Explaining God Away

I was listening to Revelation on audio Bible and wondered why after the last mention of saints (chapter 15) there is no other mention of God, gods or idols. It is surprising that after that we stop hearing the mention of any sort of worship, only blasphemy after judgment.

How come gods disappear from the scene so suddenly and so completely? What has happened that we stop seeing trace of worship of any sort? Earlier, we find all religions united against the saints who worship God through Christ Jesus. What has happened that all of a sudden all worship ceases? Does it mean that Christ is the end of all worship? Does it not mean that all religions exist with the single aim of stopping or corrupting the knowledge and worship of Christ? Does it not actually mean that there is no other worship but through Christ, that the removal of His worship ends the need for any other worship?

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed… (Psalm 2: 1, 2)

How do people stop doing all that they have been doing since time immemorial? Where are the Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists? What has happened to organized religion all of a sudden?

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (Daniel 12:4)

I think that we are living in a time where we are looking to explain away everything. We are explaining away all mysteries. We have answers to all previously hidden knowledge. We think even God fits snug in the box of our explanations.

One challenge of that knowledge is that we are able to manipulate anything to serve us. Sadly, we also tend to think that God is also part of it. We find great fulfillment being supreme rulers of our universe through our knowledge. Like was told in Eden, we have become gods; at least we try to be. We are in charge of our destiny. Like the crowd in Babel (Genesis 11), we have made a name for ourselves and through technology have become a village. What do we need God for?

We are made to believe that there are ‘believers’ pre and post rapture. Why don’t we see any evidence of the same after the saints depart?

I also got to look at a question that has bugged me for a very long time. Why do we have these very senior ministers being condemned to hell in Matthew 7: 21 – 23? How could they have been able to do that kind of ministry in the wrong spirit and never know it?

I think they were able to distill the essence of ministry in quantifiable doses. They understood ministry completely until it lost its mystery. Until it became a job like any other! Even the supernatural could be explained. They only ‘called for’ faith because they had to earn a living. Faith was for the ignorant, and they were not the ignorant. Incidentally that is what you find with all other religions; the masses are strict adherents but the elite care for none of it though they are the ones who teach the same masses. It is called esoteric knowledge that does not need any observance. 

It then is no wonder that we hear of ministers caught in despicable behavior. It is a pity to see a pastor renowned for his exemplary exposition of the scriptures having sex with his parishioners and showing not even the slightest sense of shame or remorse.

God is one of the essentials of living. But sadly He is not much different from electricity, at least to these ministers. As such He can be defied just like in flying we defy gravity if we just have enough expertise to counter the repercussions of such defiance.

That is how they can flout the scriptures again and again as they teach self serving doctrines and live God defying lifestyles. The know enough about God to play into His bounty without necessarily having to subscribe to His standards. It is like an electrical engineer who can play with high voltage cables without seeming to care whether a small slip may mean instant death.

A minister therefore becomes similar to a magician, someone with enough trickery to convince an audience to pay for all the entertainment and wowing performances.

He could come fresh from having some wicked fun with a prostitute yet is able to make the presence (whatever it is) palpable when he gets to that pulpit. He could be tipsy yet becomes most heavenly after taking the pulpit that people think that he was drunk with the Holy Spirit, as if that is even remotely possible.

He could be an enemy of the cross outside that pulpit yet becomes angelic when he occupies it. And I am also talking of us whose pulpit is the written word. It thus appears as if the pulpit transforms Mr. Hyde into a Dr Jekyll.

Yet is that what God expects of His ministers? Is that the standard Christ set for us?

Whereas many assume I write as a whiner who has given up on the church of Christ, I do it to distinguish those who are Christ’s from the ones seeking to benefit from their association to Christ and His calling though they may be farthest from Him. You see it is only by knowing the real that the fake (pretense) can be revealed. I write with ire because of the damage they cause to the seekers of the truth and of God, much like what happened to David when he heard Goliath defying God’s armies.

What was Christ’s take on this?

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7: 15 – 20)

We produce after our kind. And the spiritual is not any different.

God’s minister serves God, and only God. He serves people as an overflow of that worship. But people are not his focus. Only God is. That is where we look when we are looking for the fruit.

Does he have the heart of Christ?

What is your favorite minister’s relationship with friends and enemies, the rich and the poor, friends and enemies, the needy and the desperately needy? What especially is his attitude towards sin in those relationships? What is his attitude towards sin when it concerns his circles, especially his supporters?

What fruit does he produce? What is the product of his ministry and mentoring? How does he do that mentoring? Does it reflect the heart of Christ or does it further his self seeking agenda.

Is he replaceable or is he even more precious than Christ in the ministry he is in? Can the ministry proceed without him? Does he have fellow ministers or simple errand boys in ministry? Is there a possibility of him being overruled by a spiritual argument or is his position canon?

Is he replaceable or is he a permanent feature of the ministry he does? Does he encourage and even speak of his departure as he prepares others to take over from him or is it anathema to even imagine him gone?

Look at all that with Christ as the standard and you will easily see the person who serves God and on whose terms he does it.