a bullet made of silver, used in fiction as a supposedly magical method of killing werewolves; a simple and seemingly magical solution to a complicated problem.
I'll admit it... I bought into the whole essential oil craze. I blame it on the perfect moment in the hospital as my sister held her newborn baby and the oils were diffused through the quiet room. I blame it on the glowing reports I received from several friends about how well the oils were working to do everything from curing the flu to cleaning gum off a rug. But what I was really looking for was my silver bullet... a way to lose the summer weight without taking unhealthy measures. So I committed... and for the first few weeks, I really believed they were working. John's blood pressure was lower, I lost five pounds, and we were both sleeping better at night beneath the lavender mist of our diffuser. But it was not to last. As reports continued to grow about the oils practically curing cancer in others, I realized everything in my life was going back to normal. The blood pressure only reduced for a short while, my five pounds returned, and my oils were running out. I was left to ask myself whether I really thought another $100 investment was worth it while my suspicions that all of this had just been a placebo began to grow.
In my disappointment, I consulted a friend who had had some great success with them for a while, only to hear that she was finding their effects to be short-lived as well. In the final statement of our conversation, she said, "I'm starting to feel like it's snake oil." And I agreed.
And I think almost everyone has been disappointed at some point by a silver bullet turned snake oil. I think of virtually every pyramid scheme, television preacher, and guy selling overpriced trinkets in Barbados. We are taught to constantly be on our guard about what people are selling us. And I think this has infiltrated itself into how our society looks at the Gospel and the church. They are suspicious because we are coming across as snake oil salesmen, and our Gospel message is either so watered-down or cratered with untruth that it is proving ineffective.
I read a little history about the origin of the term "snake oil."* I was surprised to learn that it is a real product that actually worked. During the Gold Rush, Chinese workers migrated to California and brought with them a tonic made of the fat from a Chinese water snake. After a long day of work, Chinese workers would rub the tonic on themselves to reduce soreness and inflammation. Later research has shown that the oil contains high amounts of Omega-3s that are used today to treat arthritis. However, salesmen looking to make a buck at the time, but who did not have access to snakes only found in China, decided to use rattlesnakes to make their "oil." Not containing the same active properties as the water snakes, the oil was not effective. But imagine some wagon rolling up to your town with a high-spirited salesman who holds up a rattlesnake, slits it from head to tail, and extracts the fat to make his oil. What a show! Couple that with hefty promises of the removal of pain, and you've got yourself a sale!
But I can't get past the nagging feeling that this is what we do with the Gospel. Somewhere in the back of our hearts, we know there is real power in the Gospel message. We've either experienced it for ourselves long ago or heard stories of people we love and trust talk about their own powerful encounter with Christ. We see evidence of it in their lives, but can't seem to snatch it or stroke it long enough to become real in our hearts. But we know that we should love Christ, and we know that we don't want to be on God's opposing team, so we try to fake it. We may not have access to the Chinese water snake, but by heaven, we have plenty of rattlesnakes in Texas! So we put on a pretty show, and we talk about all the things that (real) snake oil can do, and we pander our product off to our culture and our children. But it doesn't take too long to realize that all of that is smoke in mirrors. We promise silver bullets of happiness and fulfillment, but only feed our friends our homemade snake oil.
I lived on rattlesnake oil for a long time. I wanted to believe that the Gospel message was "Jesus loves me." But that only got me so far... as soon as God allowed life experiences into my bubble that did not seem "loving," I was annoyed that I had been so taken in by the placebo. I knew God was real and powerful, but I no longer believed that Gospel. I relied more and more on literal smoke and lights-- a good show-- in order to stomach my oil. I became a selfish, consumeristic "Christian" who needed witty stories and passionate presenters to make me feel like this whole Jesus thing was working out for me. I even left the church for a while. I didn't want to buy in to a product that I now felt was a fraud-- a placebo to help me feel better from week to week, but which I knew was only making me more disillusioned. The more selfish I was, the more miserable I became, but I couldn't figure a way out of it. I thought that was all the church had to offer.
But then I had to ask myself a question.. What was the Gospel message that had the disciples so taken in? What caused people to be willing to go to the stake for their faith? Was it just that they had decided to drink the kool-aid? Were they all just more gullible than me? Or holier than me so they could see the things I couldn't? Was Jesus just a better snake oil salesman than others? No, it is because they had the full Gospel. Their Gospel was not primarily, "Jesus is my friend," or "Jesus loves me" (although he does, and it's a beautiful miracle). It is grounded in "Jesus is LORD!" And at this proclamation, demons flee, mountains tremble, rulers cringe, and lives are changed. That is the Chinese snake oil... the one that heals inflammation and eases sore muscles. If we adulterate the Gospel, we are left brewing rattlesnake oil in our bathtubs.
And as the church, this is not "their" problem, it's ours. It is not a fault with our pastors or Bible study leaders, it is a problem with ourselves. We have been pedaling the rattlesnake oil because we didn't care enough to find the Chinese water snake. We want silver bullets in golden guns without the discipline it takes to learn where the power comes from and love the Giver more than the gift. We fear opening up to others because it's easier to pretend that our rattlesnake oil is working rather than admit we have been bamboozled.
If you've been disappointed by the snake oil you've been pedaled, as we all have been, come to the water, you who search, and you'll search no more. Discover what it means for Jesus to be Lord, not your pal. Discover that everything you've been looking for in following Christ is found when he is at the center of it all. There's your true silver bullet...a simple and seemingly magical solution to a complicated problem (and maybe even the slayer of a few werewolves).
*Source: A History of 'Snake Oil Salesmen' http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/08/26/215761377/a-history-of-snake-oil-salesmen
1 comment:
Awesome stuff, Stef!
Post a Comment