There’s
one particular line in the Bible that is conspicuously shunned. It sits openly
in Luke’s gospel, but it is nearly always glossed over… mentioned briefly and
grudgingly at best.
On
one hand, I condemn this on grounds of intellectual
honesty, but on the other, I can very well understand why people run
away from it. Believing this line would turn anyone into a radical, and that
could be dangerous… and indeed it has been dangerous.
Today
I will be ill-mannered enough to address this line. But first, please
understand that Luke records these words as coming from Jesus’ mouth. That’s a
fact, and no amount of evasion will change it.
Here It Is
The
verse I’m referring to is found in Luke 16:15 of the New Testament, and here’s
how it reads in the King James translation:
… that which is highly esteemed among men
is abomination in the sight of God.
For
comparison’s sake, here’s how the more modern Revised Standard Version renders
it:
… what is exalted among men is an
abomination in the sight of God.
I
could go through other versions, but you get the idea: What is held highest among
men is abomination to God.
It’s
quite possible to roll right past this line, but only if you never ask, “What
is most highly esteemed among men?” If we dare ask that question, we run into
trouble – big, ugly, hairy trouble.
Shall We
Be Brave?
We
all enjoy looking brave and being thought brave, but are we ready to do the
hard things that make bravery real? Most people find excuses to skate past such
things; they’re scary and risky, after all. But so long as we do that, we’ll
never be clear in our own minds that we are truly brave.
So,
here’s your big opportunity, especially if you’re a believer of any sort. This
is a chance to face ridicule and shame, and to defy it: to be
brave.
Humans
are great at avoiding these moments, by the way. They’re particularly brilliant
when making up strings of excuses that nullify the whole subject.
But
presuming you’re ready to do this, here’s what you need to determine:
What is most highly esteemed among men?
That’s
it. And the answer, if we face it rather than dodge it, is astonishingly clear:
There is one type of entity on Earth – and
one only – that enjoys this position:
·
It takes a significant
percentage of whatever humans in its vicinity earn, by threat and by force, and
is held to be righteous while practicing this extortion.
·
It decrees what people are
allowed to do or not do.
·
It pursues and punishes
people who do not obey their decrees, then is held to be righteous while
forcing their will on people.
·
It orders millions of young
people into fights to the death.
·
It is held to be righteous
while refusing to inform the about-to-kill-and-die young people of the reasons
for their death and dismemberment.
·
It is held to be righteous
while making decisions that will affect the lives of millions, but without
letting them know the reasons for those decisions.
We all know what class of entity fits this
description, but we also hesitate to admit it… which only confirms its
position.
There
is no other entity on Earth that can come close to the position held by our
“unmentionable” group. In the worst days of the medieval Catholic Church – even
as imagined by those who hate it – they could not have made claims as grand as
these.
And
yet, our Unmentionables enjoy all this esteem and are reflexively defended on
all sides. Without any question, they stand alone at the top. They are, very
clearly, the “most esteemed among men.”
“But, But,
But…”
So,
it couldn’t mean that? Was Jesus confused that day? Was he playing a
sick joke? Was he merely a crank?
If
history is any guide, many of the responses to this article will have the
precise goal of making this line go away. But examining its context, the line
stands (Jesus was talking to people who sought status from men). And by
linguistic analysis it stands; the word for “highly esteemed” is also found in
both Matthew and Luke where Jesus is taken to a “high” mountain and offered all
the kingdoms of the world.
So,
who on Earth has more status and
dominance than our Unmentionables? The answer is, “No one.”
We
can pretend that Jesus was demented, or we can presume that he was a crazed
radical, or we can assume other nasty things… but if we accept him as anything
more than that, we have to take this line seriously… unless we willingly
blind ourselves of course.
Jesus put himself at risk when he said
this, Luke put himself at risk by writing it, and we face risk by championing
it today. That sucks, but that’s the way the world is.
We can face this or not, but no one who
evades it can honestly call him or herself a follower of Jesus.
