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Truth Entropy–the Insidious Destruction of that Which Cannot Be Destroyed

History became Legend. Legend became Myth, and that which should not have been Forgotten, was.

That observation has much more universal application than to a trilogy of movies.

Why do we have such a hard time remembering?  Is it just about memory, or is it something deeper and more sinister than we like to think about? The great story-tellers, I think, were trying to teach us something about this pox.

For example:

Smeagol the little Hobbit finds a ring. He is the chosen vessel to whom the Ring of Power comes, and through the evil of the Ring the chosen one becomes corrupted, even mutated by the evil. A new incarnation emerges: Frodo, a hobbit like Smeagol, takes up the evil and through great courage, suffering, and the work of a fellowship, is able to destroy the evil.

Anakin the little boy is stumbled upon by two Jedi and seen to be the chosen one to whom the Prophecy of balancing the Force comes, and through the evil side of the Force the chosen one becomes corrupted and even mutated by the evil. A new incarnation emerges: Luke, a progeny from Anakin, takes on the evil and through great courage, suffering, and the work of a fellowship, is able to destroy the evil.

Adam, the first man, is created and chosen as a Representative for his people, and through his independence the chosen one, and his offspring, become corrupted and susceptible to death. A new incarnation emerges: Jesus, made in the likeness of human flesh, takes up the evil and through great courage, suffering, and the fellowship of the Trinity, is able to destroy the evil.

There is only one story, from which all other stories come. Fact/History does become legend. Legend does become Myth–and a thing which should be believed is not.

I know why we do this. It has been understood for generations. One of the clearest articulations of it is in the “Cycle of the Body Politic”, usually attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, but actually from William Tyler. It is about the cyclical nature of countries, and it states, basically . . .Political entities progress- –

“From bondage to spiritual truth;
From spiritual truth to courage;
From courage to freedom;
From freedom to abundance;
From abundance to selfishness;
From selfishness to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to fear;
From fear to dependency;
From dependency they return to bondage.”

Go ahead, apply Iraq, apply Terrorism, apply Capitalism, apply whatever YOUR issue is, but I cannot read this without applying it to myself. I see my journey as a person, as a Christian, in this cycle.  I remember when Christ first birthed his life into me, what a joy it was to know truth, or rather to be known by truth. In that security, of being intimately known by one who is truth, I had courage to be myself; no more play-acting, no more facades, just little ole’ me. I talked about Jesus to people, and I really meant it because I did not care about what they thought about me; I had courage. In that courage, I had freedom! I was free from commands of men and traditions and rules–I was free from them as means to get to God, so I could be free for them as a means of intimacy with God. I developed disciplines of daily prayer and Bible reading because I wanted to–nobody was making me. As a result, since God’s Word is powerful and active, I began to experience abundance–not the kind TV preachers talk about–but richness in my relationships, in my attitude, in my faith. It was a very easy time, and as it got easier, I hungered and thirsted less and less for time with my Savior. Prayer became rote, and Scripture reading an obligation. What about me? Why can’t I do what I want instead of getting up earlier and praying and reading? Sheesh! Soon, I did what I wanted. One snooze became two, two became four, and an alarm set for a certain time became forgotten . . .

Soon prayer and reading Scripture, the things by which we cultivate a relationship with God, became the last and most begrudging things I wanted to do.  When I got right down to it, I just didn’t care anymore. Then things weren’t going too well. I began to be anxious about things; I was not confident that all things were working together for the good, and so I was susceptible to a strict, pharisaic legalism. It gave me a system to make sense of everything. I knew what I believed, and knew why you where wrong, and I could debate you into submission.  Soon, I saw nothing but allies or enemies–by which I meant people I agreed with and people I disagreed with. Oh, and it was not just theology. Politics, Economics, you name it and I could make up an opinion and defend with the best Alahu Achbar around!

Then the day came when things just didn’t work anymore. My Christian-ese edifice of Shibboleths started to have foundation trouble.  I did not like myself, and I did not like the god I worshipped, and my family did not like them either . . . I realized that my foundation was not laid upon the Rock that stands; with all due respect to the Python boys, I had built successive castles in a bloody swamp! When they crumbled, and the dark and cold intruded, I was immediately back into bondage–to fear, dread, depression, self-loathing; I even tried to be an atheist. I was a prisoner.

You see, the Gospel is so simple, but we all get caught up in this cycle. We cannot deal with a simple Gospel that can be expressed by all cultures and all times. Our hearts take the beauty and joyful abundance of our freedom in Christ, and pervert it based on what we love and what we like. In that selfishness, we tame the Gospel so it will not interrupt our complacency. We try to make Christianity look like our tastes and culture and then stay there! That is as static religion, often based in fear. We say things like, “Biblical Worship looks like these people from this year and this geography.” As Christianity and culture move on, we fear that we are losing something, and so we clamp down harder on our extra-biblical additions to the simple gospel and end up finding ourselves arguing over ridiculously clear theological “controversies” while falling behind in spreading God’s kingdom, and we end up being in denominations that either abandon the gospel altogether, or define it so narrowly that only a very small few qualify.

What in the world is wrong with us? We have taken that which is beautiful and good, and through our own independence, we have become corrupted and mutated by our own selfishness and fear.  This is why the weekly Worship service, the time when the militant church joins in the continuous praise of the triumphant church, is so tremendously important to the Christian. We come before God’s Word to be cut to the core of our beings, to die to ourselves in the light of the truth of the Scriptures to walk in new obedience. In essence, if done in submission to God’s revealed will, we leave Public Worship as a new incarnation of ourselves in the Gospel. Through great courage, suffering, and the work of the fellowship of believers, we spread God’s kingdom, and the defensive gates of the evil citadel will not stand against such an onslaught.

Oh that we recognized the truth of our lives. We are not here to make goods grades, get a good job, buy nice cars and houses, raise children, retire and play golf–all while being church members. We are pilgrims and strangers in a foreign land, warriors for an encroaching kingdom–perhaps even spies and guerillas. We are here to battle for the expansion of our Lord’s kingdom by being faithful in our callings at school, jobs, family, recreation, and church. If only we would remember our true callings and purpose, then the forgotten would not be myth, legend or history, but actuality. What a day that would be!