Throughout all of recorded history the devil has taken a lot of heat. The devil has many names depending on who you ask. Almost every religion has a devil or some physical manifestation of evil or representative of Hell. We blame these demons and mignons of Hell for the evils in our world. We say they possess us and force us to commit crimes. They whisper in our ear and tell us it’s ok to snort that line of coke or go ahead and call an escort service if you are traveling out of town. No one ever has to know.
Is this blame fairly placed or are we just passing the buck to an easy target? Let’s take another look at the original sin as believed by both Jews and Christians and let’s do so honestly and objectively.
Genesis 2: 15-17
15. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Ok, so why did God not want us to have the knowledge of good and evil? Did he feel it was too much responsibility for us? Did he like the idea of having a bunch of ignorant talking monkeys running around the garden naked? Why would God wish to deny us the knowledge of what is right and why leave us in the dark about what is evil? How were we to avoid what we did not know existed?
Genesis 3: 1-4
1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2. And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die:
Satan is often called the prince of liars, but who lied here? She did not die. Adam did not die. The lived out their lives and died at a ripe old age. Satan didn’t deceive anyone. He told her she would not die. She didn’t.
Genesis 3: 5
5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Is that not the same thing God said the fruit was? Satan told Eve exactly what the fruit was and what it would do. It did exactly what he said it would.
Genesis 3: 6-7
6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
And the eyes of them both were opened just like the serpent said they would be. Where is the deception? Who put that tree in the garden to begin with? Have we not always been people who choose freedom over oppression? Who was it then that offered us knowledge and who was it that threatened to kill us if we took from a tree that he had put among us without giving us the knowledge required to avoid it?
God made an attempt to suppress our mental development. Satan freed us. This is a very logical conclusion, supported by the Bible itself. So why do we demonize the devil?
I often read, especially on international message boards, that Americans are too religious, patriotic and that our constitution is out dated. I don't believe that, if anything we need more of those things instead of less.
Right and wrong has never changed. Peoples perception of right and wrong is changing constantly. The way people justify doing wrong and grow to accept things because the majority seems willing to except them doesn't change what is right and what is wrong.
It is called a shifting moral baseline. It can happen to an individual or an empire. The fall of Rome is a perfect example of a nation falling because of a shifting moral baseline.
The process of a shifting moral baseline is very slow. People don't go from being scared to say a curse word to having blood orgies in a week or two.
I'll give you an example that happens every day in America. I have actually witnessed this example of a personal shifting moral baseline.
At 17 years old Sara is still a virgin. She goes to church with her parents twice a week. She has never been drunk or high. On her senior trip all her friends are drinking, they are drunk, and appear to be having a very good time.
She figures it won't hurt if she has a few drinks. After all it is her senior trip. She may not see some of these guys after graduation. She has a few drinks, she gets buzzed, and she has a great time. It was the most fun she has ever had. She was a little tired the next morning, but after breakfast she felt fine.
Drinking had not hurt her or anyone else that night. Everyone had a great time and no one got hurt.
A few nights later they were having another party. They were passing a joint around and trying to get her to hit it. She was relunctant at 1st, but after a few drinks she loosened up and took a hit. She felt great. Again, she and everyone else had a great time and nothing bad happened.
This went on for a year or so after the trip was over and they came home. She went to a party ever now and then, had a few drinks, smoked a little weed, and it was cool. She was fine. No one got hurt.
She even met a guy at a party and they started dating. One night they got intimate in one of the spare rooms at the party house. She didn't want to have sex. She was still a virgin and a little scared. She didn't want to make her boyfriend mad. He had been very patient with her and was really horny. He didn't understand why she wouldn't give it up. He told her it made him feel like she didn't love him or want him.
She definately didn't want him to think that, so she masturbated him. What's so bad about that? It will ease his pain and she is still pure, right?
After a while masturbation wasn't enough so she gave him oral sex. Hell, what is so bad about giving oral sex? She has already let him see her naked and let him perform oral sex on her. She has been masturbating him. She knows he is clean so why not?
It isn't long before she has sex with him. What is so bad about that? She has done everything else? What is so bad about sex? Besides, all of her friends had done it 2 or 3 years earlier.
A few months later she catches her boyfriend cheating on her. She is very upset and one night at a party she meets another guy. She is very high, very drunk, and he has some cocaine. She tries it. She loves it. She sleeps with him.
Fast foward two years.
She is a dancer at a strip club. She sells her body to nasty old drunks twice her age and performs favors to the club owner for cocaine.
If you had told her at 17 that in 4 years she would be a stripper, a prostitute, and a cocaine addict, she would have slapped you, but it happened and it happens every day. The names, faces, and minute details may change, but the story is always the same.
This is the story of Sara's shifting moral baseline. It can happen to an individual or a society. It's happening right now, to both, all over the world.
Right and wrong never changed. Sara changed. The only thing the Devil ever changes, is you. Once you start down that road, every step gets a little easier.
The only good thing about a shifting moral baseline is that as long as you are still alive, you can shift it back.
Twice a day, Monday thru Friday, I drive by your church. It is one of the largest churches I have ever seen. There are college campuses that are not nearly so impressive. I became curious.
I wanted to know more about a congregation of people so generous that they could raise enough money to build such a church. I went to your website. I saw pictures of services. I saw pictures of your church. I saw the beautiful interior of your church. I saw people rejoicing. I saw a choir of smiling people singing. It is all very impressive, to say the least.
There are however some things I have not been able to find, which brings me to the point of my inquiry.
Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Children’s Hospital?
Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Homeless Shelter?
Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Battered Women’s Home?
Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Center?
Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Thrift Store and Donation Center?
Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Halfway House?
Matthew 25: 34-46
34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
As a man I am not qualified to judge you, but I would ask you to judge yourselves. Look at yourselves through the eyes of a poor young carpenter and ask yourselves “Is this what Jesus would have us do?”
Do you pray to God or a massive golden calf on a hill, not made of gold, but of brick and glass? When you think of church do you picture a building or people?
You celebrate yourselves in a mansion on a hill overlooking a community that has never needed you so much. You are not asked for help because both believers and unbelievers see you as hypocrites, interested only in your community status. God depends on the church to bring people to him, but you drive them away. Your vulgar display of obscene wealth makes the common man ashamed to cast a shadow on your golden door for fear of not being accepted.
It isn’t them that should be ashamed.
~Martin Kaine~
