The Crucifixion of Oprah Part Tres

This is the third post on Oprah and the barrage of emails and videos I have received to make her out to be “new age” (have we not retired this term yet?) and evil. I would encourage you to watch the video from the first post and follow with us from The Crucifixion of Oprah Part One.

Continued : : ;

Then they say Oprah promotes, “The man on the cross is an archetypal image. He is every man and every woman.” Okay, a little weird, yes. But, what about the concept of Jesus becoming sin on our behalf? All our sin taken on Himself. Every man. Every woman. That man told you and I to take up our own cross and follow Him. Then we are told to lose our lives. Put the old man to death. “I am crucified with Christ—nevertheless I live,” said the Apostle. Doesn’t seem as weird now, right. Poetic device and metaphor are not statements of truth. They are pictures to get us to the truth. I’m just sayin.’

“My mind is part of God’s—I am very holy” says Oprah or Eckhart. Okay. Is this really that whacked? I mean, the Bible says I am transformed by the renewing of my mind. And, I am urged to be holy as he is holy. He calls me holy because of Jesus. I am made in His image. I’m just sayin.’

“My holiness is my salvation” is another apparently bad thing to believe. Well, what if I said Jesus—our high priest—in whom I have salvation, has made me holy. His holiness has become my holiness. Now is my holiness my salvation? I’m just sayin.’

“My salvation comes from me” they say. Yeah, that is weird. But what about the Christian who believes they must make a willful decision to follow Jesus in order to obtain salvation? What if they say they made a choice to lay down their burdens and put aside old ways and follow Jesus for salvation?” Where did salvation start in that process? I’m just sayin.’

“Let me remember that there is no sin” they say. Well, okay. I do agree sin no longer has a hold on me. I have been made right in relationship with God that was once broken. It is no longer broken. That sin is in the sea of forgetfulness. As far as east is from the west. It no longer exists as far as God is concerned and as far as I am. So . . .

“Do not make the pathetic error of “clinging to the old rugged cross.” Hmmm. Let’s take that for a spin. Honestly, a case could be made for not wallowing in the death of Jesus constantly and walking with our heads hung low. He is alive! Our salvation is not in the cross, it is in Jesus! So, yeah, it is kinda pathetic on some levels to constantly be clinging to a cross that could have been any other device of torture and doesn’t really bring us salvation. The absolute horrific thing about the cross was the “removal of God” to quote Peter Rollins. Now, can we find the absent God in the midst of the absence? Yes! Absolutely! But, there is more to the story than the cross. Jesus doesn't want you to pathetically cling to it either. He wants you to fall in love with Him and begin to love others.

“The only message of the crucifixion is that you can overcome the cross.” Ummm. Yeah, that’s kinda dumb sounding. Of course, it is all out of context though. We know what happens when things get taken out of context right? Denominations get started. Any good preacher could take this statement and turn it in to something beautiful. Context.

It is sad to me that they are making a case against Oprah for confusing Christians as they say in the flick. Really? Oprah? Like there is nothing else to confuse people? In all honesty, Oprah doesn’t confuse Christians . . . Christians who don’t ask questions or read their Bibles or jump in to every witch-hunt confuse other Christians.

Oprah says in the video she took God out of the box, recognized His indescribable hugeness, and was unsettled by simply trusting in the rules, belief systems, and doctrine that was handed to her by the Baptist church. Nothing wrong with that.

They make a big deal out of Oprah saying she was confused about the “jealous God” quote. She even mistook it to mean God might be jealous “of” her, which didn’t make sense and sent her on a quest. So she misunderstood what jealous God means. So? Lots of people can’t explain that one until they dig deep and seek to understand. If I believed that meant God was jealous of me I would be confused too.

How about the quote “Man made god in his own image” and that “the eternal, infinite, and un-nameable was reduced to a mental idol?” Well, isn’t that true for some? We can certainly be accused of this stuff. Read Screwtape Letters—the classic by C.S. Lewis and get some insight on this.

Then there are a few words to this effect: “God isn’t something to believe. God is. If God is simply a belief he is not truly God.” Actually friends, a lot can be said about this. God exists outside of our belief of Him. God doesn’t need us to step towards Him to reveal Himself. Being a Christian is way more about relationship and participation than it is “believing” the “right” things and being able to articulate them.

More to come . . .

The Crucifixion of Oprah Part Deux

In this post I will take a few of the quotes and allusions from the video and add some quips for thought. The video spins so many things. They may or may not be right but to believe the hype against Oprah—or any hype for that matter— hook line and sinker without some thought is dangerous. I will give it a spin of my own.

The video starts off asking if we have heard of the largest church in the world—an obvious leading question to “expose” Oprah and her followers. If we are really going to be honest, no matter how big Oprah’s following is, it is not a church. It is certainly not the church. It is certainly not “the bride” though many of the bride do enjoy Oprah. So, let’s be careful.

Oprah promoted a mass trance? Really? That’s what breathing in and out is? That is what sitting in silence is? I guess some could call it a biblical prayer stance. Some could call it slowing down. Some could call it rest. Mass trance? Barf.

I am so exhausted after typing that I am currently trancing.

They then quote someone who I am assuming is Eckhart Tolle, the author of the new book Oprah is promoting called “A New Earth” as saying “Who you are requires no belief.” Taken out of context (like they do in this video numerous times) this quote is actually true. You don’t have to believe anything. Now, to be a Christian there are a few things that I have to believe in order to call myself a Christian. I happen to believe Jesus is the only way to God. It doesn’t make me narrow-minded. It makes me a Christian.

On a practical and encouraging level, there are numerous things that Christians line up on both sides of that don’t change the fact they can both be Christian. You believe in free will? Good. You can still be a Christian. You believe in predestination? Good. You too can be a Christian. Furthermore, I will live life and die and Jesus is God no matter if I believe it or not.

Supposedly, Oprah is promoting the idea that “Heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness.” Guess what? There are hundreds of great theologians who believe heaven is not a physical place either. I have often grappled with it. Is heaven really “up” and through some door in the sky? What about all the biblical talk about kingdom living in the here and now?

Here’s a concept . . . last night my 8- year old said, “Dad I love that God can do anything He wants. Jesus walked through walls and stuff. Wouldn’t it be weird if heaven were actually all around us and we just can’t see it while we are alive but when we die Jesus will open our eyes and we will see Him and everybody else? What if heaven is right here Dad?!” Yeah, my 8-year old. She actually believes God can create heaven wherever and however He wants and that I may never be able to grasp it. Didn’t someone once say, “no eye has seen no ear has heard the things He has prepared for those who love Him”? My 8-year gets that.

I am still not convinced Oprah is some kind of anti-Christ. I do tune in to a woman who asks a lot of spiritual questions, desires to know God, is stirring a lot of talk about God, doesn't claim to have all the answers, is pretty vulnerable, and gives a whole bunch of freaking money to help out the poor, disenfranchised, forgotten, and abused and is making a big difference in our world.

This is post deux of four posts on the recent internet slayings of Oprah. If you want to read more check out the next post.