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God's Way Works; Human Ways Do Not

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- ** New example (22 November 2009) **: Farming God's Way in Kenya.

I recently swore at my son. Because he said "Christianity might be 1% good but it's 99% bad." I was livid. I realised afterwards why this was: because of the way I interpreted what such percentages would mean. One way is: "In 99% of things Christianity does or is there is some evil, at least some taint of evil, and in only 1% is no evil to be found." Well, if that's what it means, I disagree; that interpretation, Christianity is 100% bad and 0% good - because there is nothing in this temporal current creation that is totally without the taint of sin. But then so are all other systems. So that percentage is useless.

How I actually interpreted it - and I did so intuitively - was: "Taking the whole story of Christianity, over 2000 years and the whole world, its impact and effect has been 99% evil, 1% good." With that interpretation, anything less than 50% good means that it would have been better for the world if Christianity had never happened. So a mere 1% good and a huge 99% bad means that Christianity is so evil that it ought to wiped out immediately without delay, pulverized, utterly destroyed, and all its followers ought to be slaughtered or vaporized. That is not what my son meant, of course! But that is why I reacted to violently.

I also realised why I cared so much. It is because I am deeply convinced that the message and active intervention of God (Holy Spirit, Jesus, Father) in the world is net good. Net good in the world's own terms. It is far better for the world that this has happened (call it 'Christianity'), than it it had not. So, talking percentages, it is far in excess of 50% good and far less than 50% bad.

I am deeply convinced that God's ways work, and that human ways do not. Not just in some other-worldly terms, but in terms the world itself would own, understand and value. It's meaningless to try to talk %s or even balance good and bad, when we think in such terms. So here are a few examples.

Some Examples

Farming God's Way in Kenya. - ** new 22 November 2009 **

This part of the page is a collection of smallish examples that demonstrate that Man's ways do not work in the long run, while God's ways seem to work better. Pride in particular is a killer.

On the working of pride in the human condition, and in human beings.
On how it lies at the root of all evil and wrong.
On how pride doesn't work and humility does work.
And how it is the thing that God hates above all, because of the harm it does, and because his own nature is the very opposite of pride.

And

This page in in process of being written. When written all the above will be hyperlinks that take you to material on each topic.

God's Ways Work

There are fewer visible examples of where God's way has worked, not because it doesn't work but because it has not been tried often - and also because evil seems more interesting in the media (see Simone Weil's comment).

South Africa

De Kleerk publicly repented of apartheid, and Mandela publicly forgave. And that laid the foundation for true healing and eventual prosperity. (What is later built on the foundation is the responsibility of others.)

De Kleerk's apology was not a face-saving "I'm sad that it happened and we won't do any more of it," but took the form of repentance rather than mere regret. "We were wrong; we did wrong." Mandela's forgiveness was not "Well, let's just forget and try to cooperate to keep a decent economy," but was genuine forgiveness.

Notice the pattern: repentance by those with power, then as a response forgiveness by those who were powerless or oppressed. This is God's way.

Now contrast this with that notorious trouble-spot: Israel. Human ways are adopted: compromise, face-saving, then shows of strength, firm resolve against terrorism, revenge, and the like. They will never work on their own. All that happens is that the lack of repentance remains as arrogance and the lack of forgiveness remains as bitter anger, which can boil up again at any time; see a page on Israel.

(Maybe I'm wrong? I did have Northern Ireland in there too as an example of human ways - but those very human ways do seem to have worked there, and there is now peace and power sharing.)

Commercial Branding

In the 1970s we had production, in the 1980s we had marketing, in the 1990s we had branding. But branding today has become hollow and empty, says Kevin Roberts, Chief Executive of Saatchi and Saatchi (BBC Radio 4, Business Eye, 27 February 2005). Instead, we are moving to 'love marks'. 'Love marks' are brands that are honest, holistic, environmentally responsible. That do not 'target' us (who wants a weapon pointed at us anyway?) but that 'intrigue' us and even respect us. Brands work when they are holistic and authentic.

Notice the resonance with Christian values of truth, love, humility, responsibility here. Brands were an attempt to get a commitment to a thing for its own sake, which is self-serving and even verging on idolatry. Thus is would not work in the longer term. But if a brand is self-giving, serving others (customer, environment, etc.) rather than itself, and does not demand the worship of customers, then it will be more successful.

Man's Ways Do Not Work

Ziauddin Sardar has said:

"From the most favourable conditions in human history we have generated terror, war and a proliferation of tensions grounded in mutual fear and hatred. Humanity is unquestionably in need of help."

[The Guardian, UK, 9th December 2006]

Treaty of Versailles

World War 1 was supposed to be "the War to end all Wars". After World War 1 the French especially wished to 'punish' the Germans for starting the War and what they did. For 'punish' read 'humiliate' and 'get revenge on'. This humiliation sowed seeds of first despair and then resentment among the German people that Hitler could nurture to gain leadership. Hence World War 2 came about, and all the lasting impact on the world that has had.

Pride, while it might sometimes seem to achieve results in the short term, never works in the long.

Steakknife - On Honesty and Promises

A British mole in the top of the IRA, code-named 'Steakknife', has just been named by another agent who was frustrated that the British government had refused to keep their promise to him/her of safety. As a result, Steakknife has gone into terrified hiding. This provides a double example of not going God's way:

Scripture tells us, "Blessed is he who swears to his own hurt and does not change" [Psa. 15:4]. It looks as though the British government failed there. But maybe they feel they had not actually promised. But did they give the impression of a promise? Jesus gave the spirit and attitude that we should have: "Give to those who ask, and do not resist. Go the extra mile."
But even putting a mole may be counter-productive in the long run. Moles are subterfuge - deceit. When all the facts are out and laid side by side, what benefit has there been? With such a mole in place the British government's freedom for action was greatly restricted in many ways, to protect the mole's identity. Apparently Steakknife killed a number of people, to protect his identity. Why, if the mole gave useful information, did the British government 'cosy up' to the IRA - as was revealed a couple of days ago - and seem to give in too easily to their demands? And now that the news is out, will the IRA become angry and even more intransigent, so the peace process suffers yet another set-back? It certainly looks as though the sum total of benefit from the subterfuge might well be negative; overall, it would have been better not to engage in it. Jesus clearly told us, "What is whispered in secret will be shouted from the housetops" - and in doing so he was, perhaps, not just making a specific prediction as expressing a general principle in favour of openness.

This page is offered to God as on-going work. Comments, queries welcome.

Part of his www.abxn.org pages, that open up discussion and exploration from a Christian ('xn') perspective. Written on the Amiga with Protext. Number of visitors to these pages: Counter .

Created: ?. Last updated: 3 February 2001 I combined two files called 'pride' and tidied the lot up. 23 September 2001 extended South Africa. 12 May 2003 Steakknife and honesty; changed from pride to general examples. 27 February 2005 long overdue revamp, removed Iraq, added branding, placed work before notwork. 6 January 2007 Sardar quote. 27 April 2008 introductory story. 5 January 2009 otg, new .nav, rid NI. 18 February 2009 N Ireland. 22 November 2009 farming God's way.