Saturday, 03 January 2009

• God Fiction

  I quite enjoy the film 'Pulp Fiction' and I watched it again earlier in the evening. The film has this character "Jules" played by the superbly cool Samuel L. Jackson, who loves reciting this passage before killing people. He claims it is from the Bible, Ezekiel 25:17 to be exact.

  "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

  The first time I watched the film, I remember thinking, "I don't think the Bible says that..." And so being the curious cat I am, I immediately searched my Bible for confirmation. Turns out my suspicion was right. Ezekiel 25:17 says "I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I lay My vengeance upon them." The verses before that has no similarities with the passage quoted by Jules.

  I wonder how many people watched the film and happily received as truth that Jules really did quote the Bible.

  I do not know that for sure, but I do know that many Christians believe many cliches/statements/inspirational mumble as biblical truth just because they sound right.

  For example, in a comment on Revelife, "God helps those who helps themselves." That is nowhere to be found in the Bible and is a false representation of God. God does not need us to help ourselves before He can help us. God's will can prevail no matter what, because you know... He's God. In fact, Jesus came for the sick and the weak, not the righteous. He came for those who are needy, who are unable to help themselves.

  Or another misquote that really annoys me. "God will never give you more than you can handle." Many Christians said that to me at a time when I was overwhelmed with disappointments and hurts and stress. Although they were trying to comfort me, they only added annoyance and anger to my burden. I thought, "You cannot be serious. Did you hear what I shared at all?! Do you see me teetering on the brink of breakdown? You reckon I'm actually handling ALL THIS?! You are NOT HELPING!"

  That statement most probably derived from 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says "No temptation has overtaken you except such as in common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

  The verse is clear that it is referring to temptation. It is not referring to everything in life. Also, when we summarise the verse to "God will never give you more than you can handle", we change the meaning of the verse into something unbiblical.

  In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul discusses the thorn in his flesh, an issue that bugged him so much he pleaded with God three times to remove it. Clearly, he was not capable of handling the issue any longer. But God said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." (verse 9) That is very different from the "more than you can handle" statement. The latter implies personal strength, it states that God will only give us what we can cope with by ourselves. The Bible implies God strength, it states that we need nothing more because God is here for us, and that He is more than enough. It doesn't guarantee against mental breakdowns, it doesn't guarantee absolute resolutions, it simply explains the truth about God's grace.

  When you believe these God fiction despite what the Bible says, you are creating a fictional God. You are creating an idol, an abomination to God. You are also setting yourself up for spiritual setbacks, because you are expecting God to behave in a way that is against His nature. And when you share these God fiction as God fact, you are perpetuating a misunderstanding of God to a world that is often too lazy to check the facts. You may also annoy and anger a stressed, frustrated, exhausted and burdened individual, making things much much worse.

  Are there any other God fiction-- spiritual phrases/statements based on thin air that you know of?

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