The Importance of Disobedience
This article may cause discomfort for some. It is my exploration of the christian idea of disobedience. If this is not something you like, kindly skip. But if you are curious? Jump in!
As a child, I often felt that the biblical story of the fall of Adam and Eve was harsh.
For those not familiar with it, it goes something like this:
God made a beautiful garden, Eden, with all the lovely creatures and flowers and fruits imaginable.
God made Adam and Eve. They were innocent.
God told them they could play and eat all the lovely fruits in the garden.
Except…
In the middle of the beautiful garden, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a.k.a. the Tree. You cannot, and must not, eat the fruit from the Tree.
Yes, that one! With the low fence that you can easily cross over. The prettiest one. Do not! Or else…
Or else what? God didn’t say.
Snake comes along and waits for the couple under the Tree. What’s he (I assume it’s a he) doing there? In God’s beautiful and perfect garden? I smell a rat.
Snake said to the couple, “It’s OK. Nothing wrong with a little knowledge.”
The couple thought, yeah… what could possibly go wrong?
The rest, as they say, is history.
I thought it was harsh that knowledge should lead to eternal damnation. In the fires of hell forever and ever, which is a very long time.
It was that one bite from the fruit of the Tree that led to all the sins and sufferings that we now have to endure. Even to the crucifixion and death of God’s only son, JC.
So, eating the fruit from the Tree was a bad thing. Obviously.
As a child, I would think about this quietly, because you shouldn’t think these thoughts. Even quietly.
Why didn’t God just cut down the Tree? Why put it in the middle of Eden instead of hiding it far away in the corner of somewhere?
It’s not like God needed it. He’s all-knowing already, right? And He didn’t want anyone else to eat it. Obviously.
So why put it there?
And the snake.
What’s the deal with the snake? What’s he doing there?
Did God know he was there? God knows everything.
God would have known that the snake would be there, and it would tempt, and the couple would fall. Obviously.
So why all this drama?
Maybe, just maybe, it was all part of the plan.
I think this was to be the outcome right from the start. It was as God intended. Obviously.
Created in the image of God
I often think about what it means to be created in the image of God. I do not think it refers merely to our appearance. Too much variety, which is a good thing, actually. The image of God must mean something other than our physique.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there is a bit of a clue:
What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals!
This is what it means to be created in the image of God. This “godliness” lies in our ability to apprehend, to know. And in that apprehension lies our ability to disobey.
It is this ability that makes us “like God”. And with it, all the consequences that follow. It is said that we are given free will. And with free will, we are therefore responsible for all our actions and inactions. Good and Evil.
“There are consequences.” John Wick.
You are saved only by the grace of God
And here is where things get a little confusing for young me.
Sunday catechism teaches us that when Adam and Eve made that terrible choice to eat from the Tree, we were all punished for it. Not our fault though, since we didn’t choose, but none the less.
The unforgivable, original sin. Of eating from the Tree.
However, God, who loves us so much, has given us a way out of eternal damnation.
His son, JC, will die for us. He’ll take the blame. Salvation at last. But we have to believe in him.
We have to choose, yet again. He can’t make us believe, since he has given us free will.
So, we have to choose to believe. And therein lies the problem.
Why give us a choice at all? Why not just make everything good again? Just make us believe!
I suspect God doesn’t want to do that. I suspect I wouldn’t want that either.
The start of a spiritual journey
For me, my spiritual journey begins with disobedience. Until then, the fear was real. The catholic church is very graphic in describing the horrors of hell, with the tortures and fire, and for such a very long time. You would think that it’s a small price to pay by just believing.
Don’t be bad. Go to church on Sundays, avoid bad thoughts, do not kill or steal. Praise God. Raise your hand! Hallelujah! How hard can it be?
You have a checklist. Just follow it.
And when you make a mistake, just say “Sorry.” How hard can THAT be?
It’s hard. When you tell a child, “Don’t…” You know exactly what is on its mind.
So why do we instinctively want to disobey?
Because we can.
As a parent, I have warned my children about the dangers of going near water.
Don’t sit too close. Don’t put your foot in. You could drown and you won’t see mommy and daddy ever again.
I also made sure they learn to swim. Still, be safe.
“Do not, I repeat, do not jump off the high diving board over there and into the deep, deep pool.”
Then, with their friends, they decide to do just that.
Standing at the edge of the diving board, with their friends encouraging them, the moment comes when they have to decide if they will leap off from a few metres high into the deep pool.
“Come on, jump!”
And they jumped.
The smiles and excitement that follows! The guilty look! The sense of pride and satisfaction. And they conquer that fear forever.
In my heart, I clapped!
I believe God wanted Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree.
It was no accident that it is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, because it is knowledge that separates us from animals. Knowledge that is discerning; that gives us the ability to choose. To disobey.
I do not insist that my children obey me, although I never tell them. As they were growing up, I have told them they have to listen and do what I say. They have to obey my instructions. Or else…
But in my heart I want them to disobey, eventually. To think for themselves, and to never obey blindly out of fear or habit.
I want them to be critical, to distrust those who seem to know it all, including me. Especially me.
As a father, I want them to exercise their will and ability to act.
After all, they are made in the image of God.
It was the plan from the start
Right from the start, the fall of Adam and Eve was a lesson that God put together for them. He staged the entire scene with the Tree right in the middle of Eden.
With signs flashing. And lights! “Do Not Eat!”
Snake played the role of the villain and tempted the couple with well-rehearsed lines. He was the friends that encouraged. “Come on! Jump! Don’t be scared!”
God was the director and anxious father. Waiting…anticipating. Will they succumb to their fear? Will they back off? Or will they jump?
And Adam and Eve jumped.
God cannot give us free will unless we also have the ability to take it. He cannot make us free. We have to decide to be free. Freedom is a choice. It has always been.
That is the great mystery.
Paradise is not the garden before the fall, all nice and sweet smelling with lions lying beside the lamb. Eternal bliss is as terrible as eternal damnation. They are the same thing.
Paradise is the Fall. The ability to be free. To disobey.
Our disobedience was never condemned. It cannot be. How could any parent condemn their children even for a day, much less for all eternity? How could any parent not want their children to know, to be like them? To be who they really are? To be like God! And to love like God!
And until we choose, we can never truly become children of God.
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