Hiding religion in the church

[aron]

I read a neat book some time ago by a theologian named Walter Wink. His book was called "Naming the powers". The apostle Paul had referenced these entities about a half-dozen times in his epistles (Ephesians 6:12, Colossians 1:16, 2:15 etc).

Wink said that these "forces" were actually quite clever, and would take charge without anyone realizing they were doing so. He said that the churches were often unwittingly duped into setting up systems of command and control with mirrored the fallen systems of the world.

The genius of these dark forces is that their prime movers actually think they are continually serving God. I bet that WL never got up in the morning and said to himself, "Well, gotta go dupe the gullible sheep today!" He really thought he was doing the Lord's work.

Let me put it another way. Suppose you and I are Christians, and we go to a church meeting to testify of our faith in Jesus. There, we love God and love our neighbor, as the Lord Himself commanded us. But at some point, in our serving God among the flock, these dark forces insinuate themselves, and we may unwittingly become a minister of the organization and not the Lord or His sheep. The "power" we serve is not God but religion (no different from serving Coca-Cola or the Ford Motor Company, actually, except that with business we don't pretend to be serving God).

And the insidious poison of the tree of Knowledge is that we can see this blindness in others but be ignorant of its effects within us. Somehow WL convinced the faithful that by his incessant, scathing critiques of "religion", he was somehow rendering his own potions immune. "Inoculating", he called it. Then all the LC "storms", "rebellions", "betrayals" and so forth are always from "them" and not "us". But as you say, nothing could be further than the truth.

Which I guess is why I have abandoned the "certitude" offered by WL & company. It was attractive when I was a babe; everything I needed was carefully packaged. Just get into the "ministry". Today I realize that the Bible is very mysterious, as is its chief protagonist God. The myriads of angels overwhelm, and then disappear. The Son is near, in my heart and in my mouth, then vanishes as if forever. It is terrifying to "abide" in such mystery! How much I crave certainty, and comfort.

The older I get, the more I realize my own darkness. At the same time, I remain dimly aware of the brilliance of God's light in Jesus Christ. The gap between the two seems so great as to be insurmountable, and I nearly despair, of either being "like Christ" or amounting to anything even vaguely "Christian" in my lifetime. Well, my journey is what it is.

Your writing is good; just don't mistake your writing for reality. That is probably how WL got snared into 'religion'.