Christian Hauntology #1: Punk Rock

More on hauntology later.

Here's the first edition of hauntological Christian covers -- this one is à la first- or second-wave punk rock.

Be mesmerised by the theological correctness, shake your fist in a subversive victory dance, and crow your way into the mic.

Jesus Christ the King and Saviour
Sally Trethewey

Humble birth in Herod's reign
Jew and Deity
God was with them once for all
Shared humanity
John the Baptist knew His sign
Prophesied the Way
Turn to God, His Kingdom's near
Repent, believe, obey

CHORUS:
Jesus Christ the King and Saviour
Blessed Lord, Emmanuel
Living Word, God's Son, Messiah
The victor over Satan's realm

Jesus taught His Father's will
Truth with certainty
Showing from the Word of God
His authority
Challenging His enemies
Who refused to hear
He fulfilled all prophecies
His Majesty was clear

CHORUS

On the cross where Jesus reigned
In His Father's plan
Israel's Suff'ring Servant died
Our Passover Lamb
Many saw the Son of Man
Coming in the clouds
To the presence of His God
In glorious risen power

CHORUS

No-one knows when He'll return
For the Judgement Day
But He tells us, Wait in faith
Hope and watch and pray
This command from Jesus' lips:
Speak to all mankind
Make disciples in My Name
I'm with you for all time

CHORUS:
Jesus Christ the King and Saviour
Blessed Lord, Emmanuel
Living Word, God's Son, Messiah
The victor over Satan's realm
Jesus Christ the King and Saviour
Blessed Lord, Emmanuel
Living Word, God's Son, Messiah
The victor over Satan's realm
The victor over Satan's realm
The vic-tor over Sa-tan's reallllm

Depicting Jesus

How should we depict Jesus? Is there one particular way in which we should portray Jesus? What would make a wrong depiction of Jesus, if anything? To get you thinking, here's a useful page from Rejesus.

As in previous posts, I began a series of designs for ES using the image of a Jesus puppet. Here's the latest:
There have been a range of responses to the puppet:

• Different / distinctive
• Fun / engaging
• Cute, perhaps childish
• Tacky / cheesy
• Disrespectful / mocking of Jesus

I went on a hunt for some other depictions of Jesus as alternatives.

Firstly, I went back to the early iconic representations of Jesus as Pantocrator (ruler of all) such as the following image:

Here's one draft I produced using a Pantocrator:
Then I toyed briefly with using a heavily incarnational image, using a photo of an "ordinary" person, such as Bono. I drafted this design featuring a young Joe Strummer (The Clash) just because he looks cool:
I also glanced at the manga Jesus, of the Manga Bible.

If the Jesus puppet is an inappropriate depiction of Jesus, what is appropriate? The iconic representations of Jesus are almost invariably stern and forbidding. The incarnational images tend to be too ordinary: they are not recognisably Jesus. The manga Jesus exudes adolescent image-consciousness and wannabe edginess. The vast majority of other modern images of Jesus are either cringe-inducing or kitschy.

I'm reminded here of Piss Christ by Andres Serrano (1987). It's a photograph of a crucifix suspended in the artist's own urine. Some Christians are outraged that someone would have the gall to depict Christ in such a denigrating way. I agree that, just as the artist literally pisses on Christ in this work, its message is about the utter denigration of Christ. Is this perhaps simply reflective of society's derision of Jesus, or religion, or tradition? The denigration of Christ is actually what makes Piss Christ so powerful for me, so evocative of what Christ has done for me as a Christian. I despised God, yet Jesus is the one who was willingly crushed for my sins (Philippians 2:5-11, Isaiah 53:5). It was for my sins that, following his Father's will, Jesus went to the cross. In a very real way, I have pissed on Christ. In my rebellion I have rejected the living God who made me. Yet, gloriously, Christ willingly bore my sins in death and did away with them forever, bringing me life. For me, that's the message that Piss Christ presents in such a visceral, gut-wrenching way. Here's someone else's reflections on this.
Why do I bring up Piss Christ? When Jesus is depicted in deliberately irreverent ways, perhaps others are just doing some more Piss Christ. It occurs to me that Jesus survived being pissed on at the cross. I think he will survive such trite dribbles too. I think he will probably also survive his grotesque life in kitsch, despite his eager Christian consumers. It is Christians themselves who propagate some of the most bizarre depictions of Jesus (which I find alternatively creepy, amusing or embarrassing).

