Considering Culture: We Are "Gods"

It seems to be all the rage these days among the "spiritual" to claim some form of divinity, or at the very least, claim to have god-like powers. This form of spirituality comes in many forms, shapes and sizes (there's even a "Christian" version), but at base, they are all the same.

However, it is not only the supposedly "spiritual" people that covet god-like power, thoroughgoing secularists do the same from a decidedly naturalist worldview. Whether it's done in the name of spirituality or secularism, the desire to usurp God's throne is universal, and it's nothing new. It is a very old lie that dates back to the Garden.

But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." -- Genesis 3:4-5

At base, man is a rebel. We have rebelled against our rightful God and King in an effort to put ourselves at the center of all things. In the words of R. C. Sproul, we are guilty of "cosmic treason"; and much of our entertainment is dedicated to this philosophy of self-worship. We see it in books, movies, music and television in which we are told that the greatest good is to seek our own fulfillment, and to do so at any cost. Pop culture is like a modern day Tower of Babel as we seek to reach up to heaven and claim our own glory and autonomy. I offer here just a few notable examples, ranging from the secular to the "spiritual".

John Steinbeck - Author

Best known for writing East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for literature. The following is an excerpt from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. 

We have usurped many of the powers we once ascribed to God. Fearful and unprepared, we have assumed lordship over the life or death of the whole world — of all living things.

The danger and the glory and the choice rest finally in man. The test of his perfectibility is at hand.

Having taken Godlike power, we must seek in ourselves for the responsibility and the wisdom we once prayed some deity might have.

Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope.

So that today, St. John the apostle may well be paraphrased: In the end is the Word, and the Word is Man — and the Word is with Men. [ref. John 1:1]

As this speech indicates, Steinbeck represents the only secularist in our group. It seems apparent that his hopes (and fears) for mankind rested not in some vague form of spirituality, but in scientism.

Shirley Maclaine - Actress

Back in the 80's when Shirley Maclaine authored her book Out On a Limb (and starred in a subsequent movie by the same name), it caused a bit of a stir. What Maclaine believed at that time was still considered rather strange and bizarre by the larger culture. But that is no longer true. Below is a brief excerpt from the movie which was based on her book. In this scene, she stands at the edge of the ocean and boldly proclaims that she is God.

Eat, Pray, Love - Book, Movie 

"God dwells within you, as you… God dwells within me, as me."

That quote is just one of the many nuggets of "wisdom" offered in Eat, Pray, Love, another cinematic offering from Hollywood starring Julia Roberts. It was based on the book of the same name authored by Elizabeth Gilbert. 

As a memoir, Eat, Pray, Love has become an international best seller. It has sold over 10 million copies and has been translated into over thirty languages. And it seems that Gilbert has become quite a mover and shaker in her own right. In addition to being invited to speak at the prestigious TED conference, in 2008 Gilbert made Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people. She has also accumulated a long list of literary awards as well.

In the movie, Julia Roberts portrays the aforementioned author as a woman who is perpetually discontent and unhappy with her tragic upper middle-class life. One night, after a few moments of agonizing prayer, she decides to leave her marriage and job to travel the globe in search of culinary delights, casual relationships, and self-absorption actualization. Conveniently, Liz discovered that "God" wanted her to do all the things that she already wanted to do in the first place. But it gets even better, on her path to enlightenment, Liz discovered that she is divine. Shirley Maclaine must be very proud, her brand of New Age spirtuality is now considered mainstream.

Oprah Winfrey - Talk Show Host, Media Mogul

Although a professing Christian, Oprah Winfrey has been one of the highest profile celebrities to endorse New Age spirituality. She has also been a big promoter of New Age gurus such as Marianne Williamson and Eckhart Tolle, among others.

In 2008, Winfrey hosted a series of international web classes with Eckhart Tolle, based on his book, A NewEarth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. More than 700,000 people worldwide registered to view this webinar.

