Divine Plagiarism

When I think of syncretism, the worship of La Virgin de Guadalupe comes to mind. A fusing of old gods with the True God, a watering down of the Gospel, mixing it with old symbols of a world that refuses to pass away. It is a subtle trap, really. When a culture is transformed by the Gospel, the result is something that is distinctly transformed yet still distinctly of that culture. Syncretism grants the appearance of transformation without all the discomfort involved in actually going through with it. Instead of becoming something new, the culture gets to stay comfortably who they were. They just get a makeover.

All of us are in some way a mix of the sacred and the profane. Sinners saved by the grace of God. The law of sin and the law of grace are at war within us. In yielding to the will of God, He will ensure that the law of grace will win in the end. But until then, we will remain at war, for He gives no quarter to our rebellion. We should not try to negotiate a truce, not in the name of tolerance or moderation or any other name. ‘Stronghold’ is the name for any places in our lives where we have chosen coexistence and comfort over sanctification. Syncretism is simply a stronghold writ large; it is a place where the culture is unwilling to change, instead negotiating a truce between the profane and the holy. It can be reduced to a simple equation: True God plus cultural idol equals syncretism. So if each culture has different idols, each culture’s syncretism will be different.

Back to the Virgin of Guadalupe. I am not trying to argue the virtues or the vices of the veneration of Mary. I do know, though, that the Catechism of the Catholic Church does not condone many of the things that happen in the name of the Virgin of Guadalupe. So we look to that image, and the throngs worshipping it, and we point our fingers. You cannot mix old gods with the One True God. We reject out of hand any thoughts of mixing Christ and Krishna in order to reach India. Rightly so. Really though, it is not tremendously difficult for us to do so… to most Americans, the idea of worshipping gods with elephantine heads or large numbers of arms is quite foreign. It is quite easy to denounce the idols of another culture. It is much more difficult to cast down the idols of your own. Perhaps we should look to the plank in our own eye.

There is a fine line between a dream and a nightmare. Consider knowledge. A culture that values knowledge can use that cultural distinctive to bring great glory to God. All of that changes when they start to worship knowledge as an idol, even if it is an idol dressed in Christian garb. What, then, is our idol? We’ve all heard about the American Dream. ‘You will succeed if you keep trying and never give up.’ In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with this dream, and blessedly it has come true for more than a few. But in our dream, we find our nightmare. Success. This is our idol. Success promises us safety, it tells us who we are, it demands to be worshipped.

Our syncretism, then, is a mixing of the Truth of God with the idol of success. After all, everybody loves a winner. So we want to win. We do what was forbidden to King David. We take censuses, over and over. We analyze trends in church growth, trends in giving, looking to percentages to tell us who we are. We make four-step programs, quick and convenient ways to move people into the ‘saved’ camp. Then we count that camp, we refine our techniques, we measure and measure and measure. ‘How many decisions were there?’ Anyone in any form of ministry has likely heard this question. This is, after all, how we measure success. Really, the question is ‘did we succeed?’ Because success is important. And it is, no doubt. Thinking about success is not a bad thing, really. That is, until it becomes a means by which we remain safe.

George MacDonald, in his ‘Unspoken Sermons,’ critiques the man who becomes ’saved’ and proceeds to become satisfied with less than perfection. Certainly, there is something amazing and beautiful that happens when someone joins the fold of Christ. Far too often, though, we stop there. ’How many decisions,’ we ask. This is our unit of measure, our currency of success as a church. If you can produce mass decisions, you are a success. Successes are to be honored and emulated. We have created a system where we can still worship success in the name of worshipping God. We are guilty of syncretism.

Use what you got. Of course. Americans are good at innovating and optimizing. It is not surprising that we should turn these skills to the service of God. Please do not think that I am anti-megachurch. Many have been reached by the ministries of Willow Creek, New Life, and Saddleback. Praise God for that. Once again, though, the line between a dream and a nightmare is a fine one. God asks for a broken heart and a contrite spirit. All men are proud (save One, of course.) People in ministry are no different. The more successful you become, the more of a temptation pride becomes. Many fall victim. I think to the ‘my way is God’s way’ line of thought tragically attached to several successful ministries. Challenges are answered with statistics on conversions and percentages of church growth. The trappings of success are hardly the contrition and broken-heartedness that God asks of us. They are transient, as we have seen far too often. The wounds left by pride and betrayal last far longer. These are the bitter fruits of our syncretism.

American Christianity uniquely American. This is not bad, and it is important that we understand that. God chooses to express Himself through persons, and each individual personality reflects a slightly different piece of God, a piece no one else is capable of reflecting. He also expresses Himself through cultures, and each culture expresses Him slightly differently. But each culture, just like each person, has places where they have chosen to compromise, to mix the sacred and the profane. These unholy truces provide the appearance of holiness while denying its true power. Our culture values success. We idolize it. There is no room for idolatry in the church. Certainly not an idolatry in Christian trappings.

Perhaps, at least for a time, we would be served well by the prohibition the Lord gave to King David. No more censuses. If we don’t know how to succeed anymore, maybe we’ll have to ask Him. Maybe, somewhere beyond the limits of our own strength, we will find the contrition and brokenness He desires. Through His strength in our weakness, I think we’ll find more success than we had ever imagined.