If Jesus is bigger than art, does that mean we don't need to worry about how Christians depict Jesus? Artistic depictions of Jesus are always enculturated. Jesus himself was born a Jew in Palestine. In a similar way, we now have black Jesus and manga Jesus and so on: Jesus is perennially re-figured to speak to new groups of people. While it is easy to point out bad depictions of Jesus, it is simply impossible to find a universally ideal depiction of Jesus. (Luckily the original is at God's right hand, waiting to get back.) Because different people view art differently, one Christian's Sacred-Heart Jesus is another Christian's nightmare. In this melting pot we now also have pomo Jesus: images of Jesus that highlight the shortcomings of other Jesus-depictions. In this sense, a friend suggested I use a life-size cut-out Jesus, as seen in Mark Sayers' The Trouble with Paris. This 2D, portable Jesus is an ironic challenge: it's ridiculous to try making Jesus who we want him to be.
I assume that an appropriate, biblically faithful depiction of Jesus must be an image that will communicate to rather than alienate most of its viewers in a particular time and place. I think this is where the puppet fits in nicely for the purposes of the ES design. Like the cut-out, the puppet has a built-in ambiguity or question. It is simply a puppet depicting a somewhat stereotypical Jesus. It leads us to wonder who the real Jesus might be. The puppet's pose is one of speaking and welcoming: will we then respond and "meet Jesus at uni"? The actual Jesus puppet is sold online for communicating the gospel to children. Perhaps this nicely captures the sense in which each of us should prepare to meet Jesus (Lk 10:21, 18:15-17). Rather than being irreverent, I think the puppet shows a Jesus who can be questioned and challenged, and who will make himself known in response. Ironically, I think the puppet suggests a robust Jesus.

Todd Bentley's Florida Revival

[UPDATE 6 Sep 08]

Things got burnt out for the Lakeland Revival and Todd Bentley. Read through Lee Grady's various responses.

[Original post, edited 21 May 08]

In the interests of "testing everything and holding on to the good" (1 The 5:21), I've written the following critique of the current Florida church gatherings, being called the Florida Outpouring or the Winds of Change Revival, run by Todd Bentley. I intend this as a weighing up rather than a criticism. In this post I'll consider the content of the gatherings, the way the gatherings are conducted and Todd Bentley's own role. I've left the signs-and-wonders aspect to the post below. I've tried to reflect purely on the gatherings as we see them online and I've tried not to speculate on Todd Bentley's own faith and motives. I think the most clear and gracious commentary on the Florida Revival is coming from those closest to it in the church: I highly recommend this article by the editor of Charisma Magazine and this article by two Australian ministers.

Although I refer to the gatherings in general, I've used the series of 4 videos beginning here as a sounding board. The following is my transcript of the first 15 minutes.

