Paganised Christianity - The Fu Lu Shou Gospel (Judges 11:29-39)

Judges 11:29-39 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon. When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break." "My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. But grant me this one request," she said. "Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry." "You may go," he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

Jephthah made a rash vow to the Lord to offer as a sacrifice whatever came out to meet him at the door of his house if he returned in triumph from battle against the Ammonites.  When the first person to meet him at his house turned out to be his only daughter, his rash vow became a personal tragedy. Jephthah's vow might have been due to his shallow understanding of the Lord's character, attributing to the God of love the same characteristics of the Baals and Asthoreths, which required human sacrifices. Such syncretistic theology can only be corrected through proper teaching of God's Word. However, for Jephthah, this was not done and though he was filled with the Spirit ("the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah" which imparts divine charisma), he was seriously wanting in the Word (which imparts divine character).

While we may deplore Jephthah's simplistic mindset, unfortunately, such syncretistic theology is present even in our days--especially so, among Asian Christians converted out of non-Christian religions. The tendency of transferring our former pagan attitudes towards towards the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ can be seen in the following ways:

(1) The "Fu Lu Shou (福禄寿)" Gospel: The attributes of the Taoist trinity of luck (福), wealth (禄), and longevity (寿) are often transferred to the God of the Bible as a Deity to bless us with good fortune, wealth and health. The Prosperity Gospel (which its "blessing" theology that emphasizes receiving blessings from God while ignoring the hard sayings of Jesus to "deny yourself, take up the cross and follow me") makes easy assimilation of the Fu Lu Shou attitudes into Christianity. While such "positive" attitudes may be less harmful than Jephthah's human sacrifice understanding of Yahweh, it nevertheless produces a shallow Christianity with no depth of character. The discipleship message is left out because it's too painful. But pain is necessary for character building. Jesus himself had to learn obedience through his sufferings: "Although (Jesus) was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him" (Hebrews 5:8-9). So when Jesus insisted that anyone who wants to be his disciple must "deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23), he is emphasizing the priority of character (Christlike obedience) over charisma (grace-blessings). Jephthah had charisma of leadership when the Spirit came upon him, but he lack the character of leadership becaus of his faulty theology.

(2) Keeping God in the Temple: For Asians, their deities are localised in the temples, if they don't bring them back to their homes or workplaces by setting up altars for them. Asian deities are there to bless those who pray to them and place no demand on the adherents to live morally or to be involved in selfless service. So increasingly we see Christianity also has become a "weekend religion" with a God that is left in the church when believers go back to their homes and workplaces. Worship and Word have become a weekend activities in the Christian temples--sorry, I mean, churches.  This separation of faith from life is again a result of this transference of pagan attitudes into Christianity, resulting in a paganised Christianity.

(3) Christianity a Religion,not Relationship: Asian religions focuses on doing the proper rites and rituals to ensure the favour of the deities to bring luck, wealth and health, but no one would think of having an intimate relationship with the deities they pray too. They are best left in the temples (some look terrifying!). They are not like the Father-God of the Bible who seeks to have a relationship with us as children. So Christianity has become a religion of rules, rites and rituals -- anything but a daily talking relationship with Father God. Out of sight (from churches) is out of mind.

We need to redeem our theology from paganistic attitudes and restore biblical theology of a God as loving but holy--a God who not only wants to bless us, but who wants us to be a blessing to others. The Gospel is Good News because it transfers us from the pagan self-centred religion into the Kingdom selfless faith  that is seeking to "deny self, take up the cross" in order to follow Christ.

Father, renew our mind and purge it from unbiblical and pagan ideas that have been transferred to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.