A comment on commentary

 Like several other posts on this and my other blog, this is something that's been rolling around in my brain for awhile.  Something I've been wanting to talk about, but haven't fully articulated.  Now feels like the time to put words to it though.

First off, just a brief word of warning: this is going to be about religion, politics, and social media.  Three things that just go so wonderfully together and nothing can go wrong, right?  And I'm gonna be talking mostly to my fellow Christians.  If you're not a Christian, you're always welcome to keep reading, but what I have to say will range from either meaning nothing to you to pissing you off.  

So, the final impetus to write about this has to do with a meme that was amongst my siblings comparing "Colonizer Jesus" to "Historical Jesus," that is, the version of Jesus that Trump supporters and Republicans in general allegedly prefer to propagate, to the Jesus that actually existed, according to Scripture.  It contains a lot of things you'd expect: race, methodology, teachings, etc.  But one comparison that set me off was the comparison that Colonizer Jesus "died for your sins," whereas Historical Jesus was "killed by church and state."  As you suspect, the whole point of the meme was to show how the Republicans' version of Jesus is out of touch with what Scripture says about Jesus.  But this one, the meme-maker screwed up and screwed up BIG.  This is one where not only are both true, but the "Colonizer" version of Jesus is more correct and more important.  "Killed by church and state" is the how of the matter, but "died for your sins" is the why of it all.  Why Jesus came to die is of paramount importance.  In more theological terms, it's known as substitutionary atonement.  To call substitutionary atonement a colonizer revision, and therefore fictitious, is to attack the very heart of the gospel message.  Jesus's death on the cross was the payment for our salvation so that the wrath of God would be satisfied, making salvation possible and relationship with God possible again.  This is a core tenet.  To call substitutionary atonement "revisionist" is to nullify the work that Jesus did; moreover, it reduces Christianity itself to being yet another religion where salvation comes by good deeds, by works, by "being a good person," or as my more cynical non-Christian friends would say, by "not being an asshole."  This is heresy, a pernicious and grievous heresy.

And here's the thing: to the absolute shock of nobody reading this, I am not a Trump supporter.  If you go back to previous entries of mine here, you'll see an entry about the need to evaluate a candidate's character when deciding to vote and that I found Trump's character absolutely lacking.  And as we approach the six-month mark of his second term in office, that assessment has not changed a bit.  So I am not a Trump supporter, but I am a Christian.  And this type of meme that says things that I mostly agree with, but then has that one bit that is egregiously wrong, which I cannot overlook.  It needs to be called out, even if it means people think I'm MAGA for taking issue with it.

But as I said at the beginning, this has been brimming inside me for awhile, and this meme only arrived in my messages today.  And there's two directions to go from this point.  The first direction is more of a disclaimer.  I will be the first to admit, I'm not a biblical expert.  I'm not a theologian.  I have thoughts and possible insights every once in awhile while reading my Bible and listening to a sermon.  But I am no expert.  And when it comes to being a sinner, whoo smokies!  I've got struggles with temptation and sin out the wazoo.  It honestly feels like a double-life at times that I deeply despise about myself.  Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way there myself, amirite?  So before you jump on me with the whole, "Who are you to say (such-and-such)?", I get it.  I'm imperfect to the point of feeling like a hypocritical impostor sometimes, and I'm not a Bible expert.  That said, I may not be an expert in the Word, but I can sometimes tell if you aren't either.

Which brings me to the other direction, and the bigger picture.  Ever since the reelection of Donald Trump, there seems to have been a significant increase in the number of posts about Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity, particularly as they all pertain to the American political sphere.  And a commensurate number of social media personalities that feel qualified to speak authoritatively.  Some of them are in fact ministers, but many are not.  Many are "lapsed," or people who were raised in a Christian home or went to Catholic school for many years--but never accepted Jesus as their Savior.  These are people who think their childhood or elementary and high schooling makes them qualified to speak expertly on what Christianity is, what the Bible says, and how Jesus feels about everything.  And some who post on the Scriptures aren't even that; they're enemies who maybe own a Bible just so they can speak against what it says or what they think it means.  This is a problem.