[The gathering has finished singing; Todd has taken the stage and begins] ...Because we're gonna worship until that glory comes down! It's here! Oh, it's all about Jesus! It's all about Jesus! [Backing space rock swells] It's all about Jesus! It's all about Jesus! It's all about Jesus! [Todd walks with his arms raised] Lord, may they feel in the overflow, every television, you're watching us on the webcast, you're outside in the parking lot, [Todd motions with his hand] glory, glory, glory. [Todd pauses, then shakes his head] Oh, there's something very angelic about tonight, and there's a realm of holy visitation. Because you can't have the glory without some things being opened in your spirit. Clear, clear, clear revelation. We've come for your glory, Lord. You can be seated. You know, these meetings, these revival meetings, they've been growing. Almost 2000 people here tonight on a Monday. We need you to pray with us for a venue as this begins to grow. People are coming from around the world. Think about Friday. And I said, I said to Bob, if we're in another building, is it gonna stop? He said, the ark is gonna move. He said, this is bigger than a building and it's bigger than a place. I said, because it's so precious. We welcome you, if this is your first night, those of you, just wave, hallelujah, just send some glory to the people, there's two overflows. But you know, when you're in revival, it doesn't matter. And outside, come on, I see -- may the power fall on you in the parking lot first! UH! May the greatest miracles... The fire marshals have come and we can no longer have people in the aisles, but God is in control. It's his outpouring. [Todd starts shaking, someone is cackling] Oh! And I do wanna drink the gloryyyyyyyyyyy! [Todd's head is shaking up and down] Oh! Ahohahohahohahohahohahoh! [Space rock swells] Do you know that Todd Bentley and the natural can never put together such favour? [Todd is shaking] And I told God, I said, God, whatever this is gonna cost me, it's worth it. Any price to live in this glory. And it's just gonna get stronger, and stronger... I tell ya, there are about 10 pastors that called and you said, should get on an airplane and come from England, we heard there's no seats. If you're a full-time leader, or you come internationally, there will be room for you. Don't stop. UH! God will fix the problem. Did you know that God knows what he's doing? [Todd starts doing squats] UH! UH! UH! UH! [Todd wipes his brow] The Lord told me there's gonna be a special anointing tonight. We're gonna lay hands on every person outside, in both overflows and in the sanctuary. We're gonna have an anointing service, because the Lord spoke to me about families. And he was gonna visit. I saw the angel today, who's gonna visit the children. I saw the angel, that only two times have I seen, that is going to visit the children. The great -- I tell you what, there's a glory movement into the room, just go ahead and OH! get under that! OH! [Todd shakes his head] OH! Lord, let it move across the whole place. A drunken glory. [Singing] Heavy heavy, wady wady wady glory, smoky glory, shekinah glory, and all the colours in the glory. I just wanna be in the cloud. Say, Lord, I just wanna be in the cloud. Under the cloud. Moses got to be under the cloud, I wanna be under the cloud! [Todd is shaking] Thick, thick, overwhelming, honey glory. I pray that it gets on every one of you tonight. [Todd starts laughing] WOAH! [Todd is kneeling and cackling] [Persistent note from the space rock guitar] [Todd crawls towards the stand] This is the first night this has happened to me! A little bit of that glory's coming on me! [Todd leans on the stand] And we have an international TV audience tonight... And I got that vibrating again! Lord, let everybody vibraaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I'm having my own glory party up here. How many first time visitors in the room? Stand up, stand up, first time, first time, look around! On a Monday night! First time! Wow! God bless you! My God! OH! Come get some! You know, the Lord told me that this anointing would be the most contagious anointing in my ministry. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! The Lord Jesus told me, as great as the anointing's been, that this would be the year of the double portion? And that this would be the most contagious anointing, transferable, tangible anointing... And the Lord spoke to me in the beginning of this outpouring, that every service, and I have not been tired in 21 meetings, that every meeting, I was to pray for the leaders coming in from around the world, pastors, missionaries, evang- that were hungry for a fresh touch on their life. And he told me that this anointing, this same glory, would follow them everywhere they went, listen, I'm telling you, it's breaking out already! My church in Canada, my leaders, came down, we have 3 campuses, all the leadership came down, they said, Todd, the glory is falling in Canada, the same anointing we felt in Florida, is happening right now. ...

From here, Todd goes on to call up people to receive the anointing ("Bam! Shekah-boom-bah!").

SOME OBSERVATIONS

• Todd rarely refers to either the Holy Spirit or Jesus, or their work.
• Todd mostly refers to "the glory" (or "the anointing", "the fire", or "the impartation"), which he speaks of as a force. It is something that participants can "get", a cloud that participants can be enveloped in, an anointing that is "contagious" and "transferable", that follows people and "breaks out". In other meetings we see "glory bursts" being sent out to those watching on TV and online.
• Todd stresses that God is in control and that God knows what he is doing but, at the same time, there is a sense of abandonment to the "drunken" glory, as exemplified by Todd's own wife later on.
• Todd says that the Lord and at least one angel will (personally) visit during the evening.

