“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
In accepting the truth
that there exists a world of spirits, a unseen reality beyond that which we can
observe and quantify, we open ourselves to a range of possibilities we are far
from equipped to explore intelligently.
How does a Christian process such a thing?
On the one hand, we
may become superstitious, jumping at shadows and seeing everything in life as a
product of the activity of spirit beings. I’ve seen that. It’s kind of spooky
actually, watching people swoon and overreact to things for which there are plausible non-supernatural explanations.
On the other hand, I
wonder if there is not a danger that our belief in principalities and powers can
be so constrained by the data gathered through our earthly senses that we become
functionally agnostic. Is my assumption that I am incapable of perceiving
activity in the spiritual realm essentially my way of dismissing its relevance?
I hope not.
I am probably more
disposed to the latter error than the former, but that’s because I think it’s a
lesser error. It is possible to thoroughly believe in the existence of angelic
beings without attributing to their influence any specific event we encounter. But
the species of belief that lives or dies on the basis of weekly doses of “miraculous”
evidence is not worthy of the name: it is sight, not faith (and more hallucination
than sight in most cases).
Do Not Neglect
Note that the writer
to the Hebrews does not emphasize our need to be more alert to the possible
presence of angels in our midst. Those who entertained angels did so entirely unaware
of it, and were not the less blessed for their acts of faith and generosity
despite the fact that these gestures turned out to be superfluous. Rather,
scripture reminds us we should be hospitable. Nine hundred and ninety-nine
times out of a thousand, perhaps, our guest will be an ordinary stranger in
need. If we misidentify the angelic outlier when he arrives, we have not lost
much because of it.
It is hospitality we
must not neglect, not the pursuit of intelligence about angels.
Becoming obsessed with
the specifics of a reality we cannot currently investigate beyond the few sparse hints given us in the word of God is not only a waste
of our energy, as Paul instructed Timothy, it can lead us into fantasy rather than faith:
“As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship [or edification, or building up] from God that is by faith.”
Myths may turn out to be at least partially
grounded in fact. Genealogies may be perfectly accurate. But the problem is
they cannot be substantiated this side of eternity, they hold no value in witnessing or worship, and little even in personal meditation. The net effect of pursuing these more esoteric aspects of the
Christian faith is to “promote speculations”.
Emanations, Demiurges and Archons
William MacDonald is not the first to suggest
Paul is primarily concerned here with false teachers of Gnosticism. Gnostics
believed in “lesser divinities” they called emanations, demiurges and archons;
basically “principalities and powers”, but speculative ones. I bet some Gnostic
teaching was thoroughly fascinating to newcomers. Now and then in the midst of
their flights of fancy they may have even hit accidentally on a truth or two.
Such things have their appeal to me too. I’d
love to see what’s behind the curtain. But I have to guard against the danger
of being caught up in things not yet fully revealed, and for good reason: it
is faith that builds up. Faith is not sight, but it is not speculative either.
It is a settled trust firmly grounded in truth that HAS been revealed.
Building Up By Faith
Faith recognizes that angels exist and
interact with us because scripture records such occurrences, but it does not
become over-occupied with things that are not currently the Christian’s primary
concern. Instead, faith contents itself in the knowledge that there is greater
eternal significance to our service for Christ than may be immediately observed
by our senses.
For the time being, that will have to do.
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