By Michael Bunker
editor@lazarusunbound.com
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Modern Religious Idols and False gods, Part 8
Posted by Michael Bunker

editor@lazarusunbound.com

The false god named “Upward Mobility”

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:4-5).

The very first temptation of man was when the tempter promised Eve upward mobility. “Ye shall be as gods” was the promise, and it was more than she could resist. When the tempter took Jesus up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; he said unto him, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matt. 4:8-9). Jesus did not go for the promise of upward mobility, because he saw through the lie. Upward mobility is always a lie, and it is time we identified it as such.

You have always heard me say that “Christianity is a race to the bottom”, because one of Christianity’s unique and transcendent claims is that, “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:35b). It is an accepted maxim in Christianity that God’s works, His love, and His grace are manifest among the lowly, “so the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen” (Matt. 20:16). “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence” (1Co 1:26-29). While we confess that God is not a respecter of persons (Romans 2:11), meaning that He does not show grace to them or save them by or according to any good He finds in them or any good works done by them, we also must recognize that God is absolutely partial to those who are the “labour and are heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28). God shows His love and care, His mercy and grace among those who are the lowly and downtrodden. God selects His beloved from among those who are weak and without power, and raises up disciples, prophets, and leaders from shepherds, husbandmen, slaves, fishermen, and those in low estates.

However, humans are a race of people who, by nature, feel the carnal tug of upward mobility. From the fall of Adam, through the death of Abel, to the raising of the Tower of Babel, to the rise of the Antichrist Church, there has been an inexorable move to proclaim the gospel of upward mobility, success, position, wealth, and power from every mountaintop in the land. America is the Holy Land of upward mobility. America is the product of the gospel of self-improvement and success. Every generation is told that there are no barriers to the amount of power, wealth, success, and happiness that can be gained if we are only willing to work and scratch hard enough to “get ahead”. Upward mobility is the mantra of America’s Arminian and Papist religion, and the gospel of upward mobility is even more present in the “church” than it is in the secular world. One of the primary accusations made against Reformed or “Calvinistic” doctrine during the Counter-Reformation (created by the Roman Catholic Church, but carried by the Arminian wing of Protestantism) is that, it was claimed, “Calvinism teaches people to be happy in humble circumstances. It teaches the slave to be satisfied in slavery, and the servant to happily serve his master”. The answer given by those who believed in the true doctrines of Christianity and of the Bible was, “It is not Calvinism that teaches these things which seem so odious to you. It is the Bible that teaches them”: