Do you remember Rev. Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana? The Peoples Temple was a doomsday cult and Jim Jones was its charismatic leader. In November of 1978 (thirty years ago), Jim Jones and his staff, fearing a government crackdown and fueled by delusions of apocalyptic grandeur, convinced their people to commit mass suicide by drinking a beverage laced with cyanide. Those who would not commit suicide were murdered. In all, 914 people died, 276 of whom were children.
As a twelve-year-old boy, I watched the news reports in the aftermath of that horrific tragedy. I saw the photographs of the dead bodies lying side by side. I remember wondering to myself, “How could something like this happen? How could so many people come to the conclusion that it was a good and acceptable thing to do something that was so violent and so destructive?”
My answer came from an FBI agent who had just investigated the site and who had agreed to be interviewed by a television reporter. With tears in his eyes and a look of utter disbelief on his face, the FBI agent spoke these words: “Those people,” he said, “were misled and corrupted because they didn’t understand the true nature of the man they were following.”
Even as a twelve year old, I sensed that there was something profoundly true about his words. Even at that young age, I had begun to understand that much of who we are and much of who we become is dependent upon the nature of who or what we are following. And make no mistake about it, everyone is following something or someone, whether they know it or not.
Some people follow a particular philosophy or a set of intellectual presuppositions, all of which form their perception of reality and their desire to live life in a particular fashion. Some people adhere to a self-help or a self-improvement ethos and would be willing to follow Dr. Phil into a burning house. Some people follow a plan for upward mobility and financial success, and much of the content of their life is dictated by the requirements of that plan. Some people follow the goal of having the perfect family at all costs, and they are willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of keeping their family members happy and comfortable. Some people follow L. Ron Hubbard and the teachings of Scientology. Or the Koran and the teachings of Islam. Or the Bhagavad Gita and the teachings of Hinduism. Or the Dalai Lama and the teachings of Buddhism. Or Jim Jones and the teachings of the Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana.
Indeed, everyone is following something or someone, whether they know it or not. And much of who we are, much of who we become, is dependent upon the nature of who or what we are following. If we are unaware of the nature of who or what we are following, then there is always the risk that we will be led down a dangerous and destructive road, which was precisely the point of that FBI agent in the aftermath of the Guyana tragedy: “Those people,” he said, “were misled and corrupted because they didn’t understand the true nature of the man they were following.”
This upcoming weekend is a unique opportunity for us to remember the true nature of the One we are following. I say that because this weekend is Christ the King Weekend. (I describe it as Christ the King Weekend rather than Christ the King Sunday because the church that I serve holds a Saturday evening worship service.) Christ the King Weekend, often overlooked in the Christian calendar, is nevertheless a yearly opportunity for the entire church to reflect upon the peculiar royalty and the universal Lordship of Jesus Christ.
More specifically, Christ the King Weekend is an opportunity for the church to remember that the One we follow is not simply a prophet or a healer or a philosopher or a teacher. Rather, the One we follow is the Lord of all creation and the Savior of the world. He is the supreme and only ruler of the kingdom that he himself established—the kingdom that will stand long after all the other kingdoms of this world have fallen. He holds perfect authority over all the forces of this world, seen and unseen, good and evil. He is a monarch whose reign is eternal, meaning that he never has to campaign, he never has to be re-elected, and he never has to say, “I’m Jesus and I approved this message.”
In short, on Christ the King Weekend, we remember that the One we follow is a King who is as righteous as he is reliable, as replete with truth as he is with grace.
Thirty years ago, 914 people died in Guyana because they did not know the nature of the man they were following. The remembrance of that thirty-year-old tragedy makes me all the more grateful for Jesus Christ, who came into the world that people might have life and have it in abundance.
Remembering that event 30 years ago, I am also reminded of my response to that tragedy, it was shock, it was fear, and it left me wondering where GOD was amidst that horrific tragedy. I also, at 14, remember the bodies laying, the fear that it provoked, and the question I remember repeating to myself, and all of my friends, “Where was God? where was God?” We knew Jesus Christ, because we were exposed to Him, why didnt God save them, who were searching and desperately wanting Jones, to be their King!
Barb-
C.S. Lewis once suggested that Jesus Christ might very well be hard at work to save even those people who don’t yet know that they are being saved by him.
Perhaps Jesus Christ was–and is–hard at work to save those people from Jonestown. He didn’t save them from their choices and their decisions. But perhaps he never gave up on saving their souls.
That is my hope.
Ok. maybe this is not the place for me to climb upon my soapbox but as I think back to that day, I too remember the bodies and remember thinking, how could those people do that. Blindly follow someone to the point of taking ones own life. I guess in today’s world, we still have martyrs who are willing to die for their religion. Sadly suicide bombers in the Muslim religion claim just that with the promise of a new life on the “other side”.
But today, many, both outside and inside the church, have drunk the Koolaid of the latest craze, the newest cause, the plight of some politically disenfranchised group or just someone with their hand out without even asking what they represent.
I fear in some ways the church may have lost their way as well, sipping on that Koolaid of destruction. I fear some of the church leaders have set aside the Bible as the foundation for setting the path for the church and have replaced it with the latest political cause. My prayer is that the church will stubbornly refuse to follow that destructive path and the people of the church will stubbornly refuse to allow it.
Thanks for allowing me this platform to hoist my soapbox upon.
On this Christ the king weekend, I celebrate the chance to once again, reclaim the Throne of the Almighty to the One who offers what no other King could ever offer.
Mike-
If a blog cannot accommodate the occasional soapbox, brother, then what good is it?!
Thanks for your thoughts.
At my first duty station in Greece, I served with a couple of people who had been dispatched to clean up the mess of Jim Jones. The tropical heat and the jungle didn’t difficult things to describe to human bodies. The truth is we bet our very lives on the one with follow and what will become of our bodies as well. I always like to incorporate our belief in the resurrection of the body with the celebration of Christ the King Sunday. Great post!