Their brand of spirituality does not recognize Jesus as Savior. In their view, Christ did not come to atone for sin, but rather, He is only a guru who came to teach us how to awaken our "Christ consciousness" within.

The following is a brief transcript from their web class*:

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): And you know, it’s been a journey to get to the place where I understand, as I said on the pre-show here, that what I believe is that Jesus came to show us Christ consciousness.

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): That Jesus came to show us the way of the heart and that what Jesus was saying that to show us the higher consciousness that we’re all talking about here. Jesus came to say, “Look I’m going to live in the body, in the human body and I’m going to show you how it’s done.” These are some principles and some laws that you can use to live by to know that way. And when I started to recognize that, that Jesus didn’t come in my belief, even as a Christian, I don’t believe that Jesus came to start Christianity…

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): Well, I am a Christian who believes that there are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity.

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): I’m a free-thinking Christian who believes that, who believes in my way, but I don’t believe that it’s the only way, with six billion people here on the planet.

Joel Osteen - Televangelist, Author

Oprah's brand of spirituality is far more accepted today than it was when Shirley Maclaine first proclaimed her divinity. I offer as further evidence, the alliance between Oprah Winfrey and Joel Osteen. Osteen preached a sermon, titled The Power of I Am, that so impressed Winfrey that she decided to feature it on Oprah's Lifeclass. Given the Biblical meaning of the words I AM, Osteen's use of these words is careless at best, and blasphemous at worst.

It was said of Charles Spurgeon that, if you cut him, he would bleed Scripture. I suspect that if you were to cut Joel Osteen, he would bleed the self-help section at your local Barnes & Noble. His is a Christless Christianity. There is no talk of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). Osteen speaks only of peace and safety to itching ears (Ezk 13:10, 2 Tim 4:3). This indicates a tragic lack of discernment among professing Christians considering the fact that Osteen pastors the largest "church" in America, with over 43,000 attendees every week.

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At bottom, what all of these philosophies have in common is a me-centered / man-centered worldview that is completely foreign to the Gospel of Christ. These philosophies, whether secular or "spiritual", are antithetical to the God-centered worldview of Scripture. There is only one true God, and we are not Him. Most disturbing is how New Age spirituality has been repackaged with Christian sounding terms and language.  

Unfortunately, these powerful voices are coming from every direction in our culture; from the secularist, to the "spiritual", to mainline evangelical churches. But in reality, this is nothing short of evil disguised as light. We have been repeatedly warned about false teachers in Scripture, but somehow we have failed to listen.

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
-- 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

*H/T Apprising Ministries

Considering Culture: The Water Faucet

We live on a little blue dot hanging out in space called Earth. Astronomers tell us that, in all the known universe, our planet is unique in very important ways -- ways that sustain life as we know it. Sure, that notion has come under fire in recent years but, as of this moment in history, we have yet to discover a planet like ours. One of the most unique features about Earth is that it contains a vast supply of a life sustaining liquid known as water. That is also the reason our planet is a lovely blue. Over seventy-percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, and our bodies are roughly sixty-percent water. Because water is essential for life as we know it, the equation is very simple: no water = no life.

So we are fortunate (to put it mildly) to live on this rare planet that can sustain life. Those of us who live in a developed country are doubly fortunate in that we have easy access to potable water. For much of human history the acquisition of safe drinking water was a formidable challenge, and it continues to be a challenge in underdeveloped regions of the world. According to the World Health Organization, eleven percent of the world’s population still lack reliable sources of safe drinking water. In terms of numbers, that represents almost 800 million people, a population more than double that of the United States. It also must be remembered that water is vital for our food supply and sanitation as well. When there is a crisis in the water supply, malnutrition and disease are sure to follow.

