A new movie came out at the end of January. The title was Legion. The tagline: When the last angel falls, the fight for mankind begins. The premise: The archangel Michael comes to earth to fight to save mankind. And who is Michael fighting? Well, as it turns out, "When God loses faith in humankind, He sends His legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse."
Now, I know ... it's Hollywood. Don't expect good theology from Hollywood. It is not, after all, Holywood. Fine. I'm there. So I haven't seen the movie and I'm not planning to, nor do I plan to review or complain about it. It's Hollywood, after all. What I do wish to point out is the very popular view that God might have faith in mankind.
Let's set aside the multiple errors like the remote possibility that God could lose anything or that Michael could stand against God or that there would be any question of the outcome. Again, Hollywood can do anything they want. But the real problem here, Hollywood aside, is that most people believe that God highly prizes mankind in general. The fundamental source of this high value God places on humans is ... well ... we're highly valuable. We are intrinsically valuable. We deserve to be valued. God owes it to us. That is, any rational being can see that humans are important and God would be foolish not to think so. Thus, it comes as a sad awakening (in a movie like Legion) that God would discover that humans are failures.
Trust me, even those of us who are trying our best to be theologically correct slip into this thinking. We believe that God values us because we're valuable. We believe that it would be wrong of God, for instance, to simply eliminate the human race. It would be wrong. It is that belief that makes, as an example, the whole idea of reprobation -- that God would choose some not to be saved -- so abhorrent. We're too valuable for that. God values us all and desperately wants all of us to be saved ... because we're so valuable. We apply this to evil in general. Theodicy is the defense of God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil. The only reason it is necessary is because God should eliminate evil because we're so darned important! So it's a sticky question for most of us, and don't suggest otherwise.
Well, let me suggest otherwise. The question is one of value. In business (and most of life), value is determined by a simple formula: Benefit - Cost = Value. Think about that for a moment. From God's perspective, what are the benefits of human beings and the cost of human beings? The benefits are near zero and the cost is His Son amongst everything else. That puts a negative value on humans. No, no, let's not have God figure our value that way. If we're going to have any hope, let's bank on God placing value on us in relative terms. You know, like "sentimental value". He is so endeared with us that we are valued simply by being, not by calculation. There, does that help? No, not really.
When kids today come across an arrogant kid, you might hear them offering some sage advice: "Get over yourself." It's their way of telling people, "You hold too high a view of yourself. Step it down. Give up the drama and the hype. You're just not as important as you think." And we would do well to learn from that advice. God has no faith in humankind. We're just not that valuable. Our only value is assigned, not intrinsic, and that is a variable that God alone knows and places -- based solely on Himself. Don't count on your cuteness to get grace from God.
6 comments:
I like that one...and I'm glad you put the last line in there...because I am so cute and needed the reminder.
Yeah, your picture tells the whole "cute" story.
So... uh, why do you suppose He created us in the first place, if we're not cute little creatures He enjoys watching run around like chickens with our heads cut off or like so many busy ants in colonies? If He knew most of us were just going to be a big disappointment to Him and in the big scheme of things we aren't of much value, what joy do we bring to Him or purposes do we serve, I wonder? (BIG questions for LITTLE ant.)
I don't see evidence that our earth lives are very valuable to Him. Just look at the slaughters of masses of people in the OT and what just occured in Haiti. We humans nearly always assume that death is THE worst thing that could EVER happen to us and to others however, but we don't even know what happens next. Maybe, just maybe it's the best thing! It's not like life here on Planet Earth is without a barrage of trials and tribulations. Perhaps death spares people of at least some of their long stint of mandatory attendance at "the school of hard knocks".
Do you suppose many people feel they deserve to be valued and deserve at least some happiness because life is tough and they didn't ASK to be born?
In regard to your statement that the benefits of our existence to God "are near zero and the cost is His son amongst everything else", well, that was His decision, was it not? He is the author of this story. Our history is His story. I can't help but wonder, weren't there any other plot lines available besides one in which His only begotten and beloved son in whom He was well pleased had to die a very brutal and bloody death for us little creatures down here on earth?
We just see so very LITTLE of all that is going on. We understand almost nothing of what transpired before our creation, what's currently going on, or what lies ahead. In the meantime we do a lot of guessing and wondering. Hopefully, someday, we will be considered valuable enough to get to see the whole picture and hear the whole story, because right now it seems like a lot of us are just trying to figure things out having only been provided with one chapter of it.
"What ... purposes do we serve?"
Oo, oo, I got this one. "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever." :)
You weren't going there, but we get so easily confused because we naturally think that God was apparently unsatisfied with the way things were and needed mankind to remedy His lack. (I hope, when I say it, it becomes obviously foolish.)
This post is very interesting considering a recent debate featured at Wintery Knight's blog. He often posts debates between Christian apologists and others, with the recent one with Christopher Hitchens. Old Chris thinks very highly of himself and does indeed put extraordinary value on human life relative to its Creator. He thus has trouble understanding God and His plan and speaks arrogantly and condescendingly as a result. He insists that God must value us based on human terms rather than His and since He doesn't, well, Chris thinks he risks nothing telling God "F*** You!"
As to why would God bother creating us in the first place, your answer is a good one. Yet it never suffices for those like Hitchens as they believe it makes more sense to create sinless creatures undeserving of suffering. I like to equate it to marriage. Though some may like the idea of a spouse who can't help but love them, how much better still if that spouse chooses to love them when he/she doesn't have to. I don't see that God needs us, but does desire that we choose to love, honor and serve Him.
To both Sherry and Marshall Art ...
It is clear that, in some sense, God places value on His creation. It is not intrinsic, as I said, but He does. The problem is that we get confused into thinking it's all about us.
Here's how I see it. We are a love gift from Father to Son. Imagine, then, that I love my wife (takes no imagination ... it's true) and I know she loves orchids. So I buy seeds to grow a special orchid for her birthday. I tend to this plant for a year. I water it and nourish it and give it the proper light. If this plant was sentient, what would it think? It would think, "Wow, I must be something special because of all the care that he's giving me." And the truth would be that the plant is something special, not because of itself, but because of its value to me as a gift to my wife.
We are special to God because He loves His Son and we are His love gift to His Son. We just get confused thinking that it's all about us and miss entirely that it's not.
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