SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL: The Case Against Grace
The case against grace is first made not by the Pharisee or the legalist, but by Lucifer himself. And if he were to give an invitation to his brethren, or a closing argument, I imagine it would sound something like this:
“The Garden Supposal – He gave them a perfect environment. He personally managed every detail. Theirs was truly, the only ‘Match made in Heaven’, and with a whisper they were undone. With one thought they were ready to rebel and overthrow their Lord. This is their worth. And still his hand does not judge. They are provided everything and when they show themselves unworthy, He blames me and doubles down – deaf to their imprecations, blind to their treason.
Their own race eventually would see this as foolish and unjust. They call it the ‘trust fund child’. So Adam and Eve become Rob Kardashian and Paris Hilton and we are supposed to faithfully stand by and fill Heaven’s corners with Hallelujahs?
The Scapegoat – somehow my whisper makes me the heel? I am the reason for famine, slavery, warfare, rape and bloodshed? The truth is and all of you sitting here know it, I could take a sabbatical for 1,000 years and He’d have to continue to intervene with his toy soldiers so that they don’t destroy themselves. Yet somehow, I have become the ‘mark’ that opened Pandora’s garden to all the ills of His ant farm? Yes brothers, I have become God’s Alibi.
What did I have to gain for standing up for you? I had his favor, I had his privilege, but I had earned it. I had everything to lose and nothing to gain when I stood up to object to His wanton favor on this carnival that is humanity. And I’d do it again. Why? Because someone must point out this charade that He calls ‘grace’.
So He interferes time and again to keep His special creation on the right path, to keep them from devouring each other so one day he could parade this farce down an aisle in a white dress when all the while the whole wedding party knows that she ‘ain’t chaste’. And we must hold the door for them because Citizen Cain has demanded that we cheer his bride’s lousy voice. See to it then, you who deny what I’m saying is truth, cling to your faithfulness against the very integrity for which you were destined to shine forth.
Then finally, He comes down. And how humble and magnificent was it all. Born to a pauper and a virgin. Our brothers would Herald his arrival. And after such grand praise humanity would respond to the King of Kings and the Light of the world, right? Shepherds had to be prodded to go and worship and then what? Did they follow him, did they write of him? Nothing! Magi came to worship from thousands of miles away but his own were indifferent until he forced Himself into their narrative and then like their forefathers, they gave him a warm welcome.
And that too is blamed on me. Why? Because I whispered once more in the ear of His servant, Judas. A man who followed him for 3 ½ years, who hung on his every phrase, who marveled at his parlor tricks and with one whisper he is undone. Well, hallelujah – that is the worth of man. Healing the sick, feeding the poor, raising the dead, He came down with His favor but without even the capacity of you my brothers – Made as it is written, ‘a little lower than the angels’, and how does man respond to this ‘Grace?’ – they spit in His face and nail Him to a cross. I ask you, how you can stand by and see your brothers judged for our faithfulness to integrity over the divine favor of this pathetic race? How could you?
What has man done or shown to deserve His favor? But how anxious He is to cling to His little project – and at what cost? Who really has brought division between us? You have seen how He interferes with them? You judge for yourselves. Would you have saved Noah, Lot or Jacob? Noah who was too drunk to know his son was raping him? Righteous Lot who would give his daughters to be raped and had to be dragged away from the very personification of evil? And Jacob – the chiseler? The liar who would conspire against his blind, dying father to steal from his brother? For which of these would you give up your position near the throne? For which of these should you have to? Not me. I’ll stand and object. Whether our ‘righteous’ judge over-rules my objection, I care not, but to be true to who I am and who you were created to be.
He planted the perfect couple in perfection and they threw Him off and then He comes in perfection and they crucify Him – and yet, He still grants them favor and destiny? To which of your brothers would this be true? Which of us held his love and favor so cheaply? Which of us would dare lift a finger against Him, yet we are banished? Yet these ‘talking monkeys’ will judge us one day? And this is just?
I am judged for a whisper! I have never unsheathed my sword. I made known the first couple’s rebellion without even breaking a sweat – that is my crime. I revealed their unworthiness and in doing I showed Him that His hope in humanity is a false hope and for this reason alone am I punished. For evidence must be destroyed and truth must be exiled when it damns the judge Himself.
I do not seek to overthrow God but to give you a choice. In what world should merit be dismissed? In what court of justice do we bless the criminal and punish the innocent? You know better, brethren. And you were born for more than to hold the door for talking beasts.”
*This rationale has crept into the thinking of mankind. It happens when self-righteousness collides with hypocrisy and it is most often found not in the bar-room or the brother, but in the house of worship. And God calls it a “doctrine of demons.”
Image: http://muffintop04.deviantart.com/art/crying-eye-303698829
