the church
Insights
on church life
by Pastor Pete Beck III
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are we guilty of dualistic thinking?
Dualism is a philosophical and religious set of beliefs that holds that the spirit is "good" and eternal; whereas, the body or flesh is evil and temporal. Often it combined with Persian Zoroastrianism in which there are two warring entities vying for power or rule, God and the devil. This way of thinking allows for a force of evil beyond the pale of God's control. In contrast, we must control how this evil power is able or not able to impact our lives via the proper use of faith, prayer and words. In New Testament times, this error was called Gnosticism. The Gnostics believed salvation came through having a higher form of revelation and knowledge about these deep secrets to which most people were oblivious. All sorts of errors sprang from this faulty base, including the denial of Christ's humanity, emphasis on asceticism, anomianism, and immorality. This error is still alive today and has infiltrated the thinking of many believers.
This system of error got its start in the Garden of Eden from the Master Liar himself who wants to dethrone God, if not actually, at least in the minds of human beings. Satan has always wanted to be God, and he wants us to think that he is a ruler who is at least as powerful as the Creator. This accounts for the horrible bondage that animists are under in cultures where people must offer sacrifices to territorial idols and gods in order to appease their wrath and have some semblance of peace. The Bible teaches that, even though Satan is real and has power, it is limited and under God's sovereignty. (John 19:10-11) Furthermore, our Lord Jesus Christ defeated Satan completely at the cross (Col.2:15) and took back any authority Adam ceded to him through his first disobedience. (Mat.28:18)
So, what does this have to do with us? It is crucial that we have a foundational understanding of and belief in God's omnipotence and sovereignty. (2 Sam.7:22) Life should be lived first and foremost in reference to God. (Prov.3:5-6) When evil things come our way, and they will, our first thoughts should be, "God, what is going on? What are you teaching me? How can you be glorified through this? What do you want me to do?" If we can learn to acknowledge God in all things, praise God in all things (Eph.5:20) and surrender to God in all things, we will have made a giant leap in the right direction. This does not mean we blame God for perpetrating evil, accept evil as being from God or passively surrender to evil. It simply means that we recognize that evil can only come into our lives with God's sovereign permission. (Luke 22:53)God allows it to either test us, refine us, chasten us, always with a redemptive purpose, or, lastly, to provide an opportunity to bring glory to His name. (John 9:1-3) As we seek the Lord and give thanks in all things, we will find that God will give us understanding and faith regarding how to view what is happening, how to pray, how to believe for His best, and how to bring glory to His name in and through the situation. Otherwise, we may find ourselves desperately doing battle with the god of darkness whom we have somehow allowed into our lives and now must cast out with all faith and authority, without ever consulting God for his perspective and wisdom. Failure to acknowledge and live in reference to God's sovereignty places an intolerable weight of responsibility upon human beings to guide and protect their own lives and destiny, something only God is able to do.
Confidence in God's sovereignty and omnipotence delivers us from magical thinking in which we fall prey to the error of believing that our words control our destinies. If Satan and God are equally powerful and are controlled by what we say or don't say, we live in constant fear of verbal missteps. This happens when believers adopt a form of "spiritual speak" in which no evil thing can be acknowledged, lest doing so give that thing legal permission to harass and attack us. Such a mindset results in Christians never being able to say, "I am sick. Please pray for me." Instead they may say something like, "I am having symptoms, or My body is trying to catch up to my spirit." This is dualistic thinking in action. People cannot be healed unless they are sick, can they? Denying what is obvious to everyone around you in an attempt to enunciate the proper healing incantation makes a mockery of the Christian faith and makes people who operate by common sense wonder what planet you are from. As believers in God's sovereignty, we are not afraid to acknowledge what is "true" in order to reach out to the Truth. We can say, "Yes, I am sick, but by His stripes I am / have been healed, and I am believing for that and waiting until I receive that promise in my body." What are Christian dualists going to say on their death bed? "No, I am not dying. I am alive forevermore in the Resurrection of Christ!" The truth is that these bodies are dying daily and we are alive forevermore in Christ. He will raise these dead bodies from the grave when he comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Faith in God's sovereignty keeps us from error.
Another way Christians fall into dualistic thinking is when we spiritualize things and fail to appreciate how God gifts and works in natural things, too. Specifically I have in mind how we honor and exalt what we call the "gifts of the Spirit" found in 1 Corinthians 12, but sometimes minimize or overlook the wisdom, skill and craftsmanship that God's Spirit also inspires. Today my daily Bible reading was in Exodus in the passage that describes how God filled craftsmen with his Spirit to make the articles God revealed to Moses.
The Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 6 And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, 8 the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, 9 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, 10 and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, 11 and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.” Exodus 31:1-11 (ESV)
As a pastor, I appreciate gifted people who have character, not just those who can prophesy or minister healing, but also those who know how to "do stuff", fix things and create beauty. We need to wake up to the fact that God created the "natural" realm as well as the spiritual, and both are "very good" according the Genesis creation account. Yes, that which is eternal has greater significance and value because it will pass through judgment and last forever, but the physical world around us is not insignificant and God gifts people to skillfully and creatively live in it. If someone needs healing, I want to acknowledge and put to work the persons who have faith and the spiritual gift for healing, but if the tractor needs to be repaired, I look to the one who knows how to weld or do other types of repairs. Let's celebrate both the "natural" and the supernatural parts of life; otherwise, we are going to miss out on a lot of things God is doing.
Likewise, let's not only acknowledge "slam dunk" miracles of healing in which a crippled person suddenly stands and walks, but let's also celebrate how God has works inside people who are still believing for and waiting for God's promise. God doesn't always do things as we would like or expect, but He is always working, and it's always for our good and his glory. When we learn to acknowledge God in all things, we will be well on our way to escaping from unbiblical dualistic thinking.
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What is the main thing you derived from this meditation?
Where else do you see dualistic thinking in the church today?
Do you believe this error produces bad behavior and resulting destruction in people's lives or is harmless?
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