The Power of Your Words

Reading through the blogosphere I came across this, apparently well regarded evangelical blog, mocking (He files it under confused people and refers to it as "Snake oil." ) Joel Osteen, pastor of apparently the largest church congregation in America, for saying that our words effect our lives. No argument. No scriptures. Just the assumption that this must be ridiculous. I guess that's what passes for intellect amongst the evangelicals.

The problem for evangelicals is that they want to keep the supernatural origin of scripture but not its supernatural content. They need the Bible to be, in some sense, the "Word of God," i.e. supernatural in origin because without this it has no authority. But their modern, well educated, thoroughly naturalized,  mind reels against what this "supernatural" book actually says. So they push all of the supernatural into the way distant, "Bible days" past or into the far distant eschatological future. (One famous evangelical Bible teacher apparently even goes so far as to argue that there weren't even really that many miracles in the Bible.) So the modern, "theologically correct" evangelical, sounds pretty much like the Scottish philosopher Hume who argued that since he had never seen a miracle that there therefore miracles did not exist. There isn't much distance from there are no miracles to there are no miracles now.

The Bible's obvious belief in things like curses and demons and blessings and visions and dreams and prophecies and healings and exorcisms makes the average evangelical very uncomfortable. They apparently think something along these lines:

Geez, everybody knows these things aren't real. Curses aren't real they're just a superstition. Jesus wouldn't have believed in any of this superstitious nonsense no matter what the plain meaning of the words may be. We can't have our Savior sounding like some character out of a Flannery O'Connor story. He must of meant something else. Something spiritual. Something enlightening. Something for another world or another time. Something supernal. And most important of all something not susceptible to empirical investigation. We can't be having any real world, concrete, verifiable propositions in our religion. If we did that we might end up proving our religion wrong.

Well the all purpose, "everybody knows" is just another way of saying it isn't fashionable to believe in these things. If the Bible really is the word of God then we should believe what it says without regard to current intellectual fashion. We shouldn't adjust it's meaning to fit what we "know" to be true. We shouldn't upon encountering some "theologically incorrect"  saying of Jesus react with embarrassment and try to twist the plain meaning into something we find more acceptable to our culture. The Bible teaches that God's wisdom no matter how foolish it may sound to us is greater than our wisdom.

1 Corinthians 1:19-30 “19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. … 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:”

We're the ones who are supposed to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. It's not the Word of God which is to be transformed to accommodate our understanding.

Becky's speaking at the Women's Launching Out Luncheon today; so I'll have to finish this later. Off to Mickey D's with my tribe of monkeys.