“He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”” Mark 12:27 NKJV
Reflection: what have you believed that is actually “groupthink” and not your own conclusion?
I was listening to a prominent Christian teacher, who made a very bold claim. He said that a lot of what we listen to and watch are actually “spells”, intended to alter our minds; basically witchcraft. Whether it is music on the radio, advertisements and programs on TV, Even games and movies; they all serve an evil purpose. To alter our perception and thinking away from truth, away from our relationship with God. To enable evil to get a foothold in our minds. He mentioned that even churches dabble in this sort of thing, perhaps even without fully realizing it. Can that be right? Before we brush this claim aside as nonsense, let’s think about this for a moment.
If we are honest with ourselves, I think we all have experienced “the power of advertisement”. How products through advertisements are often associated with “success”, with “health”, with a “better life”, and so on. And we build an opinion about a product or brand based on this association. Companies do this because it works. Same goes for propaganda of information. We hear something enough times, especially when we hear the same from different sources, we believe it; regardless whether it is true. But what about the claim about churches? If we go to a modern day charismatic church, we will often find a band on a stage, dimmed lighting and even smoke machines, and with very repetitive songs that almost seem to put some people into an “altered state”. Almost like a hypnosis, like a spell. You can witness all sorts of “strange behavior” as a result, which resembles “spiritualism”. On the opposite side of the charismatic spectrum, the heavily ritualistic churches perform many similar rituals as the occult. Probably many of those rituals actually originated in the occult, which is very scary to think about.
So, this teacher might be on to something.
Within psychology, there is a phenomenon called “groupthink”. It’s basically what it sounds like; that a group of people are in unison on a particular topic, no one challenges the belief of the group. Jesus dealt with this many times, including in the story today. We read “Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.” Mark 12:18-19 NKJV. Notice here this religious group, the Sadducees (perhaps we would call them a cult today) approached Jesus with what they thought was a pretty smart question. A question that would basically prove their conclusion, their group thinking that there is no resurrection; no life after death.
You have to just deeply appreciate Jesus response here. It is absolutely amazing. Let’s read it “Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” Mark 12:24-26 NKJV. Notice here the starting point of His answer to them, that “you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?” They had completely gone off track in their thinking, because they had clearly departed from seeking the heart of God in His word, as well as a lack of belief in His power.
Jesus’ argument is simple, using God’s own words as He spoke to Moses, when He says about Himself “‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” Bible commentator Barnes wrote “The passage which he quotes is recorded in Exodus 3:6, Exodus 3:15, This was at the burning bush (Mark and Luke). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had been dead for a long time when Moses spoke this – Abraham for 329 years, Isaac for 224 years, and Jacob for 198 years – yet God spake then as being still “their God.” They must, therefore, be still somewhere living, for God is not the God of the dead; that is, it is absurd to say that God rules over those who are “extinct or annihilated,” but he is the God only of those who have an existence.” Jesus concluded with saying “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.
You are therefore greatly mistaken.””
Mark 12:27 NKJV. It is clear language from our Lord to these religious Sadducees. While they were very dedicated to their religious beliefs, they were still wrong. And it makes me think back of the claim of this current day teacher, whether there is groupthink, even spells acting on the Christian church today, causing some, even many, to be “greatly mistaken” in important topics. We each must seek God on our own; not let an institution do it for us. Jesus words to all of us is to know the scriptures, and know the power of God.
