The Stumbling Blocks

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
- Hebrews 2:14-18

Learning about what it means to share a life with Christ can take on many meanings for me. We understand the power of love, and the fact that he calls us brothers and sisters. Most importantly here, I think Paul is saying that Jesus shared with us what it is to fight the good fight of faith, and that because he was willing to go up against the greatest fears we all share as human beings, he led the way for all of us against our enemies of fear.

Clearly this enemy is not simply an entity called "death" but it is all of the evil that may happen in our lives, all of the things that take away our courage, that make us afraid to stand up for what we think and believe. If I say that I am for a God of love, if I say that I am willing to live my life in service to the values I believe that faith inspires in me, then there must be times when I have to come up against my own fears about my life and the responses to that faith that I may incur. Christ faced all of those fears and temptations, up to and including death, so that he leads the way for us in faith.

This morning someone sent me a video clip of a popular comedian-turned-pundit savaging religion, or the notion that people could actually take religion seriously - and especially religious literature. I consider the sender a friend, an intelligent person and a humane one - but the savaging and ridiculing beliefs expressed on the videoclip seem very angry and hostile, and to label people like me as morons, or worse - that we are all deluded people who will lead the world into war, hostility and all kinds of evil. I don't know whether to reply to the level of ignorance about religion (and religious literature) I feel this expresses or not. But I do know that in a timely way it has provoked perplexity in me. Do I respond to such hostility as expressed on the video? I am choosing to ignore it, and to continue to write and reflect on what I feel is important. (This is because the terms of the argument make dialogue impossible. I will, however, engage in dialogue with my friend about it.) But I do know that the hostility and ridicule have presented me with a sort of stumbling block, another obstacle to overcome in my personal sense of what I may fear.