Ghost in the Machine

 

In 1981 the British rock band “Police” produced an album titled “Ghost in the Machine.” One of it’s songs “Spirits in the Material World” states the very thing Jesus was seeking to awaken us to. The French philosopher Rene’ Descartes proposed a similar idea when he coined the phrase: “cogito ergo sum” (English: “I think, therefore I am”). Proposing that because he was thinking he existed, and that he was not the product of a dream. The Bible makes references to these distinctions often. Are we simply a machine, or product of chemical reactions, ancient ancestors and an evolutionary process that has pre-determined our personalities and the ways we think and behave? Or are we more than machines? More than animals?

This sounds silly to most but you would be surprised at how much this thinking has infiltrated our society, culture and the Christianity that we practice. In essence our worldview has been determined by the environment in which we were raised. As a result that worldview will determine whether you trust Jesus’ truth, or the “truth” the world system seeks submission, and allegiance to. For example secular humanism’s proponents decided that the best way to rid the world of superstitious beliefs in the supernatural and eternal, other worldly existence was to begin within the framework of the public education system. As the Bible states: “Train up a child in the way that they should go and they will not depart from it.” This belief system has infiltrated our worldview and keeps us from embracing a world that we cannot perceive with our physical senses, or comprehend with our logical mind. This is why Paul exhorts the believers in Rome: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.” (Romans 12:2 J.B. Phillips Translation)

Jesus said in John 15:4-7 “Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken-off] branch, and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned. If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.”

How do you dwell in someone Who isn’t physically present? How do you dwell in someone’s words when they aren’t available to speak those words? If your world view has not been shaped by the Word of God, or a supernatural encounter with Jesus, or both, you will quickly dismiss those words as being utter nonsense or you will use some intellectual gymnastics to dilute the truth and the impact of it’s meaning. Many within the church fail to be honest with themselves about these things and typically align themselves with those who believe this is superstitious hogwash. I recall when for the very first time I heard someone question, “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?” The question stunned me because I quickly knew that having a relationship involved an interaction. A relationship would involve physical contact or proximity to the person, communication, emotion, and exchange. I knew that I didn’t have that with Jesus. Rather than going to God with my questions I deferred to the religious experts who were more than happy to dismiss my doubts about my own salvation. They explained that it really doesn’t mean that you can know Jesus or interact with Him. You simply need to reassure yourself that you prayed a prayer, you were baptized, joined the church, and tried to be a good person till you died. Never once did an advisor encourage me to pursue an encounter, or experience with Jesus. Yet Scripture repeatedly commands and exhorts us to seek, and pursue God and you will find Him. I was taught quite the opposite. I was taught a relativistic world view. That is you can’t trust experiences, but you can trust your five physical senses and what your brain interprets them to say. Can experiences deceive us? Absolutely. But did Jesus, the Apostles, Old and New Testaments Prophets, Teachers, and believers ever buy into the belief that you couldn’t experience and know God? Notice that I say believers, not adherents. True believers have been experiencing God since Adam and Eve walked in the Garden with Him. And from the beginning of time it’s been the adherents of religion that have sought to dilute and discount the experiences of true believers. If they can’t silence you they will kill you. That’s why Religion killed and still seeks to silence Jesus today; crucifying Him through the doctrines and dogmas of men, empty religious rituals, self-centered, feel good teachings and warm and fuzzy theology. Yet the “rocks” are still crying out that the stone has been rolled away from their hearts, that Jesus has walked into their lives, and they have been forever transformed by the embrace of His Presence. Popular Theologians announced in 1966 that God was dead. Time magazine called Billy Graham asking for his reaction to the stunning declaration. Billy simply replied, “That’s funny I was just talking with Him.”