“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)
Shadows of a Pagan God
Prayer is a tricky business in certain pagan fables. We will make up a modern version to illustrate. A man prays to his god for money, so that he can pay his mother’s debts. The god complies by killing the mother in a horrific accident, and the man receives more than enough compensation from the insurance company to pay for the medical fees, funeral arrangements, and of course, the debts.
The deity grants the man’s request, but at the same time renders the transaction futile, because in gaining the money to help his mother, he also loses his mother. The man asks for something good, something innocent, and the deity uses the occasion to make a mockery of his life and piety.
Ah, but our man is a theologian, an expert, and so he knows what he is dealing with. He prays that this god would give him money to pay his mother’s debt, but in securing the cash, the god must not hurt his mother, or him, or anyone. Soon he receives money from winning the lottery and pays the debts. Nobody is harmed. Her mother has been working several jobs to pay back the money, but now she stops working and takes to drinking. One night she drives home while intoxicated and crashes to her death.
This is why the pagans are afraid of “the will of god.” You are dealing with a deity that is capricious and self-serving. You never know what he is going to do. It makes no difference even if he has made promises, because it is hard to tell if you are interpreting them correctly, and he is probably going to do whatever he wants anyway. But if you ignore him, he might get angry.
Should I even pray? If I do not, what tragedy will he send my way? If I ask for what I want, how will he twist my request? Will he make my life much worse? Prayer is a dangerous gamble. It would be better if he does not know you exist. And if you really want something, you should go make it happen by yourself.
The pagans drown in a sense of oppressive terror, although the devout ones would prefer to call it reverence. Their relationship to the gods is one of suspicion. There is no way to win. You can only try to appease them, probably with vows and deals, sufferings and sacrifices. You never know when they will bless you beyond measure, and you never know when they will take it all away.
Of course, the pagan gods are false. They either exist only in people’s minds, or they are demons. It makes our point even more significant; that is, the pagan notion of deity is uncomfortably similar to the idea of God that Christians have affirmed and defended, sometimes viciously, through the centuries. If I change the above from “pagan” to “Christian,” and if I adjust the tone to give it a positive spin, it would become orthodox Christian doctrine. As I preach it, murmurs of “Amen” would resound and church members would applaud my insight and humility.
This pagan god haunts Christian theology. He appears everywhere – in our sermons, our prayers, and our conversations. However, this is not the God of the Bible, and not the God of the Gospels that Jesus declared to the people. In fact, Christians often teach the opposite of what Jesus said about God. Now God is the one dumping snakes on his children, perhaps to teach them something, and Satan is the one giving them bread, and all kinds of wonderful treats. Now God is the one making people sick and poor, and Satan is the one healing them and prospering them.
Here is a less boring version of traditional orthodoxy, and a more honest one. We are even supposed to ask for snakes now. If you ask for bread and fish, you are materialistic, and probably believe a prosperity gospel. So we ask for snakes, and even then we might not get them, because God is still going to do whatever he wants. Regardless of what he has promised, and regardless of what a person asks in prayer, God will decide on a case-by-case basis. If he wants to give him a radioactive kangaroo, guess what? The man is getting a radioactive kangaroo. Then, as he melts away from the radiation, he sings, “All things work together for good.”
This is not authentic Christian theology. It is masochistic heathenism. Some tribal religions have the people do strange things to deform their bodies. This is part of their worship and culture. Christians do the same thing, but they do it in their hearts. Their theology is grotesque, and they are as deformed in their spirits as the pagans are in their bodies. They call themselves Christians, but they are pagans at heart, because the pagan deity is the only kind of God they know.
So when God sends someone to preach that they can have bread, they demand a stone! When he sends someone to tell them that they can have fish, they demand a snake! And then they will suffer “for the glory of God.” It is not that they live by faith in God’s promises, and then they endure or overcome the suffering that comes because of persecution. This is the kind of suffering that the Bible endorses. No, they glory in the kind of suffering that has nothing to do with living for the gospel, and even the kind of suffering that the gospel has delivered us from. This is considered holy. It is considered God-centered. It is a very odd religion. It is certainly not the Christian faith.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ liberates us from the bondage of false tradition, from religious teachings invented by men. Their God is a sovereign liar and a slave driver. People already have difficult lives. Instead of teaching them that God will help them, they say that God might make them suffer even more, even when it has nothing to do with persecution for the gospel, and that this is supposed to be good for them. Religious masochists become more and more excited, but sane people become suspicious.
Jesus sets himself against this kind of people and their religion. He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). This is what the gospel is supposed to accomplish, but much of Christian ministry has returned to the school of the Pharisees. Still, Jesus has not changed. His burden is still light. He will still give you rest.
Jesus sets us free to believe good things about God. He tells us that God is our Father. He is a Father who gives us good things when we ask, and the “good things” are the very things that we ask, not things that are supposed to be “better” for us but that are in fact much worse. God takes our prayers seriously. He does not play foolish games with us and make a mockery of our lives. When you pray in faith for money to pay your child’s college tuition, he will not answer by dropping a crane on your parents so that you can collect the inheritance.
