Bad Religion: If It's Going To Be, It's Up To Me
The mentalities of bad religion are often relegated to the terrible weight of self sufficiencies. Jesus came to overturn such mindsets to bring us into the embrace of a loving Father.
Matthew 14:1-12 (NIV)
1At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet. 6On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much 7that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10and had John beheaded in the prison. 11His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
“The world does not consist of 100 percent Christians and 100 percent non-Christians. There are people (a great many of them) who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but who still call themselves by that name: some of them are clergymen. There are other people who are slowly becoming Christians though they do not yet call themselves so. ” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
It is not a new concept to suggest that personal spirituality is a more popular position than being subject to a higher reality.
There is a different Herod in power in this passage than the one we read about in Matthew 1 and 2. It is a title like Caesar was to Julius Caesar or Augustus Caesar.
Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great, is now in power in the region in which Jesus is ministering. Though Jewish in religion, much of Herod's life (much like those in the book of Judges) was about him doing what is right in his own eyes, finding his own truth. It results in a phenomenon called syncretism (for which the Herodian family, familiar with Roman mythology, were known), where people begin to blend different religions, cultures, and schools of thought to present a new philosophy to which they will adhere.
This relativistic position does not work if there is a real God. The contradictions of differing doctrines preclude such a reality and results in the fact that either there is no God (the idea which Jesus obliterated), or that not everyone is right. If the latter is the case, then this Father who is making Himself known shows the way to life, because He is the designer of life and will ultimately judge everyone in the end.
The Father heart of God also reveals important lessons from Herod's life:
1) People have no right to choose who is more important to God, to have prejudice against the wealthy or the poor in the church.
Herod, to whom John ministered, received an estimated 5 million dollars annually in tax revenue alone. John also ministered to the less affluent and graduated scale classes of farmers, soldiers, and tax collectors. The issue is that the whole world is bound by sin and needs the gospel.
John's message to this Idumean ruler reiterated the fact that the whole world will be held accountable to God.
2) God wants us to be students and adherents of his Word rather than cultural Christians.
Herod's response to Jesus as a possible resurrected John the Baptist showed a blend of theology, fear, and superstition.
When we view our walk with Jesus as a personal opinion rather than a truth that sheds light on the realities of the world around us, we fall into the same errors.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?"
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:1, 4-6 NIV)
3) It is important who you marry or link with romantically. So much of Herod's latter years were marked by manipulation and intrigue instigated by Herodias.
Herod eventually lost a pivotal battle to his former father-in-law, avenging his deposed daughter. Antipas was also eventually exiled with Herodias to Gaul because at Herodias' request, Antipas came against Heordias' brother, Agrippa I, to his friend Emperor Gaius Caligula.
Why did it come to this?
It was self-sufficiency. As Herod did, we try to get rid of anyone who may tell us the truth, like John the Baptist, who came testifying to Jesus, His law and His historic work.
We, like Herod, often fall prey to a fear of correction and the fear of man.
Many times we'll make the excuse saying, "If someone I trusted, who I know and love came and spoke to me, I would listen." But we don't. Or, we say, if God were really speaking, He'd send a prophet who doesn't know me. The truth is, we always find a reason why people speaking into our lives are unqualified.
If the only input that you receive is from a pastor on the opposite side of the country, who does not know you, via podcast, you will remain isolated and blind.
Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies. Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers; their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken. (Psalms 141:4-6 NIV)
Jesus calls us to a place of strength and safety through a community oriented life.
Matthew 14:13-21 (NIV)
13When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” 16Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 17“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. 18“Bring them here to me,” he said. 19And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
“It is the business of the very few to be independent; it is a privilege of the strong. And whoever attempts it, even with the best right, but without being OBLIGED to do so, proves that he is probably not only strong, but also daring beyond measure. He enters into a labyrinth, he multiplies a thousandfold the dangers which life in itself already brings with it; not the least of which is that no one can see how and where he loses his way, becomes isolated, and is torn piecemeal by some minotaur of conscience. Supposing such a one comes to grief, it is so far from the comprehension of men that they neither feel it, nor sympathize with it. And he cannot any longer go back! He cannot even go back again to the sympathy of men!” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
God the Father wants to break the the myth of bad religion that our life in Him is individual vs. communal.
Prayerless Christianity is a perpetuation of that mentality.
Psalm 127:1-2 (NIV)
1Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. 2In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.
In these moments, we are more concerned about what we don't have than what we do have. The Father's guiding principal in our work, relationships, and ministry is, if we are faithful with little, we will be given much. We need to give all that we have to Jesus as stewards, and allow Him to multiply it.
The boy who gave Jesus the fish and loaves had what was equivalent to a single meal. You think you only have enough for yourself in life, but by giving your resources to God, it can help feed the multitudes. God is a provider, a multiplier, and He enables us as a people (like the disciples working together) to do miracles.
Second City Church- Bad Religion Sermon Series 2013