CRITIQUE

CONTENT
God is present in and amongst his people today through his Spirit, not his glory. For example, it is only by the Spirit that people enter the kingdom (Jn 3:5), worship God (Jn 4:24) and have life (Jn 6:63; Rom 8). The Spirit himself is personal, not a force: it is in the Spirit that Christ himself dwells in us (Eph 3:16-18, 1 Cor 2:14-15). It is worth noting that because God is today perpetually present amongst his people, God does not specially visit Christians during church gatherings. That said, and while I don't subscribe to a second baptism, I do believe that the Spirit can specially fill or overflow in us at certain times in order to empower us for a particular Christ-honouring role or purpose in God's work (as we see occurring in the book of Acts, for example). I think this is something that Christians should be seeking after.

What about God's work? God has already made known the mystery of his will in Christ (Jn 15:15; Rom 16:25-27; Eph 1:9-10 3:4-5). We live in the time of God's amnesty (1 Pet 3:9) awaiting Jesus' return in glory. There is no additional revelation or knowledge that could be useful to us -- God has revealed everything we could possibly need to know on this side of heaven. In line with this, the Spirit's work is not primarily for "anointing" but rather to continue revealing Christ (Jn 15:26, Acts 1:8). God's work in the world continues not through the transmission of divine force but primarily through the proclamation and acceptance of Christ (Rom 10:8-15), resulting in lives of service. God has already poured out his Spirit so that his people can know him and live for him -- we have already received the gift of God living with us! Although Christians await even greater experiences when Jesus returns (1 Cor 13:8-12; Rev 21), we have no need to grasp after new impartations and anointings and visitations because God has already imparted his Spirit and the mystery of his will to his people. Rather, we need to keep in step with the Spirit by whom we first gained life (Gal 5:25). The evidence of the Spirit's presence and work is a changed life seen in the Spirit's fruit (Gal 5 etc).

In summary, then, God is at work by his Spirit to empower his people, sometimes in special, momentary ways, but this power is focused on revealing Christ.

CONDUCT
Todd Bentley designs the meetings to be events where people can surrender their self-control, perhaps through laughing hysterically or shaking as he himself does. This conflicts with a number of emphases throughout the New Testament: self-control (Gal 5:16-26; 1 The 5:6; Tit 1-2; 1 Pet 1:13 4:7 5:8), orderly gatherings (1 Cor 14) and discernment (Rom 12:2; Php 1:9-11; Col 2:1-5; 1 The 5:21; 1 Jn 4:1). For examples, Paul is clear that being "drunk" on the Holy Spirit, whereby we gain the self-control to serve God and others, is in stark contrast to being drunk on alcohol, whereby we lose control of ourselves. In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul is at pains to ensure that the gatherings of the Corinthian church are not chaotic and disorderly so that (a) the church can be edified and built up and (b) outsiders are not alienated.

TODD BENTLEY
The Florida gatherings are very much centred around Todd. His speech, peppered with the recounting of, "I said to God" and, "The Lord told me that", marks him out as the channel through which God is at work in the gatherings. Todd does not merely see or pray for the glory but acts as if he himself is directing it. In the scenes above, it is Todd who directs the glory to the parking lot and Todd who ushers the "glory movement" into the room. Later on, Todd says he is "getting the atmosphere ready" and people just need to be "hungry" to receive it. In a more recent gathering (5 May), Todd connects the progress of the glory even more explicitly with himself: wherever he goes, the glory will follow. This contradicts the idea of the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2). The worldwide body of Christian believers is made up of many parts, all of whom play an equal role in supporting and building the church (1 Cor 12). No special prophets or apostles or channels of God exist today. As above, God is present in all his people through his Spirit, the Spirit of Christ; all Christians have equal and direct access to God because he himself dwells with them. Christians do not need other figureheads to connect to God.

