If Only Jesus Were Like Jacob Marley
An Agnostic’s Disappointment
I’ve never liked Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I find it vaguely depressing. Perhaps that’s a strange reaction, being that it’s a story of spiritual renewal, in which a bitter, self-centered old man is touched by the spirit of Christmas and finds a more joyous, loving outlook on life. It’s a victorious story, but instead of victory, I feel defeat.
It makes me sad that it isn’t real.
A Promise of Renewal
The New Testament promises a new and improved spirit for believers.
By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire — 2 Peter 1:4.
This is the way it’s supposed to work. When we accept Christ as our savior we are to receive the indwelling of the holy spirit, that will instill in us the fruits of the spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (Galatians 5:22).
With this new spirit, Christians would be qualitatively superior to other human cohorts, and churches would function more smoothly than secular organizations.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony — Colossians 3:12–14.
But it doesn’t happen that way, does it?
Where’s the Magic?
Imagining what this promised spirit would feel like, I see my fears and desires faded. I am filled with such goodwill that I’m less worried about my own status and fate. My patience has increased and my judgement has decreased. I am still far from perfect, but measurably closer to it than I am now.
I am like Scrooge on Christmas morning.
This is what I expected to feel when I became a Christian in college, long ago in another life. Maybe not right away, but I did expect supernatural help to get to this promised state.
I thought Jesus would be like Jacob Marley and the Christmas spirits, sweeping in and leading me by the hand through the netherworld of my life, creating within me with a larger, more charitable nature.
As I grew in knowledge and matured in faith, however, it didn’t happen. Despite my determination to detach from my natural nature and partake in that promised divine nature, I still felt the same inside.
Worse, many of my fellow believers in my university’s Baptist Student Union, who had actually grown up in the church, were much more judgmental of outsiders and competitive for power within the group than I was.
Something somewhere wasn’t working as promised, and I would eventually notice that this failure seemed to be universal, not only in evangelicalism but the other churches as well. We are “saved” or “confirmed” and embark on our Christian journey of study, prayer, worship, service, etc., but the fruits of the spirit don’t manifest in our character. When it comes these, we stay at square one — precisely wherever we were before we started.
The very topic of character is unwelcome in most Christian communities. It seems to elicit the same robotic prescription to many other uncomfortable questions : “Here are the Bible verses. But they will only be true if you have enough faith, so if they don’t work, it’s your fault.”
Whither Thou, Marley?
The way I see it, Jesus is just way too polite. He stands at the door and knocks, but when you open it he only takes a single step inside. Everything else is up to you. He doesn’t lead, he doesn’t insist, he doesn’t confront.
A common topic for sermons is a pastor’s confession that he has suddenly noticed some stumbling block in his faith that he never knew was there. It’s followed up with Bible verses about this very issue whose meaning is now personally clear.
But do we ever hear an update as to whether this new understanding resulted in the promised advancement of the pastor’s faith to a new and more rewarding level? Or did he — like most of us — understand it with his head, but find himself unable to feel it with his heart? Because the holy spirit didn’t act. Because Jesus was still standing in the far corner of the room, as if reluctant to intrude.
Marley, on the other hand, is all about business. There’s no polite little knocking for him. He just barges right through the closed door and gets to the point. Though he doesn’t force Scrooge to take that spiritual and emotional journey, he helps him decide, showing him the hellish fate that awaits him if he doesn’t agree to face his past and grow his spirit. The three spirits then guide Scrooge through it, escorting him all the way.
Marley doesn’t stand quietly in the corner waiting for Scrooge to notice he has something important to say. He jumps right out, gives him a loving shove, and extends a helping hand.
A Very Human Spirit
Googling “dying churches” can be educational. There are tales of distraught pastors who went to heroic efforts to bring young people into their church, only to see their elderly congregations revolt and reject them, preferring to let the church die rather than change, even just a little. There are stories of churches splitting from internecine wars between factions, often between those who want the church to become active in the community and those who want it to remain an insular club.
Reading these heart-bleeding accounts leaves the impression that the church as an institution is doomed — set up to fail in an era where attendance is no longer a pre-requisite to social acceptance. For Christians, like any other human cohort, can’t get along in close quarters. Everybody wants things their way, only their way, and will to fight to impose their way on everybody else.
Now obviously, not all churches are dying and not all are equal. While some are clearly possessed of a resentful, judgmental spirit, others display a more generous, charitable core. But in the latter, how much of that disposition is the work of the holy spirit?
People have a wide spectrum of character and spirit. Empiric evidence suggests that people with a resentful, judgmental nature are attracted to legalistic, insular churches. Likewise, people with generous, charitable spirits are attracted to churches that reflect these values.
So what really comes first, the chicken or the egg?
Just Imagine
Imagine what the world might be like if Jesus took an active, supernatural role in raising our spiritual and emotional maturity. I think it would look something like this:
- There would be no huge, hierarchical churches that dictate doctrinal minutiae and declare all others to be in terminal error. Churches would be largely independent and focus squarely on supporting their members’ spiritual walk and helping their communities, with rules and doctrine still important, but not the central issue.
- The last 2000 years of human history would be different. There would have been no crusades, Inquisition, or Protestant Reformation. The church would not have pursued political power or extorted believers to pay money for extra salvation. And who knows how many wars may have been avoided?
- Christianity in the U.S. would not have its current reputation for charlatanism, sex abuse, misogyny, white nationalism, and hate. Christians would instead be seen as generous, helpful souls with bigger hearts and smaller egos than the rest of us.
- Churches would run more smoothly. Instead of my church, my choir, or my ministry, parishioners would be more open to compromise with each other and less possessive of their accomplishments and status within the group.
- There would be no need for evangelism. The Christian witness would be apparent from the actions of its individual members and its community, rather than from its words.
Jesus says that a tree is recognized by its fruit (Matthew 12:33). I say that I find the fruit of the Christian tree seriously lacking. It’s a hodge-podge of rotten and ripe, no better or worse than trees in secular gardens.
A Too-Narrow Gate
Christians — especially evangelicals — are replete with stories about how Jesus transformed their lives. These testimonies often revolve around giving up a life of crime, vice, or addiction for the righteous path. But they don’t seem to include character. Pride, self-righteousness, resentment, greed, gluttony, judgement, hate, jealousy, selfishness, and neglecting the poor don’t seem to be considered sins in evangelicalism. Even if they are addressed as such in other churches, there is no evidence that the holy spirit intervenes to elevate their members’ character.
Now undoubtedly there are those who will claim to be someone, or know someone, whose character was supernaturally transformed by the holy spirit — someone for whom the promises for the fruits of the spirit and divine nature were actually kept. I have to accept that these claims may be true.
I will point out, however, that they are the exceptions, not the rule. Jesus himself confirms this: For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few— Matthew 7:14. My interpretation of this narrow gate is that most people are not Christians, and most Christians don’t have enough faith to receive the gift of the divine nature. In other words, the promise is only for the elite of an elect.
And I will express my unwillingness to be among such an elite. I don’t want to be special, god’s favorite, or chosen. I want better character — and consequently a better life and afterlife — for everyone, not just for myself and an elite few.
I want a savior who keeps his promise for true inner transformation to everyone who wants it, who doesn’t impose pre-requisites, play favorites, or boast of his exclusivity.
Long ago I decided that Jesus was not this savior. Marley did a better job of redemption. So I’m disappointed that Jesus is so stingy with his promises and sad that Marley is not real.
