Ode To A Tree

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?..." (Psalm 22:1)

Hi, my name is Chris Murphy and I am a recovering fundamental Independent Baptist.

If you weren't raised in modern American denominational, evangelical, Christian church culture, those words probably don't mean much to you. But to someone who was eyeballs-deep into this culture from a very young age, these words are pregnant with meaning; some good, some bad, and some downright ugly. For example of what I'm talking about, here is a breakdown of what fundamental Baptists believe about the Bible:

The Good: The Bible is the unedited, unchangeable, undefiled written Word of God, inspired by God himself and penned by spiritually mature, Holy Spirit-led men for the purpose of communicating God's will and ways to mankind for all races, cultures, and creeds throughout all generations until the end of time.

The Bad: The only acceptable, God-ordained English translation of the Bible is the 1611 King James Version (KJV). All other English translations are 'transliterations' of the KJV and are to be viewed as carnally inferior manipulations of God's holy word (the KJV) by carnally sinful people.

The Ugly: Anyone who refuses to accept this fundamental truth about the KJV and chooses to use one of these inferior English translations are to be judged, condemned, sentenced, and executed as carnally suspect 'christians' until the offending parties repent of their sins and agrees to only use the KJV for their Biblical studies and teachings.

Now, take this Good, Bad, and Ugly formula and apply it to pretty much every fundamental Baptist doctrine and you've got a good idea of where my early Biblical teaching and training came from. Every church I attended, served in, and pastored were part of this fundamental Baptist strain. If you think this mentality is tribal in nature, just tack on the "independent" title and watch this tribe get even smaller and more 'independent' from all the other tribes, including all the other Baptist tribes as well.

Basically, this denominational tribe mentality is at the heart of my Biblical training. I was raised to believe our group had all the truth and anyone who disagreed with us were not part of our tribe and were treated accordingly. I want to be clear here. Not everything I learned in my younger years was inherently bad. I am very thankful for the Bible-based roots my fundamental Independent Baptist training provided me.

I am equally thankful for the journey I've been on with God, including the "bad" and the "ugly" parts. That journey has taken me to some very low places that threatened my faith in God at a level I honestly did not think I was capable of reaching. The usual term used to describe a Christian struggling with their belief in God is "crisis of faith" and mine started with the question I quoted above from Psalm 22:1.

"God, why..."

Let's be real here. Every Bible-believing, church attending, sermon "amening", prayer praying, blood-washed saint on the planet has asked this question in some form or fashion at some point in their spiritual journey. This question typically comes up during a season of intense and prolonged suffering or when we experience an unexpected and tragic loss.

With the "why" question typically comes an insinuation that is really at the core of a lot of issues within and without modern Christianity.  The insinuation is this: God messed up.

Once we are convinced God is capable of failing, the credibility of the Bible falls apart. The promises lose their power. The stories become just that; stories. If left to human reasoning, this 'why' question can eventually move the Bible into the same category as Aesop's fables or Grimm's fairy tales. Just a collection of made up stories from ancient Jews trying to manipulate and control the masses with fear and reverence for a fictional deity-figure.

This is why the #1 weapon used by the enemy of our souls is lies. It's why the Biblical account of the fall of mankind is precipitated by Satan suggesting to Eve that God's Word isn't as iron-clad as it appears to be. In fact, the serpent's entire line of questioning is pregnant with conceit: "Did God Really Say That?"

The insinuation: God is capable of being wrong.

The presence of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the "do not eat from it" rule, introduces a pretty significant question about God's nature and character right out of the gate. Why would God institute this all-or-nothing rule within his perfect creation? When this question is examined through the filter of God's omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent characteristics, we can get into some very deep waters very, very quickly.

So, let's ask some very important questions concerning God's decision to install this tree and its rules. For example:

If God is all-knowing, that means He KNEW his precious creation was going to disobey His 'do not eat rule'. So, why did He put that tree and its rules in His garden? I mean, think of all the pain, suffering, and misery we all could have avoided if He had just left that tree out of the story. No sickness. No death. No hospitals. No doctors. No medicines, needles, surgeries, hospice, funerals, or cemeteries. None of the stuff that makes life so unbearably difficult at times. If God leaves that tree out of His garden, we would've lived in eternal bliss and happiness without any of the curses that came after Genesis 3.

In fact, if there had been no Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, there would've been no need for churches. None of the political fighting, denominational warring, and sub-denominational splitting would have happened. No need for preachers and teachers of the Word, because there would've BEEN no written Word of God. No arguing over which version of the Bible is the correct one because the only word of God in existence would've been from His lips to our ears. No confusion. No frustrating parables with hidden meanings. No three-point sermons with two illustrations and a powerpoint presentation.

Without that tree, humanity would've presumably lived in harmony with their creator, walking and talking with our eternal father in sinless perfection. If Genesis 2:16-17 had never existed, all of our journeys with God would've been absolutely perfect...

...right?

(more to come)