I find the following aspects of the Florida gatherings, then, to be problematic:

• The silence and confusion about the person and work of the Spirit and Christ, particularly the ideas of "the glory" and "the impartation"
• The frenzied antics
• Todd acting as a special channel of God

Todd has named the current Florida gathering a revival from the beginning. It would appear that at least in part, this gathering has been growing because it's been called a revival rather than the other way around. An authentic revival will involve "renewing the church, extending the faith to outsiders and reforming communities, as lives are changed by the Gospel ... the normal work of God, but happening with unusual intensity" (Colin Reed, 2007, Walking in the Light: reflections on the East African revival and its link to Australia, Acorn, 11). I have only considered a snapshot of the Florida gatherings themselves and it may be that widespread, genuine life-change and growth in Christ-likeness is accompanying them. However, in the context of these gatherings, I find it difficult to see exactly how Christian disciples are growing in holiness and understanding, and how people are repenting in response to the saving power of the cross. I find it unlikely that what's on view here is a revival.

Trance states and the Florida revival

Todd Bentley and those connected with Fresh Fire Ministries particularly emphasise the supernatural realm and supernatural experiences. Many assume that the amazing atmosphere and experiences of the Florida gatherings must be from beyond the natural realm, from God. I do not believe that the occurrences we witness in the videos are simply faked or imagined. I believe that God does do mind-blowing things in our world today and I expect that God is at work somewhere amongst the Florida gatherings, however heretical and confused they may be. However, I see the powerful experiences of the Florida gatherings predominantly as something else. Here are my considerations based on my understanding of human consciousness, which I studied throughout my psychology coursework.

Human consciousness is complex. Humans do not simply switch between sleep and wakefulness but move through various levels of consciousness throughout any given day. This can be observed as changes in the brain's chemoelectrical activity (brain waves). Sleep itself is not simply unconsciousness but comprises a cycle of four rather distinct states of subconscious functioning.

Trance states are modes of consciousness in which subconscious levels of brain function become more dominant and the conscious level of awareness is subdued. Trance states are in fact a naturally occurring part of everyday human experience. Sleepwalking and other experiences adjacent to sleep are examples of mundane trance phenomena. Similarly, you may have experienced being "on autopilot" when driving your car -- a mild trance. Our bodies apparently do not require our conscious mind to be fully and constantly engaged even when we are awake, and we periodically go into a kind of standby mode. Trance states of varying depth can also be manufactured. We can induce trance states in ourselves and others through stimuli across our entire sensory range. For example, we may enter trance states both in the charged atmosphere of a rock concert and amidst the softer tones of a symphony orchestra. Manufactured trance states have long been incorporated in religious systems from across the world. Breathing control, incense, music, meditation, dance, fasting, chanting and psychotropic drug use can all be involved in promoting trance states.

Trances, then, are essentially natural, bodily experiences. In some trance states (either mundane or manufactured), hallucinations are experienced or the mind becomes highly suggestible. Here are some examples:

• Hypnagogic and hypnopompic states (in between sleep and wakefulness) may be experienced as supernatural events, including abduction and visitation experiences. I've had a number of mild experiences in this domain throughout my life. Similar states of consciousness may also be implicated in out-of-body experiences (OBEs).
• People lulled into states of hypnotic "regression" may unwittingly fabricate past experiences (especially when the hypnotist asks leading questions), which they thereafter experience as actual memories.
• The practice of speaking in tongues (glossolalia), which in fact occurs in a variety of religious traditions apart from Christianity, may sometimes arise from a trance state. In such cases, the words may be the product of the subconscious mind although the speaker will not be aware of generating anything of their own accord.

Typically, for someone in a trance state like these, their experience is not only otherworldly and fantastic but also very real and actual to them. Trances will thus often feel like they actually involve contact with the realm of the supernatural or divine, which is presumably why they are valued in all kinds of religious traditions. Yet there is nothing inherently supernatural about trances. A trance experience is not necessarily from God or anything else spiritual or transcendent or extra-natural.

