Dear Christian Friends and Ghost Dancers
Turn the world upside down then shake it gently
The Ghost Dance (Caddo: Nanissáanah, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) is a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilson), proper practice of the dance would reunite the living with spirits of the dead, bring the spirits to fight on their behalf, end American Westward expansion, and bring peace, prosperity, and unity to Native American peoples throughout the region.
The Ghost Dancers sought to dignify and to preserve their culture. The prophecy and ritual were innovations that failed to achieve the desired result.
John Nelson Darby and Cyrus Scofield popularized a belief that Christians would escape the suffering of the final horrifying years that are expected before the return of Jesus. Can a man who taught Two-thousand years ago reasonably be expected to honor promises from a myth that was created less than Two-hundred years ago, only because the central character of that myth was given his name? This is an exceedingly destructive belief. It creates a false expectation of a miraculous deliverance and it promotes an attitude of indifference toward the future.
“Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.”
“Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.”
Do these two verses give instructions that contradict each other? Perhaps instead, they are prompts meant to cause us to consider in advance what result our words and actions may have. There are at least two possible courses to choose from when we face someone who seems to us to be foolish. Now add this.
“Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.”
This adds even more potential for consideration. What if we ourselves are foolish in our own turn? We should never fail to consider this possibility.
What is so bad about being a proselyte?
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” This verse is commonly used to condemn the failure of the Jewish teachers from Two-thousand years ago, but in the spirit of finding prompts to consider from all possible viewpoints, shouldn’t we look for a more general, even universal principle? What if we ourselves have assumed the role of the Pharisee? What is so bad about being a proselyte anyway? A proselyte is one who has accepted the teachings of another as dogma. It is as if some other ordinary person’s explanations were from the mind of God. “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”.” Here again, shouldn’t this apply equally to any human teacher, not just to ancient Pharisees and Sadducees?
When traveling through Samaria, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” The word spirit can be interpreted as meaning something as mundane as purpose or intent, or could it be something very mysterious, something that is perceived in a fashion that can not be shown to another. Truth however is a more concrete notion. If you are not honest with yourself, not only about what you claim to believe, but also about why you have chosen some belief, then you cannot be truthful. If you adopt some belief only because someone else or those around you all promote this belief then you are a proselyte. Even if the origins of these beliefs were perfect, every misunderstanding, every distortion, and every abuse of this truth along its line of transmission is accumulative. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
With no perfect standard bearer in view, truth and spirit or purpose become objects that must still be sought. Let us examine the appointment of Matthias as an Apostle from the account given in Acts Chapter One. Jesus, after teaching his followers about the Kingdom of God for forty days, commanded them all to not leave Jerusalem and to wait. They failed. They couldn’t wait even ten days, but instead set about the administrative work of replacing Judas with a new Apostle. They themselves chose two candidates then presumed that by casting lots that their new appointment would become God’s choice. They failed to follow a simple instruction, to wait, then they formed a sort of government which imposed its own decision on God. They did not claim responsibility for a course of action that they themselves had chosen. They narrowed the field of choices to two candidates. They then presumed to allow the voice of God to be heard by a coin toss, but only within the constraints of this narrowly chosen field. Nowhere in this account is the voice or the hand of God explicitly mentioned. Thus it was shown early, how easily this new Church could jump off the rails.
The entirety of Church history soon becomes a confusing tangle of division, political ambition, and attempted reforms. No part of this fragmented body can claim with certainty to possess its authentic original spirit or purpose. If any have inherited the clean copy they most certainly must have drawn the lucky straw when lots were being cast.
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
If we are truthful, we will acknowledge that no one that you will ever meet at this time has seen Jesus. It is you that they see. You and I must also consider that we are not all that has been seen. They have seen Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Jim still has a lucrative ministry. They have seen Kenneth Copeland, Jimmy Swaggart, Harold Camping, and Ravi Zacharias. They have seen the Pope and they know that the government that he leads has hidden crimes and has protected abusive priest from their victims. They have been approached by strangers and acquaintances, who eagerly exhibit unsettling belligerence, while they are trying to make proselytes.
The meme shown below is circulating.
In the spirit of trying to see every matter from all possible views shouldn’t we ask ourselves: What happens to sinners when we enjoy their company? How would you react if some prominent leader called you and your kind “a basket of deplorables”, then her proselytes chimed in enthusiastically? Has this game of trading insults ever yielded anything of constructive value, or does it just indulge our desires for hostile entertainment?
Governor Mike Huckabee posted a joke about some of the horrible injuries recently suffered because of sabotage. Governor Huckabee is continually publicly displaying his Christianity. He hosts a television show on Trinity Broadcasting Networks.
“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.”
