We're Christians. We know better. We believe in Christ, not all that superstitious nonsense. Right? You've probably heard of Santeria. It's an Afro-Caribbean religion that took African voodoo and merged it with Roman Catholic Christianity. It doesn't work, of course, but, as it turns out, we can be a real superstitious bunch. Superstition is "a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief." On the face of it, it almost looks like a definition of the Christian faith, but we know better. As long as we're following the Word, our beliefs are "justified." We have reasons to believe. We have faith, not credulity. Credulity is an unfounded belief, and our faith has deep foundations. And still we buy into some superstitious ideas.
I think of the "health and wealth" theology, the "prosperity gospel." Pure, unvarnished supersition, pitting my faith (or lack thereof) against God's supposed temporal blessings. I think of "in the name of Jesus." It's a phrase we use loosely. I hear, "I pray the name of Jesus over you" as if it's some magical phrase that gets our "genie" to provide what we want. We sing about how beautiful Jesus's name is without thinking about the idea. "Jesus" isn't a particularly beautiful name. The name of Jesus, as it represents the person of Jesus, is as beautiful as Jesus is. It's not the name, but the person. We reject rabbit's feet and black cat curses, but we're pretty sure that if we don't do what God wants, He can't accomplish what He intends. We think that God "wants you to be happy." Nowhere in the pages of Scripture do you find that. He wants what's best for us, but that includes chastisement when needed (Heb 12:6). Job understood we don't merely accept good from the hand of God (Job 2:10). Happy? No. Blessed? Yes. Not the same thing. We like to think, "We're all God's children." We're all God's creation, but only those who are adopted into His family are His children (John 1:12-13). (If we were all God's children, what is adoption even for?) Other deeply ingrained superstitions haunt us. God won't love us if we're not good. Lie. You have to be good to get to heaven. Lie. Going to church makes you a Christian. Lie. If you don't choose the right thing, you can only get God's "plan B" at best. Lie.
We're actually a pretty superstitious bunch, and those are just a very few examples of how we are superstitious. Our best defense against such superstitions is to go to the Word (John 17:17). Jesus is the truth, and pursuing a lot of our own foolish ideas isn't very productive. We should be on the lookout for all our superstitious nonsense.
3 comments:
Voodoo also has merged African tribal religion(s) with Roman Catholicism, and it doesn't work either. Yet it does have an incredibly strong hold over it's practitioners. Not the point at all.
I'm some ways, it is difficult to tell the difference between superstition and faith. And based on your worldview they are one in the same. If you reject that the Bible is the word of God, then of course Christianity is a superstition. But as you point out, our faith should not be blind based on feeling, but on the evidence presented. The Bible on all things that can be verified by archeology have been. The evidence of fulfilled prophecy proves it's validity as well. We have faith, but it had better not be blind, or we're in danger of believing all sorts of superstitions.
This is a very sensible post. I have full confidence that regular intake of the Word builds my spiritual immune system; as I take in God’s truth, I figuratively expel the lies we tell ourselves, which breed in our sinful hearts. The longer I practice that mind renewal, the better I am able to recognize “superstitious nonsense” for what it is. A “spiritual detox” grounded in God’s Word brings true vitality.
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