Religion and political power. Now there is a combination that is lethal. Jesus as a prophet went to Jerusalem to die, stating that no prophet can die outside of Jerusalem. Jerusalem should have been a (fallen) symbol of a location for the nations, but we read that the religious verdict from the centre was that it was better he died or the supra-national power of Rome would come and take away their religious privileges.
Religious privilege! How we love that, hence the party that espouses family values, can pull our vote even if on other issues such as a generous immigration policy they are vehemently opposed to. We are in dangerous times, not dangerous primarily because of terrorism, nor the coronavirus, but over the compromise of our faith. In Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote at one point:
Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator.
Policies that were in line with God!
I do consider that we are at a very dangerous time of history. I am deeply grateful for the prophetic prayer that has opened space, but we can SOOOO easily fall into the Peter trap. We flow from revelation to rebuking Jesus for the path ahead that he saw. There will be no delivery into the hands of our enemies (the cross) but they will be delivered into our hands (the false cross).
Just as Jesus went to Jerusalem to end the journey of the prophets to that place of death, so Paul ends in Rome. No record of his death there, as it is not about his death, but about our death. Jesus goes to Jerusalem to break the alignment of politics and religion, so leaving Paul pronouncing the Gospel in Rome turning everything on its head.
Many are now beginning to use the cross – even in the former stronghold of atheism, Putin is pulling on religion and the cross. So to the question…
Is there a (demonic) power released when the (false) cross is pulled on.
And to the answer: YES.
End of post!
Astoundingly true and super scary and challenging. May God forgive us when we try and make him in our image and manipulate the cross to endorse our own agendas!
I have watched with shock and dismay as many of my contemporaries here in the USA have endorsed power over people as “Gods Anointing/Anointed”…the effects of RJ Rushdoony’s re-writing of American history is now coming to fruition…he actually believed the first amendment was not written to seperate state and religion, but instead was there to protect State Churches…and now a generation of home schooled revisionist have mobilized all across popular evangelical flavors to concoct a zeitgeist of holy wars against inclusion…the temple is now a war machine…
Just this week the Governor of Alabama refused to grant a stay of execution against a black man where another man completely on his own actually confessed to the killings, the very next day she signed a bill into law called “The Alabama Human Life Protection Act”…
The disconnect is bigger than the distance from Abrahams bosom to hades and no one seems to notice.
This is real power over lives we are talking about…
Jesus’ message is so freaking radical – give up power to the point of torture and death. Unbearable. No wonder we do anything we can to both get piety points and power together. It is a colossal ask for any of us to walk away from what power we have or hope for and probably lose the piety points from religion in the process.
I take heart in my students. Most of whom, at least in Canada, are not into religion at all. They seek their piety points in caring for the environment or social justice. And yes, there are problems with that too but hey, I can work with it.
I walked out of the church when I realized how immoral it was over 20 years ago. I won’t go back. I can’t avoid all corrupt institutions (in academia I have to work for them) but I stay away when I can. And the church is essentially, in most of its variations, simply corrupt. I’ve watched it turn people into liars, thieves, and thugs. No desire to join that. I’ll stick with my agnostic and atheist students. Their skepticism towards institutions is refreshing and essential in a time of great transformation.
OOOFFFFF!!! In and through all the true cross of Jesus stands, for that we are eternally grateful.