Now, I'm not going to debate what these people say about their upbringing, what they went through at home or at school.  I'm willing to believe the stories of things they went through as kids.  But this brings me to the first problem with calling this expertise: it's primarily subjective, and in many cases, anecdotal.  But primary education is not expertise.  I think we can all agree on that.  Or even high school education.  Can we all agree on that?  And if we can agree on that, can we maybe agree that some instances of pulling out a random verse devoid of context to buttress your point is akin to reading an AI overview of a Google search?

Now I am sure that there are non-Christians who have read the Bible, maybe even a few times.  And maybe they know facts.  Data.  Trivia, if you will.  Maybe they know a little bit of commentary or historical context.  Or even a lot.  Regardless, that does not qualify them to speak as experts in correct interpretation of the Word.  Reiterate: that does not qualify them to preach.  That's what they're trying to do in telling people their interpretation

Again, I don't claim to be a theologian, or even a good person.  But what I do know is that interpretation of Scripture, the kind that is actually revelatory into the nature and personality of God, requires the aid of the Holy Spirit.  You cannot have it without the Spirit.  Now, I don't deny common grace--that is, the idea that the Holy Spirit can work in non-believers as well in ordinary matters of life.  And I certainly would not want to and cannot tether the Holy Spirit to whom It can or cannot reach.  But I know that God wants a relationship with the people He created and made in His image.  And that He wants us to want that relationship too, to genuinely want it.  And I know the Holy Spirit knows our hearts and minds and cannot be deceived.  So, if someone is aiming to use Scripture in such a way as to be detrimental to the relationship that God wants with His children, I believe that the Holy Spirit will not assist such a person.  God the Holy Spirit will not act contrary to Its designs.  So any teaching of Scripture by a non-believer that is more than surface level facts and contexts will not be aided by the Holy Spirit, and thus cannot be trusted.  Satan quoted Scripture as part of tempting Jesus, but we know he failed and his usage of Scripture was wrong.  Likewise, these influencers don't know definitively how Jesus feels or how He would react because they're not trying to get to know Jesus as a person.  That is my belief.  If I am errant in my application of the Word, I humbly and profusely apologize and will endeavor to listen to correction.  I admit it's not a professional take, but it is the take of a Christian who is sick of the hubris of non-Christians thinking they can speak authoritatively on Christianity as a whole and define it once and for all.  I can't even do that, so I know they can't.  Your opposition does not define who you are for you.  Psychologists tell their patients that everyday, and it's just as true for Christians (or Muslims, or Atheists, or even model railroad enthusiasts).

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please be careful.  I'm speaking about social media posts that when applied to the current state of American politics, that I'm somewhat inclined to agree with.  I do believe that the policies of this administration run VERY counter to how Christians should think and act; HOWEVER, I would be very cautious about assuming that the exact opposite policies are automatically the correct answer for Christians.  There is no political party or political ideology that falls one hundred percent in line with what God wants for us in this world.  And for crying out loud, Donald Trump is neither anointed nor a second incarnation.  But please be careful.  The meme I cited as the final straw that prompted me to comment tried to sneak an outright heresy in through surreptitious means, burying it in the middle and making implications for the readers to infer.  It's a pernicious approach and must be called out.  And if posts by non-believers presuming to teach the Bible to you makes you feel insecure, then spend more time reading the Bible and in prayer.  It's that simple.  It takes time and effort, but it's simple.  Most Americans have access to the Word if they want (sadly, some don't, but that's another matter), and prayer is possible to even those without access to a Bible.  Otherwise, if someone who's trying to teach the Bible says, "I'm not a Christian, but I went to Catholic school for twelve years!"... keep on scrolling.  If you see a meme saying the Great Commission is racist because spreading the gospel inherently involves trampling cultures, ignore it.  They lack the Spirit of wisdom to correctly teach about following Jesus.  Let the Triune God define you, not them, and not the politicos.

To my non-believer friends who actually read all that... thank you.  I can't advise you.  Many of you are also not supporters of Donald Trump, and may have even raged on social media about Christians in the wake of this regime.  You're going to be disappointed by Christians, even those who agree with you politically, because our faith and sense of right may not align completely with yours.  You may even have had the terms "hypocrite," "useless," or "confirmation bias" in your mind as you read.  I don't know what to tell you.  I love you all too.  Thank you for being my friend, and I hope you still want to be after reading all this.

