Marcus grew up in the Roman Empire. Marcus had a tough life. When Marcus was eight years old, his parents were killed in a horrible accident. After this, Marcus lived on the filthy streets of Rome, and begged for food. Each day as the sun began to set, Marcus began a pilgrimage to the outskirts of Rome where he found a safe place to sleep.
When Marcus was fourteen years old, a vile old man found his safe spot, and raped him. After this demeaning event, Marcus refused to beg for food, because begging for food put him in a vulnerable position. Instead, Marcus began to rob people, because robbing people enabled him to dominate them, which meant that they could not hurt him.
Marcus got into a lot of fights. One night, a man stabbed Marcus in the leg, and he nearly bled to death. After this, he walked with a limp that was very painful. To kill the pain, he started drinking, and robbing more people to support his habit. Marcus grew increasingly violent, and one night, he killed a man. Marcus, now had to drink to numb his leg and his conscience.
Marcus was a mess, and his life was a living Hell.
One evening, as Marcus walked to the outskirts of Rome, he was feeling especially defeated. Marcus was 40 years old, cold, dirty, tired, hungry, and tormented by his conscience. Marcus was out of wine, and the authorities were closing in on him. Marcus was on the brink of losing his sanity. It was obvious to Marcus that he was powerless, and his life was unmanageable, and he accepted this unpleasant reality in his heart.
In desperation, Marcus stepped into Rome’s Pantheon. A Roman priest welcomed Marcus into the Pantheon, and he looked at the images of the powerful supernatural gods in the Pantheon, and, he suddenly realized that he needed a power greater than himself to restore him to sanity.
Essentially, Marcus had just taken A.A.’s 2nd Step, which says, “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity”
After Marcus came to this conclusion, was he any closer to Yahweh? No, the Romans did not have an image of Yahweh in the Pantheon. See, when the Romans defeated a nation, they kidnapped the images of their gods, and put them into Rome’s Pantheon. After that, the subjugated people would have to submit to the Roman high priest to worship their gods. But since Yahweh did not allow Israel to make images of Him, when the Romans defeated Israel, there were no images of Him for them to kidnap.
Yahweh was not in Rome’s Pantheon. The only gods that were in the Pantheon were the gods that the Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans had embraced. In other words, the Pantheon was full of demons who were pretending to be gods.
The Bible says that Yahweh is God, and there is no other. Yahweh could not be found in the Roman Pantheon because He is holy. Yahweh refused to stand in line with a bunch of demons and wait for Marcus to decide who it was that he was going to follow. Yahweh refused to join the Pantheon, so Marcus did not find Him there.
After he took this Step, Marcus felt peace because he had accepted the fact that he was powerless and his life was unmanageable. Yahweh did not give Marcus this peace, however. The peace came from a psychological force that Marcus released as he eliminated the cognitive dissonance that he was creating by denying reality. In other words, the peace was a result of Marcus stepping out of the darkness of denial into the light of reality.
Moreover, Marcus came to realize that he was the problem, and that he needed a power greater than himself to restore him to sanity. This took the burden of change off his shoulders and put it on some stronger ones. Marcus now had a reason to hope. Marcus hoped that a power greater than him would restore him to sanity. Marcus was turning away from himself and his sufficiency, and this released the psychological force of hope.
Marcus felt better because hope and peace refreshed him, and energized him. Nevertheless, Marcus was still estranged from Yahweh, and on his way to Hell.
How does Marcus’ plight relate to us?
A.A. is a modern-day pantheon. It is an institution that embraces people from all religious traditions. This ecumenical institution embraces Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans, Spiritist, Witches, New Agers, Atheists and all others.
Like Marcus, we find it difficult to live in a fallen world, where people hurt us, so we turn to alcohol to numb the pain. Our drinking makes our life unmanageable, and we realize that we are powerless to stop drinking. Then, one day we feel especially defeated and step into the pantheon of A.A. In the pantheon, we can choose any god that we want, but we usually gravitate to an image of the god that is commonly accepted in our culture.
It doesn’t matter which god we ask for help, any god will suffice. We can even choose not to ask one of the supernatural gods for help, and ask a natural object for help. It doesn’t matter who or what we believe to be a power greater than ourselves…all that is really important is that we ask something or someone outside of ourselves for help.
How can A.A.’s 2nd Step be effective if we ask the “wrong” supernatural god for help? How can it be effective if we do not ask a supernatural being for help, and, instead, ask a natural object, such as the group or a doorknob, for help?
It doesn’t matter, who, or what, a person asks for help, because, as he comes out of denial, and decides to ask for help, he unleashes the psychological forces of peace and hope. The peace and hope, even if it is false peace and hope, energizes and refreshes a person and changes their outlook on life (for a while). This step prepares a person for the next step, which is a big one that has far-reaching effects and consequences.
What about Yeshua (Jesus)? Does Yeshua hang out in a pantheon, and line up with all the demons, who pretend to be the gods of the nations? No!
Around 321A.D., a Roman Emperor realized that a large percentage of the people in his empire were accepting Yeshua as their Lord. So the Roman Emperor tried to kidnap Yeshua and bring Him into the Roman Pantheon. Yeshua cannot be kidnapped or held hostage, however. So the Roman Emperor did the next-best thing, he carved an image of Yeshua that he could use to control the people in his empire.
The Roman Emperor had an image of Yeshua hanging on a cross in his Pantheon, but the Yeshua in the Roman Pantheon was not the Yeshua of the Scriptures. Hence, when the people of the Roman Empire came into the Pantheon to submit to Yeshua, they submitted to the wrong Yeshua, that is, they submitted to a demon, who was pretending to be the Yeshua of the Scriptures!
The same is true of the modern-day Pantheon of A.A. The Yeshua, who lines up with the demons, who are pretending to be gods, in A.A.’s pantheon, is not the Yeshua of the Scriptures. Thus, a person will not find the Yeshua of the Scriptures in A.A., they will find an image of a demon, who pretends to be Him.
Some real Christians go to A.A., and tell people about the real Yeshua. These iconoclasts attemp to shatter the false image of Yeshua that is promoted by A.A. because that Yeshua cannot deliver or save anyone.
These Christians must walk a fine line because Paul warned us not to put up with anyone who preaches a Gospel that is different from his, or promotes a Yeshua, who is different from his, or embraces a spirit that he did not embrace. (2 Corinthians 11:4) If we believe another gospel, then we will accept another Yeshua, and he will give us another spirit!
The pantheon is a confusing and scary place where demons masquerade as gods. If we are brave enough to step inside the pantheon and take the 2nd Step, we will feel peace and hope that will prepare us for the all-important 3rd Step. The priests in A.A.’s pantheon will tell us that the peace and hope we feel is a spiritual experience that lets us know we have asked the correct entity for help. These priests will say that this spiritual experience validates truth, and hence we are on the right path.
Spiritual experiences do not validate truth. The Scriptures validate truth, and they say that the path we must travel to know God is narrow, and only a few will find it. So, what is this wide path that allows everyone to know “God” by bowing to an image of a demon? It is the path that leads to Hell!
Welcome to the pantheon.
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