Introduction
Many years ago, when I was a small child, I was sometimes minded by my grandmother. On one occasion I was with her in the kitchen and accidentally spilled a glass of milk, in her fury she backed me into a corner and terrified me with anger and tongue-lashings. Being very young, I thought that she must be justified in her wrath, she was after all my father’s mother, and he considered her “perfect”. I therefore came to the conclusion that when authority figures attacked me in some way I had to be responsible for their actions, it must be the case that they were at some level justified in what they said or did, however outrageous. I have lived with implications of this mindset ever since.
Despite a lot of counselling, prayer and processing over the years, much of which was very liberating, until recently I have never been quite able to put my finger on the full spiritual dimensions of this and similar incidents. Like me, you have probably never thought of yourself as a “beast worshipper” – it sounds harsh, scary and even ridiculous, doesn’t it. However, I believe the Spirit illuminated something to me in the last week that makes it plain that all of us have in fact been, and probably still are in areas of our lives, “worshipper of the beast.”
What does it Mean to Worship the Beast?
You might not immediately see the connection between my story and the power of the beast. Here is the main text in Revelation on the beast, “One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marvelled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”” (Rev 13:3 -4)
There are various ways to interpret Revelation, but the one I prefer is called a modified form of “idealism”. This means that the major symbols and dramatic actions described in Revelation illustrate principles of the struggle between good (God) and evil (Satan) that goes on throughout the whole period of the church age. There may be one climactic antichrist, for example, but the antichrist spirit breaks out again and again in opposition to the purposes of God. “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist (singular) is coming, so now many antichrists (plural) have come.” (1 John 2:18)
What we notice in our main text on Revelation is that the mass of humanity “worship the beat” for a single reason – its seemingly unstoppable power. The beast is not followed because he possesses sacrificial love, service, mercy or any other Christ- like attribute, but an authoritative position of irresistible might – just like my grandmother. In this case, “might is right” and the beast’s actions are justified by the rationalisations of the human conscience. The beast is so “Godlike” in power and influence it must be in the right.
The power of “the beast” could be embodied in a parent who sexually abuses their child, or an older sibling who repeatedly victimises a younger, or a powerful teacher or pastor/priest/evangelist who misuses their place of trust and so on. When the weak and oppressed person in the relationship commits their conscience to believing the oppressor is in the right, this is worshipping the power of the beast. That is, giving to a human figure the status and righteousness that only belongs to God. As Jesus said, in the ultimate sense, “No one is good except God alone.” (Mark 10:18)
The Impact of Worshipping the Beast
The human conscience is meant to discern the difference between right and wrong, and in union with the Holy Spirit can still do this (Rom 9:1). But when we disagree with the witness of the Word in creation and the Spirit who strives to convince us of God’s order in the world (this is true whether we are Christian or non Christian e.g. Gen 6:3; Rom 1:18- 22; 32), we gradually lose the ability to clearly discern good from evil. In the extreme case, the conscience becomes corrupted (1 Tim 4:2).
Have you ever been struck by the lack of testing and discernment of false teaching and immoral conduct in the church today. Think of all the high profile preachers who have fallen immorally, but only after years of successfully hiding the truth e.g. the very recent Ted Haggard scandal. These (repeated) cases are, I suggest, a symptom of the influence of the spirit of the beast on most of our lives.
Why Do We Do It?
Someone might say, “But we’re only human. As a small child you could never have stood up morally against your grandmother.” There is certainly a truth in this, and our Father is always compassionate (2 Cor 1:3 – 4). But, at another level, I think we are so committed to personal survival that we opt for the path of least resistance. It seemed easier to me to justify the wickedness of my grandmother than resist her and ultimately come under the fearsome wrath of my father.
We think we will suffer less if we agree with the power of evil, but, inwardly, we suffer much more. In seeking to “save our lives” we lose them (Matt 16:25). We lose the inner moral authority to discern clearly the difference between good and evil and to forcefully resist the latter, no matter what the cost.
Jesus never submitted to the power of Satan manifested in the wilderness (Matt 4), exercised through Peter, “get behind me Satan” (Mark 8:33) or those who betrayed and crucified him, “this is your hour and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:3, 53; John 19:11). Jesus constantly named evil for what it was (Luke 11:13), not because he was sinless, but the other way around. He was sinless because he never allowed his conscience to bend to evil – even when the cost was the cross.
The cross is the revelation of the cost to us of submitting to evil. When Jesus enters into our state of dereliction, ““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””(Mark 15:34), he is plunged into our condition where good and evil cannot be spiritually discerned. This terrible moral agony he endures is the cost to him for us of redeeming us from our rebellion against the witness of the Word and the Spirit in creation.
Never Rebel
Commentators have puzzled over the extreme difference between the attitude to secular power in two major passages in the New Testament. Paul seems to treat Rome as a friend,
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honour to whom honour is owed.” (Romans 13:1- 7)
John portrays the Roman rule as a vicious beast devouring the church,
“Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:10 If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.”(Rev 13:7 -10)
What both passages have in common however is that neither entertains active rebellion. Both are totally clear (Rom 13:1; Rev 13:7) that all authority exists only as allowed by God. To rebel is always to act with anger and to act with anger is to deny the sovereignty of God in all our circumstances.
This is not to say we should always inwardly agree with all the deliberations of the state, or parents, or church authorities etc. This is what the “German Christians” who followed Hitler did, or the Christian members of the Communist Party, or children who never have the courage to confront the evil in their families, or abused parishioners of priests and pastors. All cultic tendencies in religion depend upon surrendering the God- given and governed authority of the conscience to a human leader. Human parents likewise are to be universally honoured (Exod 20:12; Matt 15:4; Eph 6:2) but this does not imply they are sinless and perfect in all that they have taught us! To live as if this could be so is clearly idolatry.
Passive resistance or civil disobedience to unjust authorities is clearly legitimated in scripture and is a sure way to keep the conscience clear.
The Cleansing Power of the Cross
Unlike us, Jesus’ conscience was never defiled by sin, because he never compromised the difference between good and evil. The blood of Christ powerfully cleanses us from an “evil conscience” (Heb 10:22). It does this by bringing us into the unconditional forgiveness of our Father. In Christ we know the Father is never angry with us. He never coerces us by the operation of a superior power, he never bends our conscience to his stronger will, this is what liberates us to love him freely. When we have a revelation of Christian freedom we no longer have any motivation to submit to beastly powers.
Those who stop worshipping the beast are “free indeed” (John 8:36). They have “conquered him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Rev 12:11). They value Jesus more than their own lives; therefore they cannot be manipulated in their consciences to submit to any external power, however strong, popular or violent.
Such people, “judge all things, but are to be judged by no one” (1 Cor 2:15). Without binding fear of punishing authorities (1 John 4:17) they “test all things” (1 Thess 5:21). This means that they are spiritually powerful, reliable, incorruptible. They “show no partiality” (Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9). They are loved by the saints and hated by evil men and spirits. They are ready to disciple all nations whatever the cost. In all these things they imitate their Master (1 Cor 11:1). May this be our testimony to Jesus (Rev 19:11).