Tyler Johnson, MDiv
Tyler is an engineer, teacher, and former pastor. He loves to explore truth through God’s word and God’s works. He lives in Kansas with his wife and four children and spends what little free-time he has practicing tae kwon do and pondering the mysteries of light.
If Jesus saves, well he better save himself
from the gory glory seekers who use his name in death.
These lyrics have been on my mind lately. Partly because it is Holy Week and partly because of certain connections that people have made between politicians and Jesus. I wonder how many of these people ever actually read the Bible.
These lyrics come from the song “Hymn 43” by Jethro Tull from their Aqualung album. It’s a great album from a musical perspective and the latter half is full of intriguing lyrics like this. The songs tell of lead singer Ian Anderson’s (bad) experience with religion and his beliefs about God beyond his religious experience. It’s a worthwhile listen for any Christians past and present, especially those who are deconstructing.
I come back to these lyrics often because something about them seems right. Certainly we’ve all wondered something along these lines, or asked a question like this. “How could God just let the Holy Wars and the Inquisition happen in His name?” “How could God allow genocide and slavery to happen in His name?” “How can God allow prosperity Gospel pastors to get rich through the exploitation and manipulation of their congregants in His name?” “Why does God continue to allow so many Christian leaders to ruin lives through sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, abuses of power, and idolatry in His name?” In short, how can God allow such people to be harmed and abused in His name?
This is a hard question. Today, as much as any other time in history, we might be tempted to sing: If Jesus saves, well he better save himself, from the gory glory seekers who use his name in death. Jesus save us all.
I think it is important that we look at the situation clearly. This state of affairs is not new. It did not start in the ‘70s when Jethro Tull sang about it. It didn’t start in the ‘20s when the modernist movement happened. It didn’t even start in the 1500s when the Reformation happened. It has been happening for as long as we have written record.
Throughout the Old Testament we have stories of God’s violence against certain people groups. Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed for lack of a faithful few. It is through violence that God rescues the Israelites from Egypt. In Joshua God orders the systematic genocide of several different people groups. The Elijah/Elisha narratives are full of weird stories of violence: bears mauling youths (2 Kings 2:23-25), fire falling from heaven to consume multiple groups of messengers (2 Kings 1). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Old Testament is full of violence and often it is divinely sanctioned violence.
There would be no problem with this, if this is how God really was. But it isn’t. There are plenty of counter-voices in the Old Testament that speak out against such abuses. (Ezekiel 16 is one of my favorites.) More importantly, this view of God doesn’t fit with the person of Jesus.
We could accept the idea of a violent and hateful God if Jesus had led a violent revolution, hated on non-Jewish people, or called down fire on any of his opponents (his disciples thought it was appropriate in at least one instance: Luke 9:51-56). But he didn’t. In fact, Jesus rebukes every suggestion of such behavior. He even restores the ear of the guard that Peter cuts off in his zeal. Instead of condemnation and hate, Jesus eats with the rejects, touches the unclean, listens to those who have no voice in society and offers forgiveness to all. And he does all this while his closest friends, his disciples, continually misunderstand who he is and what he is all about. Right up to the very last moment, the people who knew Jesus best, demonstrate that they really don’t know him (Acts 1:1-11).
Jesus died on the cross about 2,000 years ago, in Jerusalem, at the hands of Pilate, Herod and a mass of people who had turned against him. It happened one time. But in some ways this was just the latest and most dramatic instance of what had been happening since the beginning of God’s relationship with humanity. In their efforts to be good, to be religious, and to appease God, people have continually misunderstood and misrepresented who God is. Ironically this misrepresenting God is what gets Jesus the most fired up, and brings out his strongest condemnations. Don’t believe me? Read Matthew 23. It’s directed at the religious leaders who are shaping people’s understanding of God.
God’s relationship with humanity has always been cruciform (cross-like). Our representations of God have always been tinged with idolatry and error. From the golden calf of Exodus, to the genocidal god of Joshua, to the nationalistic god of some factions of contemporary America, God has been used to sanctify greed, violence, hatred, and power. There is nothing new under the sun.
The fact that God allows this is telling. The fact that Jesus hasn’t yet saved himself “from the gory glory seekers who use his name in death,” is something we should pay attention to. It would seem that Jesus didn’t just tell his followers to “take up your cross and die” because that was what was about to happen to him. He told this to them because this is the way that God has always related with humans. From the very beginning God has been misunderstood and misrepresented by His followers. Even after centuries of preparation, His people didn’t recognize the Son of God among them. Even after centuries of Christian theology, biblical studies, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, God is still used to justify war, the Bible is used to oppress, and a violent and immoral narcissist can be positively compared to Jesus.
What is most remarkable is that instead of defending Himself, or constantly correcting such errors, God allows these misrepresentations. He doesn’t seem overly concerned with his public image. His PR guy probably quit ages ago. Why does God continue to allow this to happen? Why allow such slander to propagate? The only reason I can make sense of is that to do otherwise would go against His nature. It would go against His nature to micromanage his image. Needing to do so would suggest that something could diminish God, that God needs validation, or that God is more concerned with Himself than with others. But these are all attributes of humanity, not divinity. Instead, God humbly and graciously maintains a relationship of love and forgiveness for all those that distort and pervert who He is.
This Friday we remember the crucifixion of Jesus. Whatever rituals and services you use to remember this event, I encourage you to also reflect on all the ways that God is being crucified all around you on the altars of money, of power, of influence, of clicks/likes/views, of greed. Then, if you are feeling brave (by which I mean, if you have a robust understanding of God’s grace), I would encourage you to also reflect on how you have sacrificed Jesus on the altar of your own comfort, convenience, and control. I, for example, have definitely preached sermons that have more to do with maintaining my position, proving my beliefs, or justifying my actions than they have to do with the love and grace of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.