Did Mike miss this page when he read the Book, or does he pick and choose only those parts that are convenient,pleasant or flattering to him? These verses not only give behavioral instruction but also warn of the consequences of failing to heed the instruction. How can such a prominent representative of the religion of peace, one who reaches so many of the faithful and one who has professional connections in ministry, not have been warned of this grave error.
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
Years ago souvenir shops, stocked with fragile items, would put signs on the shelves saying “If you broke it you bought it”. The verse above is like that sign. Not everything that makes us uncomfortable or makes us feel threatened is persecution. Sometimes we are just paying our bill.
Franklin Graham, the well respected legacy minister, is delving into politics. His statements like “he cusses when he gets mad” are a thin veneer in defense of Donald Trump, a candidate who is a known sexual predator. *!* Neither Graham or Trump has yet repented of their promotion of Operation Warp Speed, even though in retrospect this rushed medical intervention is now clearly a Genocide. Graham even encouraged people to take the mRNA shots. Trump has said that he has no need to be forgiven of anything.
It is understandable how people can be so easily led to choose the lesser evil, after all if we are on a slower road to Hell we will be better acclimated when we arrive. Choosing the lesser evil through many cycles does however tend to increase our tolerance for evil.
Watch the movie trailers for TRUMP 2024: THE WORLD AFTER TRUMP from Resurrection Pictures. Watch it guardedly with your critical mind engaged. These trailers quickly jump from one brief clip to another. They have a hypnotic effect as you are stimulated by this barrage of flatterys and insults. It may seem as if you are being given a guided tour of your own mind. The flatterys are affirming and ring of truth but it is the threatening insults that really keep the faithful on the reservation. When we are not careful we suspend our own discernment and judgment to thought leaders. We become proselytes. Under the influence of these thought leaders, just like those who appointed Matthias to be an apostle, we impose on God. We present our adopted purposes and procedures as if they were from God. We never become responsible actors.
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”
This exhortation to pray for those with authority is not distinguished from those prayers that are prescribed for all men, except perhaps that the purpose to “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all goodness and honesty” is added. We are not exhorted to petition for their career successes or matters of policy. We are advised to ask that we remain unmolested by authority and are free to “lead a quiet and peaceable life”. The impositions of those who insist that their favorite lesser evil will secure God’s favor are not godly or honest, because they must corrupt themselves to justify this chosen evil.
With only two very bad options offered, what can we do?
Turn the world upside down and shake it gently
In his dream, the reason given that Nebuchadnezzar was condemned to eat grass for seven years is this,” to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” This reason is always cited as indicating God’s primacy in human affairs. What is seldom recognized is that it reveals an organizing principle of human society.
We have no reason to expect our rulers to be morally superior humans. Those in positions of great influence must realize some form of the principle illustrated by Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Our rulers appear to act on a need to corrupt those that they rule. Our shortsightedness makes us fit and deserving to be ruled by those who are clever but horribly corrupt, those” basest of men”. This organizing principal is a natural law. It is the means by which the hand of God guides human affairs. Perceiving, understanding, and acting on this principle will give us a tool to shape the future world.
Currently, society is turned against itself. Led through fear to a despair that prompts all of us to corrupt ourselves. The feedback loop that causes those in authority to become an unflattering mirror, one that displays the worst of what we are or what we are becoming is broken. The feedback that could empower ordinary people is not accomplished by petitioning authority to deliver virtue. We must cultivate this virtue first within ourselves.
We have no meaningful direct access to those with authority. If we want to pretend to be in the game we must accept roles as cheerleaders, pawns, and spectators. To achieve our rightful influence, and only after cultivating our own selves, we must communicate openly, directly, and unafraid but carefully, with those near to us. We can lead by the example of allowing their thoughts to visit our own minds so that in a spirit of friendship we challenge each other.
corruption is a grassroots phenomenon
Imagine talking to doctors or pharmacists about regulatory capture and the perverse financial incentives that are built into the current system of medicine. Your few encounters may have little or no transformative influence but when this type of frank encounter becomes the norm those who you reach will eventually be driven by conscience to challenge their superiors. In old public service announcements Smokey Bear would say “only you can prevent forest fires”. No one presumed this to mean that by themselves they could prevent all fires. We knew that each of us were being reminded to be careful with matches. Imagine talking to police about what types of enforcement requirements could cause them to question their role in society. Prompt them to consider who they serve and protect and why. When talking to soldiers, forgo the ritual “thank you for your service”. Instead express your concern that civil authorities often abuse their willingness to stand in harm’s way. Express your dismay that foolish deployments are instruments of destruction that waste blood and treasure.
If we turn the world upside down and shake it gently we will stop being cheerleaders, pawns, and spectators on a stage that others have set. We can become the ones who set a stage that the future will be built upon.
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