How Should the Sheep Deal With Deconstruction?
By Jonathan Mitchell
The Sheep Will Not Follow the Voice of a Different Shepherd
In the Gospel of John, chapter 10, we read the following:
4. "And whenever he may put forth (or: herd out) all his own sheep, he is habitually passing on in front of them, and the sheep progressively follow him, because they have been acquainted with and recognize his voice.
5. "Yet to that [voice] belonging to another person they simply will not continue following; on the contrary, they will progressively take to flight (flee) from it (or: him), because they have not been acquainted with nor recognize the voice belonging to the other ones (or: strangers)."
There have been many voices throughout the nearly 2000 years of the Christian religion. The questions are: How are we to engage what we are hearing? Are we separating truth from error? What instructions are we given? (What is a person to do?! Who should a person believe?!)
"There's a term for this trending topic on social media: 'deconstruction.' In its simplest definition, it doesn't mean 'demolition,' it means 'breaking down' or 'analyzing' something to discover its true significance. Thus, we can see how this applies to Scripture: we are to examine and then hold fast to what is true, and we will know by its fruit" (Lynda Mitchell).
But 'deconstruction' of the 'traditions of men' can also be like eating from that tree that brought death. And so, keep in mind that this tree of experiential knowledge of good and evil continues being our adversary. Lynda adds: "Yes, an adversary because it brings destruction and decay instead of Life." Both trees are still within us, and both are able to be operative, but Jesus, the Good Shepherd, gives Himself to us as the Way back to living only from the Tree of Life.
Jesus began the above remarks, in Jn. 10, by saying:
1. "I tell you folks it is certainly true (Amen, amen; Pay attention and count on it): the person not habitually entering in through the door (or: gate; opening for entrance or exit) into the sheepfold (the walled-in pen for the sheep), but rather is repeatedly climbing up elsewhere (or: progressively stepping back over [the wall] from another place), that one exists being a thief and a plunderer (or: one who seizes by violence; or: an insurrectionist; a brigand).
2. "But the person habitually entering through the door is the sheep's own shepherd [note: root meaning of 'shepherd' is 'to protect'; cf Ps. 23:1-6].
3. "The doorkeeper (the one who takes care of the gate and has charge of the sheep in the fold at night) is regularly opening up to (or: for) him, and the sheep are constantly hearing and listening to his voice, and he habitually summons (or: calls out to) his sheep, [each] by its own name, and is constantly leading them forth (or: out).
This implies a prior relationship between the Shepherd and those who are His sheep. It also implies that the Shepherd is speaking to the sheep, and that the sheep are able to hear His voice. We find another witness to this in Rev. 3, where the risen Lord is speaking to one of His "sheepfolds":
20. "Consider! I have stood, and continue standing, upon (= at) the door (entrance), and I am constantly knocking; if ever anyone may (or: can) hear My voice (or: sound) and would open the door, I will proceed entering (coming or going in) toward him, and then I will continue eating the evening meal with him, and he with Me." [cf Song 5:2; Isa. 1:18; Lu. 12:37; Jn. 14:23]
22. "Let the one who has an ear listen to and hear what the Spirit (Breath-effect) is progressively laying out, and presently saying, to the (or: these) called-out, covenant communities."
These verses demonstrate Christ's speaking both to the corporate communities, and to individuals within the communities. Verse 22 echoes the words of Jesus, in the Gospels, and both of these verses lead us back to Jn. 10, above.
With these thoughts as a backdrop, we now turn to our present situation within the multitudes of the cults - meaning the sectarian divisions and denominations - that bear the title "Christian." Mainly beginning with the Reformation, which, in time, resulted in many divisions within the category termed "Protestants," there has been ongoing processes of "deconstruction" of various traditional doctrines within the "daughters" of the Reformation. This present essay will focus on one area of deconstruction: the rejection of the Bible as being authoritative, or even as being what has been traditionally termed, the Word of God.