As a general human phenomenon, trance states are neutral: not necessarily good or bad per se. Mundane trance states, such as sleepwalking, are simply the way we naturally function in certain states of consciousness. Some manufactured trance states, such as drug-induced hallucinations, may be potentially harmful. Other manufactured trance states can be highly beneficial when conducted ethically and knowledgeably, such as when psychologists use hypnotism for powerful therapeutic effect. God may at times work in people's lives through trance experiences, such as dreams. However, trances may also be a vehicle for demonic powers. The important point is this: apart from trained practitioners of hypnotism, people who manufacture trance states have no way of ensuring either that there will be any truly supernatural experience in the first place, or that the door will be closed to evil.

Back to Todd Bentley and the Florida gathering. The gathering's atmosphere is unquestionably powerful; even on YouTube, you can sense the energy in the gatherings. Furthermore, it is unlikely that many of the participants who are behaving in unusual ways are putting on some kind of act. The participants' behaviour clearly has a symbiotic connection with the atmosphere of the gathering. The question is, What is actually producing the atmosphere of the gathering? It seems to me that certain elements of the gathering are promoting a hypnotically-charged environment. I want to pick up on the aural dimension of this. At one level, the atmosphere is created and mediated by the flow of Todd's words and the music. Despite Todd's casual dress, his speaking is not down-to-earth. His speech oscillates between periods of slow, drawn-out delivery and moments of rapidly increased speed and heightened pitch. His words are not necessarily meaningful and are contributing to a constant ebb and flow of sound. The musicians make their own contributions in response. The people gathered are responding too, clapping, waving and so on. These aspects combine to produce an insistent, repetitive flow of rhythmic sound. These swells of sound are hypnotic: it is the kind of stimulation that can manufacture trance states in people.

In this hypnotic atmosphere, people who are emotionally fragile or hypnotically suggestible are likely to enter a trance state and experience unusual feelings and events. (It may frequently be these kinds of people who are drawn to such events in the first place.) For example, then, when Todd describes the "glory movement" entering the room (see the above post), many participants may actually be experiencing a wave of warmth or colour or light. However, it is unclear whether this wave of glory is from God. In this particular atmosphere, it is likely that such phenomena arise from trance states.

Does this invalidate the Florida gatherings or Todd Bentley's work as Christian ministry? Not necessarily. However, it brings into question the claims that everything happening at such events is from God or even from the supernatural realm. These experiences are not necessarily either from God or from Satan. Given what we currently know about trance states and hypnotic suggestibility, the onus is on the leaders of such events to demonstrate that something more, something godly, is in fact taking place. The fact that people are actually experiencing these phenomena is not itself evidence of the Spirit's work. Instead, the evidence of the Spirit's presence and work is a changed life: the Spirit's fruit (Gal 5 etc).

What are we to make of all this? Trance states have long been part of the practise of a range of religions. In the last two centuries, trance states have apparently also become a valued aspect of some Christian church gatherings. The present-day western church probably has a scant understanding of manufactured trance states, especially the role of insistent, repetitive music and rhythm in producing trances. We may often, unwittingly or by design, infer God and his presence when we have in fact been manufacturing a trance-inducing environment. However, as the writers of the New Testament are often at pains to point out, the Christian message must be both communicated and received in clarity of mind (eg 1 The 2) if it is to change lives and be the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). Self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit and Christians should be keen to avoid anything in which their self-control is compromised. While many access the subconscious or subdue consciousness for religious experiences, this is something that Christians must steer clear of. Furthermore, Christian gatherings must be orderly in order for Christians to serve one another and grow the church (1 Cor 12-14). There is a burden here on Christian leaders to ensure that they do not become trance practitioners, unwittingly or otherwise. It is also here that, as I've tried to sketch out in the above post, a keen understanding of the person and work of God's Spirit is especially important.