The Story as I Tell It-- Part One

As you can see, I've made some changes to my sidebar, as the purpose of this blog is ever-evolving. My thoughts on different theological issues are beginning to solidify a bit as I continue to piece together the many narrative threads that comprise the Scriptures. What I would like to do in this post is to give you an idea of the overall picture I see in the pages of the Bible.

Humanity has this uncanny notion that there is something really wrong with everyday existence. In light of the severe weather we had around here yesterday and overnight, our unease becomes more apparent with every flash of lightning and rumble of thunder. Yesterday on the Roe Conn Show on WLS, Roe was talking to a priest and was asking him if we've somehow made God mad that we're being battered by these storms.

That's the essence of what we think is wrong with our existence. God is angry and he punishes us with dangerous weather and other unfortunate events. People have felt this way from time immemorial. Ancient people figured that the only way to appease the meteorological wrath of the gods was to do things to make them happy. And so they invented rituals and religions, sacrificed animals and children, built temples, wrote myths, had sex, codified laws for living, etc. The will to survive is very strong. Personally, I think it's genetic, but that's beside the point. Genetic or not, we carry this angst of having a sense of being under the gun, as it were, to put things right or face the wrath. More often than not we choose to try to fix everything by trying to fix what we feel is wrong with God, or the gods.

"So, what's wrong with that?" you might ask. It seems to us to be a perfectly logical example of cause and effect. If the gods are angry, cheer them up. Problem solved! Right? Not exactly.

Things still don't seem to go right. We are vulnerable to a whole host of terrible misfortunes, even though we try our hardest to thwart them. We pray harder, burn more incense, and try to be good, hoping that the gods will see that we are indeed frightened of what they can do to us when they throw hissy fits. Well, angry gods produce angry and frustrated people who feel more insecure than ever before. And so the people begin to turn on each other. They invade, conquer, pillage, plunder, enslave, and slaughter each other in the hopes of compensating in areas where the gods have fallen short. Perhaps if the gods had more territory, then maybe they won't be so prone to temper tantrums.

Along comes an ancient people, called Israelites, who were given the task of telling a different story, thereby becoming a beacon of light to all of the nations on earth. Their story was about a God who loves people without having to be appeased. This God rescues people from their captors even though they don't build temples or give offerings to this God. This God provides crops without requiring anyone to do a rain dance. This God wants everyone to know who He is so that all nations would be united in Him. It was going to be hard sell, but God equipped the Israelites to be up to the task.

What did the Israelites end up doing? Just about everything the other nations were doing. Israel was supposed to be different. They ended up being the same. Instead of being a beacon of light they just blended in with the darkness. The end result was that God was being treated the same way the nations treated their own gods. God was not going to become known among the nations in that fashion. It's hard to tell who's who when everyone looks the same.

Part Two is forthcoming.