Distilled from a Youtube podcast interview of Dr. Dennis R. MacDonald, by Tim Mills, we offer a very brief synopsis of MacDonald's scholarly view of the Gospels as simply being myths: mimetic literary constructs which follow previous Greek epic Homeric poems (such as The Odyssey), or plays (e.g., by Euripides), or even the story of the founding of Rome (Romulus), etc. He has come to see the Gospels as presenting Jesus as an alternative to the Greek heroes, and as being better and more compassionate than those epic characters. Although he loves and values the Gospels, he considers them as the creative works of educated intellectuals which were aimed at creating new traditions, in various communities, and which were transformative for their audiences. He sees them as life-giving works that brought social bonding to these new cultural entities.
According to MacDonald, mimetic connections to earlier works were imitations of those works which were meant to rival and challenge those other narratives, and that this was a common rhetorical device that would be easily recognized by those whose main means of education was by learning to read Homer and other Greek poets. To his point, we read Paul quoting Greek poets, to a Greek audience, in Acts 17:29, but is this trend of textual criticism leading folks to "throw the baby out with the bathwater," leading them to look only to the "letter" of the texts while missing what the Spirit is saying through the ancient authors, who were "jars of clay" (2 Cor. 4:7), and thus, missing the "treasure" contained therein?
Now even though we can view Paul as having engaged in "deconstruction" of his own traditional concepts of the long-awaited Messiah, and what his coming would mean to Israel, we see him reaching back into the stories of Israel's history (as did the risen Jesus, in Lu. 24:27), as he reached out even into the Hellenistic cultures, such as Corinth and Galatia. Although patterns of God's plan of the ages were given to all cultures, via His creation (Ps. 19:1-6; Rom. 1:18-26ff),as it were
"sending rain on both the just and the unjust" (Mat. 5:45),
we do not see the NT writers specifically referencing pagan creation myths or epic heroes. Seeing such things as lying behind the texts seems to be reading those conclusions "into" the texts, even if we can see parallels or correlations. Nonetheless, Paul drew upon his Hellenistic education (being able to quote from it) and this may be one aspect of his expression of indebtedness
"to the Greeks and to the Barbarians" (Rom. 1:14),
this latter term referring to those who did not speak Greek and who were considered 'uneducated' by the Greco-Roman culture. This would include the Gentile nations beyond the realm of the Roman Empire. That being the case, perhaps the NT authors were purposely structuring their literary works, and sermons, to say to their audiences this sort of message:
24. "The God making (forming and constructing; producing) the ordered system and arrangement of the universe, and all the things within it - this One continuously being from the start: Lord of heaven and of earth (or: this Owner and Master, repeatedly and progressively being the subsisting and originating source, the under-beginning, of sky and land) - is not now (or: habitually) taking up residence within handmade shrines, sanctuaries or temples!
25. "Neither is He continuously provided for, attended or habitually served by human hands - as constantly being in want, or having a need of something - He Himself being the One constantly giving to all people, and things, life and breath and all things (or: everything; the whole [universe])!
26. "Besides this, He made (formed; or: constructs; or: produced) from out of one [man, or, source; D and other MSS add: blood] every ethnic group of mankind, to continue dwelling (or: to be repeatedly residing) upon all [the] face of the earth (or: land) - while setting a boundary for (or: defining; determining; specifying) [the] seasons and fitting situations (or: fertile moments and opportunities) which have been set and arranged with [predetermined] aspects (or: facing toward [specific purposes]), as well as [the] limits and bounds of their dwelling place (residence; habitat) -
27. "[D adds: most of all] to be continuously seeking God [D reads: the Deity], since really, in fact, they could feel about and grope, and then at some point might (or: possibly) find Him! And, to be sure, [He] is continuously being an Originator (or: He is constantly subsisting, being inherently [the] Under-Beginner; = [the ground of Being]) not far away (or: a long distance) from each one of us! (Acts 17)
Just as Yahweh "rained" the Law for Israel, via Moses, we observe that He also "rained" what is now called the "Code of Hammurabi" for the Babylonian Empire under that king. God always
"loved the aggregate of humanity (the world)" - Jn. 3:16.
