OH THE DECAY – CAN WE SMELL THE STENCH?

The fallen man, as we see in Adam and Eve, is anything but what they were created by the LORD God Almighty. They, with natural flair, resorted to manipulation and trickery, while encountering the God of all Creation, with whom, just the previous day, were personification of purity and innocence.
– “8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” – Genesis 3:8-13

The choice of words employed by Adam and Eve, while responding to God, speaks volumes about the altered personality, and the twisted logic, to defend themselves, instead of plainly saying, “We have disobeyed, and we are sorry; please forgive us.” Acceptance of guilt is nowhere on the horizon. Apology for the sin and rebellion, is not even on the periphery of their world view. What a twist in the tale! Matthew Henry, commenting on the above incident observes  and sums it up very well…
– “Sin appears most plainly in the glass of the commandment, therefore God set it before Adam; and in it we should see our faces. But instead of acknowledging the sin in its full extent, and taking shame to themselves, Adam and Eve excuse the sin, and lay the shame and blame on others. There is a strange proneness in those that are tempted, to say, they are tempted of God; as if our abuse of God’s gifts would excuse our breaking God’s laws.” – Matthew Henry

The most guiltiest of all in the world is the “church” and the “christians” who claim to follow Christ the Messiah. The atrocities and crimes committed by us, ever since Rome took over, is no small list. Yet we, just like Adam and Eve, do our best to wiggle ourselves out of the guilt, by indulging in intellectual gymnastics, by using all sorts of logic and reason, to explain away our wrongs, and turning it upside-down, and presenting it as a noble act of goodness.

Let us look at two historical incidents that happened on this very day, 25 January, about one thousand years ago.
– 25 January 1077 – Emperor Henry IV submits to Pope Gregory VII at Canossa, Italy, and will be forced to stand for three days barefoot in the snow.
This conflict between the emperor and the Pope is about who wields power and authority, and who should be subjected to whom. 
– 25 January 1164 – Council of Clarendon assembles and King Henry II of England threatens the bishops of the realm with death if they do not yield him more jurisdiction over crimes by clergy. Archbishop Thomas à Becket concedes in order to save lives.
The conflict between the king and the clergy, as in the previous incident, is tragic to say the least. The king had to use force to make the clergy to come under the law of the land, for any crimes committed by them. Are the clergy above the law? Or, are they a law unto themselves?

Can we smell the same dirty stench of decay, even today? Religion, God, Bible and what not is used, in the present world, to perpetuate genocide, practice slavery, pursue colonisation, believe in racial superiority and ethnocentric exceptionalism, and all sorts of power mongering, as God given gifts and the “christian” birth-right. Assorted quotes of Philip Yancey, from his book, “Christians and Politics Uneasy Partners” speaks straight as an arrow, without any pretense or prejudice.
– “When the church has occasion to set the rules for all society, it often veers toward the extremism. When the church joined with the state, it tended to wield power rather than dispense grace. Be careful,” warned Nietzsche, “lest in fighting the dragon you become the dragon. I see the confusion of politics and religion as one of the greatest barriers to grace. C. S. Lewis once said that almost all crimes of Christian history have come about when religion is confused with politics. Politics, which always runs by the rules of ungrace, allures us to trade away grace for power, a temptation the church has often been unable to resist.” – Philip Yancey

What tragedy, are both these historical incidents, in the light of Adam and Eve, and the fall of man, and the list of our crimes. Sounds petty and silly, if not for the serious reflection of the fallen human heart, and its machinations, in how the church and the christians lived their faith. They are a reflection of the fallen man. Both the historical incidents had nothing to do with God, Bible, being a Christian, the disciple of the LORD Jesus, and a witness and an ambassador of our Redeemer. The atrocities of church and the christians who had power, is a reflection of the greed that has taken over the hearts.

OH THE DECAY in the Church – CAN WE SMELL THE STENCH? Can we see it? Can we smell it? Or, have we become so desensitised that, we have become blind, and have lost, all sense of smell and shame? May the LORD help us to follow Christ the Redeemer, and not, the religion called christianity, followed faithfully by the masses.
– “20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:20
Even so, the LORD help us to live for Him, as His salt, light and ambassadors.