, and a long list of other things.

During the message the pastor (who in the past published a note with the newsletter telling the congregation not to do good works in the community) bought up an issue that was unexpected. He said there was a “theology of hell” going about, especially in the young people, that involved good works, and prayer, and giving your possessions to the poor in order to curry favour with God.

Now most the young adults who once went to the church don’t any more. Quite frankly they are all too busy thinking up ways to do these community oriented things that the pastor has told us not to do. A few of us have sold a lot of what we own and given the money away. (I just finished my third wave in my ongoing campaign to get rid of the stuff that controls my life. I’ve found it liberating. I still have heaps of unwanted stuff to go though.) After the service I learnt that one of my friends had given away his musical equipment to people that needed it. “Selling you guitar” was one of the examples the pastor had used. It all added up now, the pastor had heard of this before I had.

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I sent this email some time ago to a bible study group after the “Rewards for Works” theology had been discussed. These days my knowledge of this theology has increased and thus my arguments would be different but I still believe this original email contains valuable insights.

I don’t know how many of you guys remember us talking about rewards for works at young adults two weeks ago. The general idea is that we are given different rewards in heaven for what we have done and this might be a higher status or a better job or a bigger house or something like that. I’ve been doing a lot of research and study and this is what I have found.

As far as I can gather “Rewards for Works” theology is a relatively new idea that first appeared in the book “Eternal Security” by Charles Stanley. This book was first printed as recently as 1990 and you can still buy it here (though the reviews are not good). Charles Stanley proposed that there were different “layers of heaven”. In the following quote Charles Stanley refers to the parable in Mathew 25:14-30 about the three servants with the gold and two servants double what they are given whereas one just buries it for safety:

The final verse of this parable is so severe that many commentators assume it is a description of hell. It is not . . . The point of this parable is that in God’s future kingdom, those who were faithful in this life will be rewarded and those who were not will lose any potential reward . . . Before we can understand the full impact of this parable, we must first determine what the “outer darkness” refers to in the context of the parable. It certainly does not mean hell in the parable. How could a master throw a slave into hell? . . . But what actual place was Jesus referring to in the parable? He gave us only one hint: “In that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” . . . To be in the “outer darkness” is to be in the kingdom of God but outside the circle of men and women whose faithfulness on this earth earned them a special rank or position of authority… We cannot conceive of the agony and frustration we would feel if we were to undergo such an ordeal: the realization that our unfaithfulness had cost us eternally would be devastating. And so it will be for many believers. Just as those who are found faithful will rejoice, so those who suffer loss will weep.

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I’ve have recently had two friends abandon their Christian beliefs. One has become Atheist, the other Zoroastrian. Whilst they had different reasons for their change they both agreed on one thing: Christianity does not make better people.

Its easy to see what they mean. Statistically speaking Christians are almost indistinguishable from the general public (except they are slightly more likely to get divorced or support torture). There are good Christians, and there are bad Christians. There are good non-Christians and bad non-Christians.

Countless holy wars have been launched by Christian leaders. The atheist, communist leaders of the 20th century are just as guilty. Countless charities have been started by Christians and non-Christians alike. Religion doesn’t seem to be a deciding factor in people’s actions.

Most Christians are functional agnostics. They’re not ‘good’ people or ‘bad’ people. They just blend in with the surrounding culture distinguishable only by their church attendance. Some Christians read their bible a lot and evangelise in their schools, campuses, and workplaces but there still isn’t anything different about them (at least not anything which other religions also repeat).

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This is an old thought from my journal.

Humans are amazing creatures. They must be for we are the entire reason that an infinite being such as God created this awesome universe. What could God, an awesome and infinite God for whom the pages of this book are not worthy of mentioning, possibly want with a universe filled with inanimate matter and a few minor organisms called “life”? Why bother?

The reason is us.

Human beings have some interesting properties that result in the fact that God simply could not resist making us. He loves us too much. A clue is found in the first chapter of our bibles:

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
(Genesis 1: 27)

Human beings are made to be like God. Obviously we aren’t omnisciencient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful), or omnipresent (everywhere at every time) but in our own little way we can love (like God), we can feel (like God), we can be patient, or faithful, or kind, or angry (like God). Even more spectacularly, we can enjoy God.

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