Neo-Gnosticism & Harmless Christianity

I’ve been immersing myself in a theological buffet about Gnosticism. No, it isn’t a nasal cold. My senior pastor, Brian Zahnd, presented a brilliant message this past weekend called “Jesus Beyond Cliche” (listen here), while I’ve also been reading Bishop N.T. Wright’s 2006 project, “Judas and the Gospel of Jesus,” a critical look at the non-canonical “Gospel of Judas,” compared with the traditional Christian Gospels.

Wright’s assessment of Gnosticism, while critical, is scholarly. Some of the key differences between gnosticism and orthodox Christianity include:

1. Our present world and those that live in it are inherently evil that cannot be salvaged.
2. The god that created this world, Jehovah (the traditional god of Judaism and Christianity, also called “Seklos,” meaning “fool” by Gnostics) is bad and stupid, while a more pure and wise deity exists who is, confusingly, called “Father.”
3. The aim of a Gnostic is to escape this wicked world to attain “salvation”
4. Gnosticism comes from the word “gnosis,” meaning “knowledge.” Anyone who opts to be a “Gnostic” has the knowledge to escape this world.
5. Jesus did come to Earth and had 12 disciples, but only one of them got real one-on-one time…Judas. Jesus asked Judas to have Him crucified so He could escape His body. Judas, therefore, is the hero of Jesus’ story, while the other disciples are the villains.

There are many other tenants of Gnosticism that, while also heretical, open up a plethora of issues. I won’t address the reasons why these are heresies, but rather, will address a few modern insights we can gain from this.

As briefly addressed by Bishop Wright, we are actually living in an age of a new Gnosticism, though much more subversive. Have you ever spoken to a person who is grieving the death of a loved one and paid attention to what brings them comfort? The typical statements you will hear include:

• Well, she’s in a better place now
• I just wish I could leave here and go be with him
• He always said he’d rather be in Heaven than here, anyways

These sort of statements are far from what the Apostles would have uttered when a brother or sister died. Christians have a hope that one day, all who died in Christ will one day physically rise from the dead and roam the Earth again with Christ as political and religious King of the planet. Heaven, therefore, isn’t the “better place.” Heaven is a temporary dwelling (that will be combined with Earth as the New Heaven and New Earth). The Jews prior to Jesus actually believed in a resurrection.

Elsewhere in this “Neo-Gnosticism,” the Gnostics (who actually lived a few centuries after Jesus) managed to hijack Jesus and make Him something less threatening. Not only do they portray Jesus laughing at other people, but they successfully transform Him into whatever best fits their image of what a Messiah should be. We see this often today as many religious and non-religious people are creating a “designer Jesus,” based on whatever they want Him to be like. Make no mistake about it: most people’s concepts of what Jesus was like are extremely unscriptural. Yes, He seems to have enjoyed much of His existence, but He was also a man of sorrows who came to separate the sheep from the goats.

Finally, the Gnostics were not at all threatening to everyday society or the government of their time (the Romans). So it goes without saying that the Gnostics faced zero persecution from the government, while history says quite the opposite of the Christians.

That final point is one that, perhaps, has the highest impact on today’s Christians. Though we have huge buildings, multi-billion dollar denominations, television slots, and the largest religion on the planet, it is curious that Christianity fits so comfortably into so many societies with little-to-no threat to culture. Curiously, the places where it is least welcomed are the places where it can easily explode. There, it is easier to highlight the differences between Christianity and the political/social regimes.

But for Americans, the issues with our culture that scream in the face of Christianity are far more subtle (and therefore, more lethal in being accepted). Not only do the issues outlined in “An Open Letter to Baby Boomers” cause a problem, but the right-wing politicians successfully made Christians their “voting block,” taking away our voice since we’ve elected representatives in suits to speak for us in the public forum. Voting is okay, but becoming part of politics instead of influencing politics makes us less significant than many other competing worldviews (and no, I’m not saying Christians should eject politics or not run for office).

Perhaps a reading of the Lord’s Prayer with a new spin will better illustrate:

Our God of the heavens,
You are significantly unique compared to other pursuits.
May the way for this planet you intended become reality,
May your code of living be instituted,
As the physical and spiritual realms are re-united as one.
Give Christians today everything we need,
Help us to forgive our culture and our neighbors who have hurt us,
As we forgive and love our enemies and those who have screwed us over.
Don’t let us be led into chasing the pursuits of the culture,
Instead, keep up from encountering evil that might harm us,
This planet, the heavens, and a throne of majesty are all yours,
Come make it happen.

Why church?

The cascade effect of postmodernism, the speeding up of society, the emergent church movement, and other things have led to American Christianity facing parishoners increasingly “church shopping” or removing church from their lifestyles, altogether. At this point, studies show that 25% of church-goers are considering leaving their churches, bringing up all manner of questions.

• Is it poor marketing?
• Services too long?
• Not enough revival?
• Not spiritual enough?
• Too theological?
• Not enough outreach?
• Not enough worship
• Too much being fake
• Too harsh
• Too judgmental?
• Too lenient?
• Not enough prayer
• Not prophetic
• Not enough zeal for the House
• Too many meetings

Truth is, I’ve heard arguments for all the above (which makes me think its often a bunch of armchair quarterbacks who are better at finding problems than fixing them). So it is that, for one of these reasons or others related, people eject from their seats and live lives outside Christian communities – most whom claim it to have been the best decision they ever made. I considered it (briefly) at one point, but chose not to eject for a few reasons.

“Jesus…envisaged that, scattered around Palestine, there would be small groups of people loyal to himself, who would get together to encourage one another, and would act as members of a family, sharing some sort of common life and, in particular, exercising mutual forgiveness. It was because this way of life was what it was, while reflecting the theology it did, that Jesus’ whole movement was thoroughly, and dangerously, ‘political’. And…the main characteristic of the cells that Jesus called into being was of course loyalty to Jesus himself.”

-N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God

I think the reason for all the church shopping is people’s Americanized expectation of church. In their conscience, here are questions many think:

• This service had better do something for me. I came to get something out of it.
• That person needs to hear this.
• Don’t teach me how to think – tell me what to think.
• I don’t want all that theology – just tell me what the Bible says.
• Here we are now. Entertain us.
• I really don’t need to read the Bible much because I’m in church all the time.

The first key to understanding how we should “do church” is to stop making it about ourselves.