What the Epstein Files Teach Us About Our Need for God
There is a lot of darkness in our world today, but this can be just the reminder our souls need.
The other day, I was talking with one of my friends about the self-help movement and how it has infiltrated the church.
As someone who works with many self-help authors, I love much of what this general movement offers. Things like self-discipline, motivation, and the desire to accomplish great things. All positives in my book.
But there is a potential downside, because much of the self-help material I consume today comes from a well of a few writers who value Enlightenment-era teaching at the expense of the gospel. Read only a few pages, and you'll often come across lines like “you are awesome, and the sooner you discover that, the happier you will be” and “you have all the power you need within you.”
On the surface, this might appear harmless, but it can also lead to a warped view of reality—one that elevates the goodness of humans and lowers the goodness of God.
Fundamentally Broken
If there is anything the recent Epstein files release has shown us, it’s that humanity—even at the “highest levels”—is fundamentally broken.
Take new-age guru Deepak Chopra, who has made many statements like, “You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible,” or “The most creative act you will ever undertake is the act of creating yourself.” He’s spent much of his life teaching the importance of inner character and resolve.
Yet, recent documents reveal he had a very different side and was the same person who wrote to Jeffrey Epstein, in a 2017 email, “God is a construct. Cute girls are real.” And he is only one of many names I could list—names of influential people who have positioned themselves as moral authority figures.
Horrible as this is, it shouldn't be shocking if you're a Christian. That's because at its core, without God, humanity is morally bankrupt.
One of the reasons I think many in the church don’t feel comfortable emphasizing this is because they grew up in a generation that preached a lot of hell, fire, and brimstone. And rather than finding a better balance, they swung to the opposite end of the spectrum.
In doing so, they shifted away from Scripture.
Recognize Your Deadness
Paul's words in Ephesians 2 show what we really are apart from God. He says in verse 1 to his audience that you were "dead in your trespasses and sins." Not “you were broken and just needed a little help,” and not “you were close but didn't quite measure up.” Dead. To this point, Tony Merida writes:
The world tells us that we are basically good, and if we just believe in ourselves, then we can do anything. While a spiritually dead person may indeed do amazing things because she is an image bearer of God—make works of art, play sports exceptionally well, make money, do humanitarian work—she can do nothing spiritually because she is not connected to the Vine.[1]
The problem of minimizing our deadness apart from God is that we soon get to a place where we have little need for him.
Without understanding your deadness, you will never appreciate the depth of God’s grace. Because it’s on the foundation of verse one that Paul says in verses 8-9, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.”
Think about how prevalent boasting is in our society today.
It’s a trap I’ve fallen into, and almost everyone I know has fallen into. Why? Because we do not naturally see ourselves as dead. We see ourselves as pretty good people in need of a little shaping up.
The Hope of Recognizing Our Deadness
Now, I’m not calling for self-loathing. And there are some who have grown up in an extremely oppressive understanding of God. They listen and agree with the words from the 18th- century American preacher Jonathan Edwards, who said:
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes as the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.
Much as I disagree with these words (even though I love much of what Edwards wrote), I would say very few Christians I interact with today hold this view, and they’re much more prone to the stark alternative.
If this is you, here are three reasons I’d encourage you to remember your deadness apart from God:
- First, it establishes your position. When you look at God as the 1A and yourself as the 1B, you’ll constantly be jockeying with him for position.
- Second, it changes your dependence. When you realize you can do nothing apart from God, you’ll be much more likely to run to him—you’ll lean on him for building your family, leading your business, and living your life.
- Third, it increases your gratitude. When you realize what Christ did for you on the cross and the hope this offers for the present and future, you can’t help but be grateful.
True Freedom
In my favorite TV series of all time, Band of Brothers, there’s a quiet but unforgettable exchange where a man named Captain Speirs explains combat fear to a shaken young soldier. The soldier, Albert Blithe, shares how he'd hidden in a ditch while everyone else fought.
To which Captain Speirs replied, "You know why you hid in that ditch, Blithe?"
"I was scared," Blithe responded.
"We're all scared," Speirs said. "You hid in that ditch because you think there's still hope. But Blythe, the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead."
Here's why I share that little snippet.
The great challenge many Christians have today is that they're trying to convince themselves that they're alive apart from Christ, and don't recognize that there is freedom in death. Not freedom in death itself, but freedom in the recognition that there is only one who can help you overcome it.
Until you realize this, you will always be striving, but without God's power. But when you recognize it and accept God's gift of grace through faith, everything changes. As an adoped child of God, you don't view yourself as scum. But you view yourself with the right perspective—recognizing that, apart from him, you can do nothing.
[1]Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Ephesians, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. Accordance electronic ed. (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), 45.
