Advent Day 20 - "little King Herod"
Today I would like to share another extended quote from Tim Keller's Hidden Christmas. In this excerpt, Keller explains how the human heart responds to the Lordship of Christ.
"If you want to be king, and someone else comes along saying he is the king, then one of you has to give in. Only one person can sit on an absolute throne. As we have seen, Jesus came to us claiming to be God, the King. He said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). This is not a command to literally become hateful toward one’s family. He is calling, rather, for an allegiance to him so supreme that it makes all other commitments look weak by comparison. It is a claim of absolute authority, a summons to unconditional loyalty, and it inevitably triggers deep resistance within the human heart…
At the core of the human heart is an impulse that says, “No one tells me what to do.” Culture and training can go a long way toward teaching us to hide that deep instinct, even from ourselves. We want to be seen as cooperative, as a team player, as a kind and loving person. We want to see ourselves that way too. There are many reasons why it is necessary for us to live in denial as to how powerful this instinct is. However, no amount of education or therapy can remove it.
At the core of the human heart is an impulse that says, “No one tells me what to do.” Culture and training can go a long way toward teaching us to hide that deep instinct, even from ourselves. We want to be seen as cooperative, as a team player, as a kind and loving person. We want to see ourselves that way too. There are many reasons why it is necessary for us to live in denial as to how powerful this instinct is. However, no amount of education or therapy can remove it.
According to the Bible, the evil of the world ultimately stems from the self-centeredness, self-righteousness, and self-absorption of every human heart. Each of us wants the world to orbit around us and our needs and desires. We do not want to serve God or our neighbor—we want them to serve us. In every heart, then, there is a “little King Herod” that wants to rule and that is threatened by anything that may compromise its omnipotence and sovereignty. Each of us wants to be the captain of our own soul, the master of our own fate…
In the book of Romans Paul says this clearly. In Romans 3:10–11 he writes, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.” It is normal to think this statement an egregious exaggeration. Perhaps, you say, it is true that no one is perfectly good and righteous. But how can you say that there is no human being who seeks for God? Aren’t there millions of sincere seekers after God? The answer of Christian theologians over the centuries has been to make two distinctions.
First, they argue, to want the things God gives—love, help, strength, forgiveness, happiness—is not to actually seek or want God himself. Many people seem to be seekers, but they are more like gold diggers, who befriend or marry only for money. The evidence for this view is strong, since so many people confess that they left the faith because their lives were not going as they wanted and God was not answering their prayers.
Second, the theologians argue, people may seek God as they want him to be, but no one seeks God as he reveals himself to be in the Bible…
We create Gods of our liking to mask our own hostility to the real God, who reveals himself as our absolute King. And if the Lord born at Christmas is the true God, then no one will seek for him unless our hearts are supernaturally changed to want and seek him…
“Where’s the true King?” That question is the most disturbing question possible to a human heart, since we want at all costs to remain on the throne of our own lives. We may use religion to stay on that throne, trying to put God in the position of having to do our bidding because we are so righteous, rather than serving him unconditionally. Or we may flee from religion, become atheists, and loudly claim that there is no God. Either way, we are expressing our natural hostility to the lordship of the true King…
So no one is really neutral about whether Christmas is true. If the Son of God was really born in a manger, then we have lost the right to be in charge of our lives. Who can be objective about a claim that, if it is true, means you’ve lost control of your life? You can’t be...
Why do you think it is so hard to pray? Why do you think it is so hard to concentrate on the most glorious person possible? Why, when God answers a prayer, do you say, “Oh, I will never forget this, Lord,” but soon you do anyway? How many times have you said, “I will never do this again!” and two weeks later you do it again? In Romans 7:15 Paul says, “What I hate I do.” There is still a little King Herod inside you. It means you have got to be far more intentional about Christian growth, about prayer, and about accountability to other people to overcome your bad habits. You can’t just glide through the Christian life. There is still something in you that fights it."[1]
In the book of Romans Paul says this clearly. In Romans 3:10–11 he writes, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.” It is normal to think this statement an egregious exaggeration. Perhaps, you say, it is true that no one is perfectly good and righteous. But how can you say that there is no human being who seeks for God? Aren’t there millions of sincere seekers after God? The answer of Christian theologians over the centuries has been to make two distinctions.
First, they argue, to want the things God gives—love, help, strength, forgiveness, happiness—is not to actually seek or want God himself. Many people seem to be seekers, but they are more like gold diggers, who befriend or marry only for money. The evidence for this view is strong, since so many people confess that they left the faith because their lives were not going as they wanted and God was not answering their prayers.
Second, the theologians argue, people may seek God as they want him to be, but no one seeks God as he reveals himself to be in the Bible…
We create Gods of our liking to mask our own hostility to the real God, who reveals himself as our absolute King. And if the Lord born at Christmas is the true God, then no one will seek for him unless our hearts are supernaturally changed to want and seek him…
“Where’s the true King?” That question is the most disturbing question possible to a human heart, since we want at all costs to remain on the throne of our own lives. We may use religion to stay on that throne, trying to put God in the position of having to do our bidding because we are so righteous, rather than serving him unconditionally. Or we may flee from religion, become atheists, and loudly claim that there is no God. Either way, we are expressing our natural hostility to the lordship of the true King…
So no one is really neutral about whether Christmas is true. If the Son of God was really born in a manger, then we have lost the right to be in charge of our lives. Who can be objective about a claim that, if it is true, means you’ve lost control of your life? You can’t be...
Why do you think it is so hard to pray? Why do you think it is so hard to concentrate on the most glorious person possible? Why, when God answers a prayer, do you say, “Oh, I will never forget this, Lord,” but soon you do anyway? How many times have you said, “I will never do this again!” and two weeks later you do it again? In Romans 7:15 Paul says, “What I hate I do.” There is still a little King Herod inside you. It means you have got to be far more intentional about Christian growth, about prayer, and about accountability to other people to overcome your bad habits. You can’t just glide through the Christian life. There is still something in you that fights it."[1]
[1] Keller,
Timothy. Hidden Christmas (excerpted from pp. 67-73). Penguin Publishing Group.
Kindle Edition.
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