Thoughts on Christian Delusion

That title may be a harsh to some. Others will interpret it to mean Christians are delusional. Well, they are. But it is not about Jesus as the Messiah. It is not about the redemption, the sacrifice for our transgressions. No, it is about the subtle line between fiction and faith. Delusion is one of the greatest enemies of the Christian walk, but hard to identify. Does this sound confusing? I hope to make clear this matter.

What do we mean using the term delusion? The definition as per the Oxford English Dictionary:

an idiosyncratic belief or impression maintained despite being contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a symptom of mental disorder

It is funny how many times I have been called mental for believing in Christ. But, here is where things diverge between the realm of faith and mentalities based upon imagination. My belief in Christ is based on faith in something that is unprovable, but functional and life changing. God has created it to be this way, unprovable.

Unprovable? But there are so many Christians who have devoted their lives to archeology, anthropology, hard science even, in the pursuit of proving this or that about Christ. I have nothing against such pursuits, yet to expect there to be proof somewhere, hidden, waiting for just the right moment, is a gross misunderstanding of the New Kingdom. You access God by faith. Faith is given to you by God. He reached into your soul, dug down underneath your consciousness, and deposited something eternal there. Accepting that gift, acting upon that faith, that brought you to Christ, not some demostration or proof.

Faith is the key, unlocking the door, clearing the mist away from the path that leads into the New Kingdom. It was designed to thwart proof. It can not be found by reason, by intelect. Science will not prove it true. History will not reveal proof. It is the perfect filter. Man can not create it, find it on his own, or even discover the source without God moving first.

The spiritual reality of the New Kingdom is for us to explore and grow into it by faith. It is pure delusion that you will prove its existence in this world by any pursuit of man. I find it humorous that there is no rational argument supporting the spiritual reality, yet Christians try to reason and convince the natural realm about something that is separated from it by God in the first place.

What can we say practically about protecting ourselves from spiritual delusion? First and foremost, God is not out to deceive us, trick us, or generally befuddle in any way. There are grand mysteries we may never know, and small wonders to be found each day. In all things though, God is just and true.

So when it comes to the physical, temporal universe, why do we ignore what is plainly visible? This will be very hard for some to accept. And I intend not to step on anyones doctrine or beliefs. But please get serious about realizing from where God intends to build you into the Body of Christ. It is not subject to this age, this Earth. The body is firmly established on the revelation of Christ as conquering death and seated on the throne. The true fulfilment of the law. The perfect sacrifice for all time.

You and your brothers and sisters are physically constrained, yes. And being practically built together means living and meeting in your community. You can not have a weaving of faith without daily contact. But the building is between Christ in you and Christ in the Saints in your life. It is a flow of eternal life between you, the source of which is not constrained to this age, or your physical location.

There is a glorious passage I want to extract a bit from in this discusion. It is the last part of Isaiah. The first thing declared by God in this passage is that "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool..." Isn't it your greatest desire to dwell in the throne-room? You can do that right now, by the blood. You can access the throne, get at the source of life right now. That will change you life forever. You will never be the same. But what about the footstool?

Yes, God impacts the earth, the physical realm, the temporal age. But is it where He intends to establish something? No, He already rules this realm. And has separated a better place, a place where time does not run its course, death does not hold sway. That is the location we have access to. Why do Christian hold to this realm so tightly? Why do we feel the need to validate our spiritual experience in the physical realm?

Don't get me wrong. Our natural bodies exist on this footstool. Our decision, choices to find life or reject it happen in this age. We are subject to death. Yet through faith are free of those bounds. We should impact this earth. The will of God is worked out through the Body of Christ. That Body stands upon the earth, walks among men, doing works that are not of this world.

We should expect to see miracles, healings, prophesies. We should impact politics, medicine, science, economics. We should be wealthy, a source for others. Christians should explore creation, history, mankind. But in those pursuits, we need to find life. If you find knowledge, yet have no life, you are wasting your time, and not growing spiritually.

