WORLD FOUR: FUGITVE TO EVANGELIST
This quest takes us from Condemnation to Forgiveness. God is seen as judge, Christ as Savior. Much of “church language” comes from this world, as does much in our order of worship.
Conundrum: Guilt
Sin: Willful, intentional, chosen, relished rebellion because it provides access to the forbidden Gospel Truth: We can harm the relationshilp we have with God |
Resolution: Rebirth of an entire new life to replace the old sinful life
Christology: Savior who redeems us from our sins Gospel Celebration: Our response is faithful obedience to God's grace, not for self-realization (World Three), but for self-sacrifice as a joyous response to God's love |
Scripture: Not a mirror, but a prism of Gods truth. Scriptural authority raises the Bible above the duplicity and hubris of sinful humanity
God: Sits on the judgment throne named "the mercy seat" Salvation: From rebellion to obedience Movement: From fugitive to evangelist |
Conundrum
For citizens of this Word the soul is diseased/demonic, as deep within the self is the will to dominate in order that I may survive. The disease is so great that just to be born is to be immersed in sin. So we “do” in order to justify ourselves – as if we must atone for being alive. This self- justification is acted out in rebellion against God. Martin Heidegger's critique of modernity's self-assertion of the will to power speaks to these dynamics. As personified in the quest of science and technology, the goal of modernity is to place the whole of reality at our disposal, making all beings - including God and human beings - into means to human ends. It is noteworthy that Heidegger, with this great insight to the issues, was swept up in the Nazi movement of Germany. Even after the war he was unable to apologize for the will to power/dominate exemplified in the National Socialist project. A poignant reminder of the insight of World Four, that we are so mired in our own self-delusions/sins we cannot rescue ourselves out of them.
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The strength of World Four's obsessio is made clear by the Hamlet character Claudius, who killed his brother and married his sister-in-law to claim the throne. In this scence Claudious wrestles with his conscience but finds only vain self-justification:
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This moving short film Guilt portrays what those in World Four feel is their relationship to God - one of taking from and injury to the Sacred. Here God would resemble the longsuffering mother and we the rebellious and ungrateful son.
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With this Indigo Girls' cover of the Joni Mitchell song River we come face to face with the reality of personal guilt in harming a relationship.
We begin with fleeing:
Then we discover the broken relationship:
All that is left is to run and seek escape as a fugitive:
Finally, the haunting personal confession:
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Resolution
Guilt pushes us toward resolution for there is no hope without confession of the need for atonement. Since I am powerless to change my attitudes and behavior only an intervention by God in the form of graceful forgiveness can impact my life.
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Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright's With You I'm Born Again gives voice to the security of being found and loved:
Come bring me your softness / Comfort me through all this madness / Woman, don't you know with you / I'm born again / Come give me your sweetness / Now there's you, there is no weakness / Lying safe within your arms / I'm born again / I was half, not whole / in step with none / Reaching through this world in need of one / Come show me your kindness / in your arms I know I'll find this |
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Sam Keen was in informal guru of mine during my seminary days. Here he delineates between two kinds of being "lost." Note the World Four theme that the joy of finding can only follow the sorrow of being lost.
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Recorded by the gay singer Nhojj, this version of Amazing Grace expands the innate power of God's grace to affirm those previously marginalized in God's name. The epiphania is discovering that God's love can take those lost in the maze of "religious rules" and make them found.
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Spiritual Quest
The quest for World Four is the most courageous of all, for it is in part a quest against the self. This quest is to turn self-deception into guilt, intensifying our frantic efforts at self-justification, moving us toward confusion. Occasioning chaos, this movement disrupts our duplicitous attitudes. The disruption allows for transformation as we come to see ourselves through God’s eyes as both abhorred sinner and beloved child.
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The Mission is a movie that explores the theme of pride, fall, and redemption. In this scene Robert de Niro's character is literally carrying all his guilt with him until redeemed by the native American's who he has previously captured and sold as slaves.
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The contemporary Christian band Sanctus Real performs the song Forgiven. Note the transformation from the "old" person to the "new" person, often spoken of as the experience of being born again.
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The song I'm Born Again by the 1970's Euro disco group Boney M gives expression to the freedom which new birth brings in it's wake:
I'm born again, I feel free / No longer alone / A bright light is shinning / And shows me a world that I own / I can see my way through / I know I will walk beside you / All those prayers of mine weren't in vain / I'm born again I'm born again, I feel free / There's a quite different me / No longer I'm tossed like a ship / On an unruly sea / I've been blessed with a love / That's meant for the rest of my time / All those prayers they were not in vain / I'm born again Since love touched my heart right / My life has a meaning / I feel I'm no longer drifting in space / I believe once again that there is a tomorrow / A brand new tomorrow, I know I can face |
Failure to quest in World Four can leave us guilt-ridden, manifested as judgment of others. World Four citizens can structure society into a believer and non-believer understanding, creating a “who’s in/who’s out” dichotomy.