We read of the magi coming from the east,
"following a star,"
to come and pay homage to the child that was born to be the King of the Judeans (Mat. 2:1ff), and then, we see the risen Christ sending His followers out into
"all the ethnic multitudes (nations; Gentiles)" - Mat. 28:19
- as His closing instructions. He was the Seed of Abraham, in whom all the ethnic multitudes and families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3; 22:18; Gal. 3:8).
So, should we conclude that the NT authors were not inspired, if they did use mimetic frameworks (perhaps such as we today might call "the hero's journey") to present the central picture of God's plan of the ages (Eph. 3:11)? Specific actions and incidences were chosen to be included in the Gospels (see my work, "The Spoken and Lived-out Parables of Jesus" in Volume 12 of my main page) - with not all authors including the same things. We see the Gospels as a specific kind of ancient literature which were designed to present the story of Christ - each one in slightly different ways, and perhaps for different audiences - as being the end of the old age and the beginning of the age of the Messiah. Likewise, Paul reached back to Israel's wilderness journey (1 Cor. 10:1ff) and to the story of Sarah and Hagar (Gal. 4:22-31) to make his points about aspects of the new Life in Christ.
A Sheep's Basic Guide to Deconstruction
Stated briefly, it is our view that the Spirit of God, which was within the authors, undoubtedly made use of their literary gifts in ways that were familiar to their audiences, but that their works were inspired and inwardly directed by God for the purpose of disseminating the Good News - which is Christ in us, the expectation of our assumed appearance (or: glory) - proclaiming goodness unto the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Rev. 21:5) of the one new humanity (Eph. 2:10-22). The NT authors were sheep who "recognized His Voice."
In 2 Cor. 3, we read an instructive verse:
Add to this these words of Jesus:
"The declarations (gush-effects; spoken words; sayings; results of the Flow) which I, Myself, have spoken to you folks are (or: continue to be) Spirit (or: spirit; Breath-effect; attitude) and they are (or: continue being) Life" (Jn. 6:63b).
If we are really hearing His Voice, we will be hearing "Spirit" and not "letter" (or: rhetorical device), and therefore we will not follow "other voices." By this, we will be receiving Life, and not death. It is this inner Voice that should guide us "into all Truth" (Jn. 16:13a) as we proceed in any deconstruction of Christian traditions. The teachings of Jesus were a deconstruction of Second Temple Judaism (pictured graphically when He cleansed the temple; Jn. 2:13-21) as He was at the same time building the new Temple (Jn. 2:19; 1 Cor. 3:9-17). We should be willing to "go to Him, outside the camp" of traditional religion (cf Heb. 13:13), as we recall what Jesus said concerning the scribes and Pharisees - that they were "full of dead men's bones." We are called to follow Him, as we let "the dead bury their dead" in graves of human traditions.
That said, I concur with MacDonald that the NT presents to us ethical teachings about real sociological issues; but contrary to his view, I see those writings as also bringing fresh insights in the area of theology - about our existentially being God's Family, a family of gods (Jn. 10:34-35) which both incarnates God (Rom. 8:29b) from being "joined to the Lord" (1 Cor. 6:17), and which also exists being His Home (temple).