Now, there are a few doctrines, common Christian beliefs, that are so obviously ready for the dustbin of history it is almost silly, except so many believe in them. If you think man has not progressed in knowledge and understanding of this glorious creation beyond some Victorian era interpretations of Genesis, you are living in delusion. I will give one example, just to make a point, but please understand that God is the source of life, and not of contention. I am not here to create dissention, so I will limit this to one obvious physical example.

The example is light. It falls upon us from the Sun and Moon. It also comes from stars in our vicinity. And with a little help from a telescope, you can see distant galaxies as well. It is easy to demonstrate the speed of light. Hence it is simple to calculate how long it has been since that light was generated at those distant galaxies. Think billions of years. God is not out to deceive us. That is not His nature, He is not the God of deception. So you can see with your own eyes, every night, that the universe is very old.

This is simply proof of the amazing physical realm, and proof of God's infinite wonder and ability. It is not incongruent with Scripture. It is in direct contention with delusional doctrine in parts of Christianity. If I have offended you, or created a stumbling block between us as fellow drinkers of the River of Life, please forgive. I needed to make this point that even among obvious physical things, Christians can hold delusional concepts close. What is more important is the hearts of man. No, the real fight against delusion is not about what brand of creationism, theories of evolution, or any number of topics rooted in the physical, social, or historical realm.

The real fight is for the heart of man. The real battle is to hear the voice of God. Returning to Isaiah, we find God saying about those who turned from Him:

I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear

This is the true trap of delusions. If we are not hearing God, there are plenty of doctrines and practices out there, some completely interwoven into cultural Christianity, that will encompass us. Delusions arise when we ignore that voice, when it becomes tuned out.

Hearing God is the key, the answer against delusion. Finding that voice. Not the voice of man, and man's interpretation of life, or the bible for that matter. No, we need to hear the living word of God, the voice He is speaking now. How do we find it? There is a simple progression. First receive the Spirit of God into your heart and be immersed in that Spirit. If you don't have it, or can't sense it, call out to Jesus with every fiber in your being to recieve the Spirit. Once the Spirit is flowing, let God begin the process of building you together with the Saints. When the faith that He has placed in us is bound together with the faith of those around us, our friends, our brothers and sisters, then the word begins to resound.

The living word flows in the Body of Christ. It is spoken forth into the world from the body. The anointed word, the word with power, the life changing word comes from the body. You want to hear God? Really hear His voice? Get bound together. Practice the body and it will happen. You will hear the living word of God. You will speak it as well.

All other things fall away. All the various practices, all manner of religion. The living word is not tied to doctrine or mythology. It is the life changing flame that proceeds from Jesus mouth. When you hear it you are changed. Nothing else is important.

I say these things in all humility. Clearly I have things in my mind, things I have observed and believe to be true, yet are not. How can we be alive and not experience that state? Are we omnipotent? Can we come close to grasping the eternal truth? No, it is infinite. And I know not the fullness of the Body of Christ. I have not experienced all that I know is possible, and certainly God has even more than that what I could even imagine available for us. But it is clear the path to get there.

Yet there are beliefs and practices, even among those Christians we would think on that path, that prevent the building together of the body. I could list what I believe to be delusional stumbling blocks prevalent in the modern Christian movement, but I don't see any life by doing that. What I would encourage, to myself as well, is to ask God to connect us. Reveal the interwoven faith. Grant us to hear the word and believe. Hearing this, you should evaluate where you are as a Christian.

Do you live to see the functioning Body of Christ? Or do you live for yourself? Can you answer honestly? Are you willing to grow spiritually? Even if it means great travail and painful experiences? Dig deep into your heart, bare yourself before God. He is faithful, and will respond. The other part of the introduction in Isaiah is:

but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word.

When He looks to us, He will lead us from any delusions. Proclaim to God your desire for body life. And if you can't sense that desire, be honest with God, fall donw before Him and proclaim your willingness to listen and change.

We can reason. We can live. But we must have the spiritual reality of the New Kingdom, the body life, the living word, or we will fall into delusions. Get connected, live in the body. This is by far the most important practice of your Christian existence. Find the source of life in your brothers and sisters. Nothing will stand against that interconnected faith. There is no delusion in that spiritual reality.