You’re probably not one of those Da Vinci Code heretics who believes Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene. But even if you’re quick to slap a scarlet H on the Gospel of Thomas or the idea that Jesus wasn’t really human, you might be affected by a subtle reboot of this heresy seeping through American evangelicalism. Unlike it’s older brother, Christian-gnosticism can be hard to see and a bit slippery to catch–a fact I know from firsthand experience. So here’s a quiz to take your temperature and see if you’ve been affected:
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash, edited
Quiz
- Does it feel like a stretch to think about worshipping through football, a slice of german chocolate cake, or–if you’re married–having sex?
- Do you think it makes God happier when you read your Bible than when you pick up trash from the side of the road?
- Do you feel like sex is dirty? Are you ashamed of your sex drive?
- Does it surprise you that there might be politics and commerce after the resurrection?
- Is your Christianity strong when it comes to lying and prayer, but light on gluttony and fasting?
- Do you believe that missionaries and pastors do more important work than bank CEOS and janitors?
- Do you talk about God calling people into ministry, but rarely use the term for artists, firefighters, or high school teachers?
- When you think of people who are in heaven with Jesus now, is that your view of eternity? Or do you believe that while Jesus called that paradise, the best is still yet to come–resurrection and the new heaven and earth?
- Do you tend to think of pastors and Bible teachers as more holy than people with the gift of helps, mercy, or administration?
- Do you ever look forward to going to heaven and getting rid of your body?
Answering “yes” to any of these questions might indicate that Christian-gnosticism snuck in the door while you weren’t looking. And that wouldn’t be surprising, because this strain of gnosticism frequently shapes how Evangelicals talk about heaven, our bodies, and sin. Next week I’ll look at some of the reasons why this rebooted heresy flies under our radar, but for now check out the footnotes below for Bible references corresponding to each question.
Christian-Gnosticism siphons the vibrancy off our faith
Physicality is our only means for encountering God–we can’t even think about him without dendrites and neurotransmitters–and when we lose our grip on that, the gospel shrinks. We undermine God’s commitment to his creation, the impact of resurrection, and the scope of what he wants to do in our lives–both today and in eternity.
The subtle shift offered by Christian-gnosticism, to think of our bodies as less important than our spirits, turns us into taxonomists. We begin to label our work, hobbies, and habits as either “spiritual” or “physical”. We expect God to interact with us whenever we find ourselves under one of our “spiritual” labels, but turn down our receivers when it comes to “physical” stuff. We lose our capacity to see that simply being human–doing earthy endeavors–glorifies God. We forget that humanity started out in a garden, not in a church.
Digging out this heresy from wherever it has germinated in our lives involves so much more than squeaky clean theology or being able to identify heresy in the next New York Times bestseller. Even the most docile strains of Christian-gnosticism will dissolve our sense of divine calling in our secular vocations. It will dull us to God’s presence outside the church and his activity beyond the pages of Bible. Christian-gnosticism might feel spiritual, but ultimately it erodes both our humanity and our experience of God.
Question: Which quiz question unsettles you the most? Check out mine on Twitter or Facebook.
FOOTNOTES:
1. 1 Cor 10:31.
2. Genesis 1:15. The first job given to a human was to work the garden, care for it, tend it. Earthy endeavors aren’t secondary to God’s plan for humanity, they are primary.
3. Gen 2:23. And the whole book of Song of Solomon.
4. Revelation 21:24-26. Isaiah 60:5-9.
5. Proverbs 23:2. Mark 2:20.
6. See above, Gen 1:15.
7. Exodus 35:30-31, Exodus 36:1.
8. Luke 23:43, 1 Cor 15:15-16, 20.
9. Romans 12:4-8, 1 Cor 12:20-31.
Interesting. 👍😊
For me right now, having a Christianity light on fasting and gluttony hits closest to home. I still sometimes struggle to see how fasting “works” or see when overeating is gluttony or why it’s a sin.
Fasting works when it becomes subsidiary.
It can then effect our way of being.
I need to be careful not to think that pastors have a more important job than others, precisely because I think they have a more desirable job. God asks me to consider others as more important than myself because He wants to use the others to build into me the qualities of a pastor. So He can use all these things to make me more like the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. The focus is on making disciples who follow that Shepherd. All Christians should be engaged in pastoral ministry because that means Christ-like ministry.
Thanks James. It is easy to elevate the things we want. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
I also wonder about fasting.
So it works when it becomes less important?
Tim, can you flesh out your comment above. When we don’t focus on the fasting, how does it affect our way of being?
Subsidiary does not mean less important. Breathing, for example: subsidiary. There is much to say here. This thread could go on for months. I cannot play basketball if I have to focus on dribbling. If I’m focused on dribbling, I cannot prepare for a layup. I cannot make passes. I cannot do a myriad of things the full game requires. It’s only when dribbling becomes subsidiary that I am able to PLAY the game. We tend to use fasting as a way to focus on something. It is a tool rather than part of who we are. When fasting becomes habituated, it becomes part of how we be Christian. Just as in b’ball dribbling becomes part of how I make a lay up or a pass or most any other part of the game. Habituated fasting isn’t a means for focussing. It is a way of bringing the command to die to self into every area of the game of living Christianly. I begin with food, and I teach myself how to say no to my own desires. When fasting is subsidiary, I stop hearing my own voice/wants/demands and find myself listening/open/responsive. My actions in the world become less defined by consuming and more defined by obedience.
but the habituating… oh the habituating. Beginning to dribble a basketball is not simple, and the amount of practice necessary for dribbling moves to be subsidiary to a great pass or to evade a defender on a fast-break…
i think we get the focus concept for fasting from Jesus words about the demon only coming out through fasting and prayer. 1) if we’re going to apply that to fasting, should we also apply it to prayer (prayer as mostly just a focusing tool to use on occasion)? 2) what if Christ meant that this demon could only come out due to a life habituated in prayer and fasting. We likely assume he meant a life habituated with prayer.
This was posted yesterday and hits some of the same themes, though I would theologize it a bit more, expanding the last paragraph a lot: https://christandpopculture.com/whole30-and-the-counter-cultural-nature-of-self-discipline/
Thanks, Tim. I’ve struggled with a focus approach to fasting, but how you describe it above makes sense. Thanks for taking the time.