Gnosticism is alive and well in many of our churches today. What is "Gnosticism," you ask? It is arguably the first heresy to develop within the nascent Christian church, even being challenged and countered by Saint John in the Gospel that bears his name. From the Oxford Dictionary: "Gnostic doctrine taught that the world was created and ruled by a lesser divinity, the demiurge, and that Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme divine being, esoteric knowledge (gnosis) of whom enabled the redemption of the human spirit." To put it another way: We are saved through knowledge ("gnosis," or γνῶσις) and only those who truly had this heightened, enlightened state - a divine "Word" or revelation from God - were found to be saved.
Extreme liberalism is one such gnostic manifestation. Why would I say such a thing? Because I have found far too often that my liberal friends think the rest of us who are more orthodox or conservative are just too dumb to really grasp their enlightened thinking. Let me illustrate with a recent post from a social media page with clergy from an unnamed Lutheran denomination.
The poster, a male Lutheran pastor, begins by saying how he had just returned home from presiding over a wedding. Here is the pertinent part of his post: "Traveling to part of rural America considered "flyover country" this week...observing "Cultural Christianity". Primary values being: Guns, Barbecue, deer hunting, individual salvation, white superiority, "standing for the flag, kneeling for prayer" (words on t shirts of some white people), hatred of foreigners...and those not explicitly "born again" Christians. Some of the "dumbest acting" white people (in view of conversations with them) I have ever seen...my observation. I really don't know what to say about this except that it is a culture opposes to inclusivity, thinking, openness, considering "the least among us" as valuable, viewing "foreigners" as having anything worthy of contribution, valuing and learning from other cultures, etc."
I live in rural America and nearly all of what he said is flat out false. In fact, the only thing true is the part about standing for the flag and kneeling for prayer! (virtues that were celebrated for centuries before some in this current generation) And yet it shows just how insane the two left coasts are when it comes to how they view the vast majority of the country: It illustrates perfectly how deep the rift is between the two factions or ideologies at play today. Sadly the political rift and the theological rift largely follow along the same divisions. It is no more than a modern day gnostic view of the world, where this pastor supposedly thinks he is more "enlightened" than all of us simpletons in "flyover country." The very term used is reprehensible, suggesting that those in the broad middle of the country are of less value, less worth, and of course less intelligence than him. Many in this modern day gnostic heresy also hold that the best way to win a debate is by the assassination of your opponent also. Former VP Joe Biden, who was all on board with the campaign slogan "Love Trumps Hate," would rather have beaten the crap out of the current president earlier in life.
This attitude sickens me. It is worth pointing out that it does appear on both sides, but regardless of who is adopting the "more-enlightened-than-thou" attitude, it goes against every grain of decency and virtue there is. The poster was even called on by another pastor to repent and retract his heinous attitude, and instead of that happening, dozens of other clergy jumped on to the bandwagon in agreement and berating the one who called for repentance on his sickening and shameful attitude in the first place! For any individual or group to adopt such a condescending and insulting attitude towards a great deal of the country is unconscionable, and is at the heart of our nation's sin today.
Psalm 55 says "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest— I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.” Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city. Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it. Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets." This psalm has spoken to me ever since my long distance hiking days: Where even then I perceived a widening rift between city and country. Any time a select group of people - especially those motivated by a specific ideology - begin to see every one else as inferior or of lesser value, they have become a modern day gnostic, and it is the worst form of atheistic and humanistic idolatry there is.
I have come to understand asceticism much more of late, and I find it more appealing each passing day: withdrawing from society entirely, because the extreme factions, fighting, and murder-as-solution-to-disputes that come from the attitude mentioned above. The other reality, though, is that we cannot nor must not withdraw, but always act as a witness to the truth, and that truth cannot and must not be set by us, for truth is absolutely relative for humanity. The source of truth must come from outside: God.
I recall the discussions on a controversial topic in our church back in 2007, and I recall one pastor on the more orthodox side of things quipping that he questioned whether his orthodoxy was the correct position every day, wondering whether God truly was calling us into a radical paradigm change here in the 21st century. He also remarked that the "other side" had no such dilemma in their thought: they simply knew they were right. And while this is not always true of the orthodox position, it is more often the case than not.
It is time for us to stop thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought (no matter the position), and rather once again, turn to Christ solely for our guidance, direction, and lessons on how we live with and love one another. More importantly, let his words stand on their own, without our agendae always interfering. It's the first way to make the church great again, and who knows? Maybe it will make America great again too?