Sheep are given the following instructions, in Eph. 4:
21. since, in fact, at one point you HEARD and so LISTEN to Him, and within Him as well as in union with Him and centered in Him, you were and are taught - just as Truth and Reality continuously exist within this Jesus (or: in union with, and in the sphere of, the One, Jesus) -
22. to put off from yourselves [as clothing or habits] what accords to the former entangled manner of living (or: twisted up behavior): the old humanity (or: the past, worn-out person) - the one continuously in process of being corrupted (or: progressively spoiled and ruined) down from and in accord with the passionate desires (the full-coveting, swelling emotions) of The Deceptions (or: those desires from The Seduction) -
24. and thus, to enter within (or: clothe yourselves with) the New Humanity (or: the Person that is different and innovative in kind and quality) - the one in accord with, and corresponding to, God (or: the person in the sphere of the Divine level, and commensurate with God [Himself]) - being formed (framed, built, founded and settled from a state of disorder and wildness; created) within the Way pointed out (or: in union with fair and equitable dealings with rightwised relationships, justice, righteousness and covenant participation; centered in [His] eschatological deliverance) and reverent dedication (or: a benign relationship with nature) pertaining to the Truth (or: in intrinsic alignment with reality, which is the Truth).
25. Because of which (or: Wherefore; For this reason), upon at once putting the false away (or: being folks having at one point set the Lie off; or: upon shedding the Lie) from yourselves [as clothing or habits], you folks be continuously speaking Truth and Reality, each one with his associate (the one near him; his neighbor), because we are (we continually exist being) MEMBERS [as of a body] of ONE ANOTHER (or: limbs or body parts belonging to one another and having our source in each other).
This is no reworking of ancient myths. It is a presentation of the new creation, in Christ.
Jonathan
PS: during that interview by Tim Mills, MacDonald made a fascinating comment concerning Jn. 8:6, 8, that Jesus wrote in the dirt - that is, what He wrote was not written in stone. I would add that this was writing His new commandment of Love and Acceptance in the earth-heart of the Second Humanity (1 Cor. 15:45-49) within that woman. In Him, the Logos was still creating.
PPS: Andrew Jukes, in his "The Second Death and the Restitution of All Things," offers the following:
"I would that those who are now dissecting Scripture, and finding it under their hands to be, what indeed it is, thoroughly and truly human, would but pause and ask themselves, what they could have found in Christ's flesh, had they tortured it as they now are torturing the letter. Had it been possible for them to have dissected the Body, would they have found, with the eyes of sense at least, anything there which was not purely human? .... I proceed to show that, like Christ's flesh, and indeed like every other revelation which God has made of Himself, the letter of Scripture is a veil quite as much as a revelation, hiding while it reveals, and yet revealing while it hides; presenting to the eye something very different from that which is within, even as the veil of the Tabernacle, with its inwoven cherubim, hid the glory within the veil, of which nevertheless it was the witness; and that therefore, as seen by sense, it is and must be apparently inconsistent and self-contradictory... this fact will help us to understand, not only why Scripture is what it is, but also how to interpret its varied truths and doctrines." (Longmans, Green & Co, 1877, pp 7-10)
PPPS: John Gavazzoni adds, "It would follow, wouldn't it, that for the sheep to constantly follow Him, they must constantly hear His voice? If His sheep - those who hear his voice, and conversely, are His sheep - are those who presently hear His voice, then unbroken discipleship requires unbroken hearing. It would seem that, at any given moment, I am thus qualified or disqualified as His sheep. Those who read eternal salvation or lostness into the parable, aren't really getting what the Lord was talking about."
Jonathan responds: This corresponds to "abiding in the Vine." At the end of John's Gospel, the risen Lord instructs Peter to feed His lambs and sheep - assuming that Peter loves, or even likes, Him. It implies that the sheep would also hear His voice through those who feed the sheep. This is so that the sheep will live and grow - and be protected from wolves who dress themselves in sheep's clothing as a deceptive disguise. True sheep will then give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty; they will take in strangers, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and go to the imprisoned (Mat. 25:35-36). In the Unveiling (Rev.) we find the risen Christ portrayed as a Lamb (i.e., He identifies Himself with His sheep), and in 14:1-5 we see the Lamb functioning as a Shepherd, leading His flock who now have the identity of the Father (Rev. 14:1b; 7:2-17) as well as the identity of God, the New Jerusalem, and Christ (Rev. 3:12) - they are conquerors (victors; overcomers - Rev. 3:11).
Return To Jonathan Mitchell's Page