A Dream

 Last night, I had a dream that shook me.  It's weird to talk about it, because it was a dream, but sometimes a dream can really shake you.  This one feels different.  Different enough to write down.

In my dream, I was doing day labor for the first time in several years.  I was at a construction site, doing some demolition of sorts.  The plan was to first tear apart the old building, but carefully.  This even included uncovering some laid brick work, tearing the bricks out, and storing them away, saving them to be used later in the construction of the new building, if possible.  When we pulled them out, we brought them over to Morgan Freeman, who was there partially out of publicity and partially because he supported the cause.  After the second load, Morgan told me the foreman wanted me to take care of the cat that had been hiding in the pit under the stairs.  I knelt down and peaked through the floorboards of the steps and saw a cat, but that wasn't all I saw.  I saw a little girl.  An African-American girl.  She saw me and tried to disappear.  But because I was sent to do a job, I went around the stairs, along the side of the house, and found the entryway to this subterranean hideout.  

When I walked in, it looked like a room.  A well-kept room, neat and tidy, with furniture and access to a kitchenette.  Not only were the cat and the girl there, but so was the girl's older sister.  After assuring them that I meant them no harm, they were hesitantly willing to talk to me.  The cat, a black cat, rubbed up against me too, so that probably helped ease their concerns.  I talked to the little girl first, but soon I was talking more to the older sister, who herself was probably still pre-teen, but could at least provide a more in-depth conversation.  I listened as they talked about how they came to be there, how they got the cat, their schooling, everything I could think of.  I just wanted to know everything because I felt for them so much.  Their mother was away at work, their father was in jail for psychological abuse, but the charges were trumped up, and that it never happened.  The cat found them and adopted them when they found this pit.  I remember especially that they took really extra special care of this room in a pit because it was their home.  They weren't lawbreakers, they were U.S. citizens by birth, but they worried that if anyone found the pit, they'd be forced out of what little home they had.  Which, considering I was there for a demolition and construction job of a new building, was perfectly reasonable.  So they took special care of this room, partially out of pride, but also, so that in case they were ever found there, those who found them would see how good of care they took and would either leave them alone or if they had to force them out, would be more inclined to help them find a decent place, since they were clearly of sound mind to keep an orderly domicile like that.

While I talked to them, their neighbors entered, an Asian-American family.  The husband wore a clean, olive-green shirt and khakis, and I could hear the wife and young child, though I didn't converse with them.  The girls I was talking to confirmed they lived there too, shared the kitchenette, and got along well with them.  In this pit.

As dawn approached, and the view outside my real bedroom got lighter and brighter, so too was my awareness that this was a dream, and not real.  Sensing I was on the verge of waking up, I clung to the dream in the last moments and told the girls I had to leave, that the boss would wonder where I was and that I wouldn't get paid if they thought I walked off the jobsite.  But as I felt myself being pulled back to reality, I called out to them and warned them as loud as I could, so their neighbors would also hear me, that I was able to find them, which meant others would find them soon too.  And then I woke up.

I don't know how to unpack this dream, but I can't dismiss it as just a dream.  It feels like there are too many layers of metaphor to ignore.  I don't know what all the dream means, but even if it has no meaning, I can still can't call it just a dream.  I can't say if this dream changed me or will change me, but it feels too significant to not write down for posterity, whatever that posterity may prove to be.  But as I laid in bed pondering this dream, the thought occurred to me that this was not a dream that just anybody could have.  To do the things and have the conversations that I did in this dream are not things that just anyone could do or conversations that anyone could carry with people like those two young girls.  I don't consider myself to be morally superior to anyone--in fact, I know that I'm not--nor do I even consider myself to even be that much of a good man at times, especially in terms of compassion and empathy.  So please don't think I'm trying to present myself as all that.  I can't even credit my own subconscious for conjuring up this episode.  It came from somewhere external; it had to have.  But there are people out there who are incapable of having this kind of dream.  I just had to write this down, because I need a written record of it.  Even now, many of the details of the conversation have disappeared from memory.  And don't ask me why Morgan Freeman was there or why I got to talk to him.  I don't know what else to tell you, except for one thing.  If you ever encounter a person who you believe to be incapable of having a dream like that, once you realize they're incapable of that, flee from them.