If you're reading this, chances are you have never experienced life-threatening thirst and dehydration due to a lack of potable water. Those of us in the developed world have a constant, abundant, and convenient supply of water at our fingertips. We turn a couple of knobs and temperature adjusted water comes gushing from a faucet (Even my parents didn't enjoy this level of luxury during their childhood.) Furthermore, if the bottled water industry is any indication, we've also become water connoisseurs. Because if tap water is not to our liking, we will pay a premium for our favorite "brand" of bottled drinking water. People who are desperate for water are not concerned with such things. As modern people, we have no idea what it is like to live under conditions in which water is hard to come by. Due to our effortless access to water, we hardly give it a thought.

By comparison, ancient cities were usually built around natural water sources. Although parts of the ancient world had impressive aqueduct systems and a network of wells, it was still a lot of work for the average family to retrieve enough water for their daily needs. The acquisition of water occupied a great deal of their time, and it meant carrying heavy water jars to and from a well, or some other source of water. It was also common to mix water with wine as a disinfectant because, more often than not, water was unsafe to drink by itself. How many hours of your day are occupied with retrieving and disinfecting water? I'm guessing none. To live in a modern culture, is to live in a state of comfort and luxury that would have been completely foreign to the ancient commoner.

So what does this have to do with Bible study, and why am I going through such pains to point this out? This is why: Because of modernity and our easy access to water, to a large degree, the evocative power of a biblical phrase like living water is lost on us. But to a people group that lived in an ancient desert (people like the woman at the well), it would have had a far more powerful impact due to their keen awareness of their dependence on water. Because of modernity and the water faucet, we lack that awareness, even though we are just as needy. In other words, we take water for granted. But if something were to happen to our water supply, in less than a day, we would become very desperate very quickly.

When Jesus offered living water, He was making a powerful statement to people who were desperate for water. He was drawing an analogy between our physical need for water, and our spiritual need for Him. In the same way that our bodies are dependent on water for physical life, we are dependent on Christ for spiritual life. Jesus is claiming that we are spiritually dead without Him. He is also claiming that, in the same way we are physically cleansed, refreshed and sustained by water, we are spiritually cleansed, refreshed and sustained by Him. Water is both a necessity and a deeply satisfying joy; there is no substitute. The same is true of Christ. Furthermore, Jesus didn’t only promise to give us living water, He promised to give us the very source of living water, the Holy Spirit.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. -- John 7:37-39

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Once again, I must borrow from C.S. Lewis with an excerpt from The Silver Chair (book #4 in the Narnia series). A little girl named Jill Pole had gotten herself into a bit of trouble, and she decided to run from Aslan who is a Christ figure in the land of Narnia. Jill is lost and thirsty, and despite her best efforts to avoid Aslan, she finds him waiting for her by a stream of water, his stream of water.

"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.

"I’m dying of thirst," said Jill.

"Then drink," said the Lion.  

"May I -- could I -- would you mind going away while I drink?" said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. As Jill gazed at this momentous bulk, she realized she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

"Will you promise not to do anything to me if I do come?" said Jill. 

“I make no promise," said the Lion.  

Jill was so thirsty that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer. "Do you eat girls?" she asked.  

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings, emperors, cities, and realms," said the Lion. He didn’t say it as if he were boasting or as if he were sorry or as if he were angry. He just said it. 

"I dare not come and drink," said Jill. 

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion. 

"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer." I suppose I must go look for another stream then." 

“There is no other stream," said the Lion. 

It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion -- no one who had ever seen his stern face could ever do that -- and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up the water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she ever tasted. You didn't need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once. 

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There is another profound truth that is waiting to be discovered and it is this: The very reason water exists is to point us to Christ. Why do I believe that? Because Christ was slain from before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). When Christ used water as analogy for Himself, it was not an afterthought; it was according to the foreordained will of God. Nothing God does is an afterthought -- and all of creation, including water, sings to His glory. So the next time you enjoy your water faucet, a refreshing glass of ice water, or a swim in a lake, you would do well to remember -- what water is to the body, Christ is to the soul. The equation is very simple: know Jesus = know Life.

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. -- 1 John 5:12

Considering Culture: Idol Worship - Then and Now

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