Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.

• Numbers 11:5

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

• 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”

• Isaiah 29:13-14

“The torture allotted to the Danaids in the classical underworld, that of attempting to fill sieves with water, is the symbol not of one vice but of all vices. It is the very mark of a perverse desire that it seeks what is not to be had. The desire to be inside the invisible line illustrates this rule. As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel an onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain.”

• C.S. Lewis, Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (The Inner Ring)

I had to do some research on Lewis’ quote.  In Greek mythology, the Danaids were fifty daughters of Danaus.  Danaus commanded his daughters to kill their husbands on their wedding night.  Their husbands were the fifty sons of Aegyptus.  All but one daughter, Hypermnestra, did as their father commanded.  Hypermnestra spared her husband Lynceus.  The punishment of the 49 brides, when they reached the underworld, was to carry water in a sieve, or a jug with holes in it.  Of course, this task is impossible.

The Scripture from Numbers is the only reference to onions in the NIV.  As was their habit, the Israelites were complaining about their food supply, begging to go back to Egypt and be slaves there.

Now, with the background established, Lewis is saying that outsiders, those who do not believe and trust in Jesus Christ, can gain the desire to become insiders.  There is that innate desire that most people have, to belong.  That does not mean belonging to God, but when I joined the Boy Scouts, I wanted to become an Eagle Scout, belonging to that limited group of people.  Some people want to belong to an exclusive country club, whether they know how to play golf or not.  Some people feel that they belong when they purchase a home in a ritzy neighborhood.  But many people learn the right words to say so that they can become a member of a church.

But saying the right words does not constitute salvation.  Many of those who merely said the right words feel that they are now insiders, and they simply do not listen to that voice telling them that they are still outsiders.  A few might listen to that voice and dedicate their lives to Jesus.

But for the most part, according to the Apostle Paul, the outsiders think Christianity to be foolishness,  And conversely, the Christian, per Psalm 14 and Psalm 53, knows, that in biblical terms, a fool is someone who believes that there is no God.  Jesus warns us not to call someone a “fool,” but David made that definition, unless it was common knowledge before he wrote those psalms.

So, if the average person on the street thinks that Christianity is foolishness, how can you share the Good News with them?

First, with training and a mindset to do the hard work, there are various styles of apologetics that can lead someone to understand that their way of thinking is in error, or at least on shaky ground.

But even then, if the Holy Spirit is not at work in that person’s heart, they may not listen.  I have met many people who tell me that if I speak of God for a minute, they will reply with ten minutes of rebuttal.  It is not rebuttal, in that they cannot have an answer that disproves God and His Holy Word.  But the point is that they are goading the apologist or evangelist into an argument.  They do not listen to what you say.  They are simply being silent while they prepare their venom.

But whether you are carrying water in a sieve or peeling an onion, you end up with nothing.  And for those outsiders who wish to peel the onion, they get nothing in return. Okay, they may get a few tears.  They are so entrenched into the modern idea, and maybe it has been around for centuries, that there is a spiritual checklist.  If I do the right things, I am in.  That is what C.S. Lewis means in the quote above.

The earthly checklist of the requirements to earn the Eagle Scout rank have changed slightly over the past fifty years.  There are still 21 merit badges that must be earned, thirteen required merit badges and the other eight can be any other merit badge.  You must be a Life Scout for at least six months, and while being at the rank of Life Scout, you must be in a leadership position.  You must lead and complete a service project, with the Eagle Scout candidate proving the skills of planning, organizing, and management of the project through to completion. And you must live according to the Scouting oath, promise, etc. In other words, you must be an exemplary good kid. Then you have to pass the board of review that will question everything you have done in your life.

And throughout my working life, I yearned for a checklist.  I performed and exceeded expectations in what the boss said that checklist was, but then the boss gave the pay raise or promotion to the one he liked.

You cannot do anything to enter the kingdom of Heaven.  God must be in your heart.  Your every desire must be of Him.  In other words, you must let go of self and the accursed checklist.  If you desire to be more like Jesus every day and you believe and trust that the Holy Spirit will guide and protect you every day… Then, you will have a living relationship with a living God.  Surrender is not an act that we perform.  It is letting God do His work within us.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.