The Biggest Lie

The invitees were, perhaps, skeptical of the king's claims.  Here we are back in Matthew's Parable of the Wedding Feast.  The parable displays the self-interested bias of this skepticism.  The invitees had business to do and farms to manage.  They had a city to guard and power to protect.  It was in their interest to question the claims of the king.

So, Tom Wright notes, "it may be time to be skeptical about skepticism itself.  In Jesus' own day, there were plenty of people who didn't want to believe his message, because it would have challenged their own power or influence.  It would have upset their own agenda" (Simply Jesus).

If I accept the king's invitation, how will my life need to change?  I may need to change how I arrange my family schedule and priorities.  I may need to change how I view and use money.  I may need to change how I deal with enemies.  I may need to change my language or my TV habits or how I talk about people.  I may need to wonder about my personal politics or how I view world events.

We must ask ourselves about our self-interest as we respond to the invitation.  "Skepticism," says Wright, "is no more 'objective' than faith.  It has thrived in the post-Enlightenment world, which didn't want God (or in many cases, anyone else either) to be king" (page 59).

I remember, for example, my years as a cocky and confident atheist.  After a while, I started to examine my motives.  I realized that I didn't want to get up early on Sundays.  But that wasn't God's fault.  I didn't want to adhere to a moral code that might interfere with my self-absorbed pursuit of booze, sex and nihilistic philosophy.  But that wasn't God's fault.  I didn't want to risk the rejection and judgment of another congregation.  But that wasn't God's fault either.  And I didn't want to emulate my parents.  That also wasn't God's fault.

I discovered that authentic atheism was about seven percent of my real motivation.  Mostly I just wanted to raise hell, and I didn't want anyone interfering with my willful excesses.  Raise hell I did--leaving a trail of tears, self-destruction and despair.  

But at least I was in charge of that mess.  "Better to rule in hell," says Milton's Satan, "than to be subject in heaven."

But that, of course, is the greatest lie of all.