Just the Facts Ma'm, Just the Facts

[HKHaugan]

Jack Webb played Sgt.Friday in the old TV show, Dragnet. When he interviewed witnesses he didn’t want theories, or feelings about what happened, he wanted facts, just the facts. Well the facts of history stand out especially in the area of man-made religion. So far we have seen man making a religion out of the nouns reason and love which are both gifts of God in His plan for mankind but separated and used apart from Him. How far does it go? Let’s continue our trek through some other nouns.

State, king and ruler could be meshed to recall, as Tony Bennett sang, “The glory that was Rome is of another day.” Rome was considered the apex of religion, the spiritual downdraft of Grecian gods and its emperor a deity among many but commanded to be worshiped and visibly central in order to justify and maintain its power. Rome as a governing state is the primary historical example of not only a man-made religion but a man-made god.

The idea of a single figure and a single kingdom ruling are God’s ideas.

When they are separated from Him they become tools of the devil and administrators of evil. Man was never made to rule himself but to be fruitful, multiply and rule the earth under the command of the Son of God, Christ Jesus. Man-made religion rules through fear directed by the devil. The Son of God rules through love following His Father’s will in the power of the Holy Spirit. Man-made religion makes government look spiritual in its principles but dictates conformity to whatever trends move through a culture. Man-made religion works to manipulate and satisfy perceived needs while parading as a spiritually idealistic system. The Son of God offers a relationship that meets real needs based on eternal, unchangeable values that hold a government accountable to the original dignity God planned for mankind.

What Rome established was its own definition of supreme humanity, Roman citizenship. Every other culture was sub-human by the same definition. That fact is substantiated by the reaction of the Roman centurion and his soldiers arresting Paul for igniting a riot:
Acts 22:“27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered.28 Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.29 Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.” Here is a good example not only of definition but of the fear by which manmade institutions intimidate and rule. The mere presence of a Roman soldier was enough to force submission as alluded to in Jesus teaching, “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles (Mt.5:41).” It was a common practice for a Roman soldier to force any local to carry his shield.

The most glaring statement of Roman human superiority and reduction of all others to being sub-human was its execution policy, crucifixion, which was saved exclusively for non-Roman citizens. Only in severe cases of treason would a Roman citizen find himself on a cross. It was a death beneath the dignity of the state and its citizens therefore applied liberally to non-Romans. The unchecked state will always end up persecuting and killing its definable enemies. Check history. It proves the instability of any manmade system that tries to operate apart from God. Take that classic scene from Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” when Brutus stands with the conspirators who stab Caesar and he falls saying, “Et tu Brute” (and you too Brutus?). Rome fell because of its immorality, its infighting and its self-indulgent culturally compromised leadership. It collapsed from within.

What can we conclude from just this one visit to man-made state religion? There are so many in history. The Bible records the inner workings of collapsing Jewish kingdoms whose kings and queens were nothing more than cultural consorts, self-indulgent power mongers and savvy political manipulators. Their counterparts in secular governments pockmark the pages of history all over the world. There is a summary statement in Scripture that is a warning, a blessing and a promised curse if not obeyed. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord (Ps.33:12),” “Blessed are the people who God is the Lord (Ps.144:15),” and “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him (Ps.34:8).” Those are the facts, ma’m, the facts.

This leaves us with one question, God’s question to Adam in Genesis 3, “Where are you?” which needs to be applied nationally, “Where are we?”