A Mythoclastic Messenger is destroyer or debunker of myths.
Pulpits, since their inception, have been plagued with purveyors of myths. These myths, to varying degrees, are rooted in truth. If not; they would be quickly dismissed by the average parishioner. Peddlers of Christian mythology are skilled in watering down powerful truths through connecting isolated texts of Scripture. This watering down does not liberate its listeners, as is the intent of truth, but enslaves its adherents to its lies.
It is often taught from pulpits, “God forgives and forgets.” This myth is created by attaching Ephesians 4:32; "forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you,” to Isaiah 43:25; “I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” This connection results in this common myth; “you must forgive and forget because this is how God has forgiven you.”
This sounds spiritual, but in reality, it’s an enslaving myth. This is no one's reality. Every attempt to live out this myth is futile because God does not grant spiritual amnesia to us.
Remember that every myth possesses an element of truth that aids in its believe-ability. Where does the truth lie in this statement? Does God forgive? Yes! Should we forgive as God forgives? Yes! Where is the myth? Does God forgiving result in His forgetting? No.
Doesn’t Isaiah tell us, in the cited verse, that “he remembers our sin no more.” It's at this point I must ask; “does remember no more" mean to forget?” If it does, we now have a theological conundrum.
Scripture also teaches that God is Omniscient. This means He is all-knowing. If he knows everything how can he forget anythi
ng? He can’t. This is where our perceived truth is exposed as a myth.
How do we then reconcile an all-knowing God to the same God who remembers no more? We must not think of “not remembering” as forgetting but as no longer holding it against us. Paul helps us with this in 1 Corinthians 13:5, “love keeps no record of wrong.” Forgiveness does not forget but forges ahead refusing to hold onto the perpetrator's offense. This is what it means to forgive like God.
Comments