The Bible says, “The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it” (Proverbs 10:22). There is no need to second-guess God or to outwit him. When he answers, he does not play tricks. He does not make things worse for you and then throw Romans 8:28 at you to make you shut up.
The text is secure against the tricks that Christians use to explain away teachings that promise us good things in this life. The meaning of “good” gifts must be consistent with the immediate context, which is the Sermon on the Mount. Thus it must include food and clothing, and even “all these things” that the pagans run after (Matthew 6:25-34). It must also be consistent with what Jesus gives people in the Gospels. Jesus is a revelation of God, a perfect representation of the Father. This is so much the case that he says he and the Father are one, that the Father in him performs the works, and that to see him is to see the Father. There is no basis to think that the Father would behave differently than the way Jesus does in the Gospels.
The Gospels present Jesus as a total savior. He saves the whole man, and not only the spiritual aspect of him. He forgives, teaches, heals, and even feeds the people. When someone asks for knowledge, he gives knowledge. When someone asks for healing, he gives healing. The meaning of “good” is what ordinary people would consider good – forgiveness, healing, food and clothes, and such things. We can ask for these good things, and expect to receive these good things.
Jesus gives the same thing that a person asks. When someone asks for healing, Jesus does not give him cancer and then claims that it is better. He gives the man healing. Thus the Father God behaves the same way. Many Christians have the idea that whatever you ask for in prayer, God will give you what he wants anyway, and you are supposed to call it “good” no matter what it is. This does not fit the text when it is read in the context of how Jesus behaved in the Gospels and in the context of the promises given to us in the Bible. The teaching is intended to encourage faith in asking for good things, not to guilt us into calling everything “good” regardless of how catastrophic it really is.
The traditional teaching on prayer presents itself as one that promotes the sovereignty of God and the sanctification of man. In reality, it is a thinly veiled attack on the fatherhood of God. It makes God worse than human parents, who are sinful. It is a religiously pretentious doctrine that is anti-gospel, and it places a heavy burden on God’s people, who cry out to him partly because they need relief from precisely this kind of religious burden in the first place.
There is the doctrine that amounts to portraying God’s promises as meaning the opposite of what they say, that a man will either never receive what he asks, or he will get something much worse than what prompted the request, only that he must call it good anyway. Christians who believe this have a dysfunctional relationship with the Father, to say the least.
Jesus’ doctrine is accessible and straightforward. Let us not dress up his teaching in phony pious language as if to excuse both God and ourselves from it. He says that human parents know how to give good gifts to their children, things like bread and fish. Then he adds, “How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” The giving is connected to the asking. Christians are accustomed to calling everything good with the blanket justification that it promotes character. This text does not allow this, because what God gives us corresponds to what we ask.
If you ask for healing, God is not going to make you more sick to “teach” you something. He teaches you by his word. If he disciplines you with experience, it is only to make you return to his word. And his word promises healing. Someone says, “Oh, but I don’t want to waste my cancer.” This idiot is already wasting everybody’s time with that stupid religious nonsense. If he does not wish to waste his cancer, then why doesn’t he receive miracle healing, so that all who learn about it would be amazed at the goodness of God? If cancer turns him to God, then why doesn’t he believe what God says? Why doesn’t he learn about miracle healing and start teaching it? Why doesn’t he hold healing services to pray for the sick? This would be the most straightforward response given what the Bible teaches. Just which “God” does cancer turn him to? He twists the word of God to justify his approach to the situation. He has wasted his cancer. Don’t waste your life. If God’s word teaches something, then just believe it, and just do it. You do not need cancer to make you do it.
If you ask for protection, God is not going to put you in a car crash because it is somehow “better” for you. Christians who believe something like this want to sound intelligent and theologically astute, but it is utter foolishness. In a case like this, the scenario in which the person did not experience the crash never happened. Therefore, it is speculation to declare that what actually happened was better than what never happened. Just because something “good” happened after the car crash means nothing. To compare, the man would have to live his life out again without the car crash. Perhaps after the car crash, the man became more zealous in evangelism, and led ten people to Christ. But without the car crash, perhaps the man would have become even more zealous for evangelism due to some other reason, and led ten million people to Christ.
Thus we cannot form a conclusion even by looking at what actually happened. It is impossible to compare one scenario that has happened with an infinite number of alternatives that never happened. We must consult the word of God to determine what is better. If God commands holiness, then holiness is better. If God teaches us to have faith for healing, then healing is better. If God promises protection, then protection is better. Don’t say that sin is better just because you have done it. Don’t say that sickness is better just because you are confronted with it. This would not be faith or holiness. It is a spiritual sickness. It is a psychological disorder.
Jesus did not condemn people for wanting healthy bodies and full stomachs. He affirmed their desires: “Father knows that you need them” (Matthew 6:32). However, he rebuked the people for putting these things first, or allowing them to become so big in their minds that they left no room for more important matters. He did not teach denial, but he wanted people to have faith and to prioritize. He did not say, “Seek only the kingdom of God, and forget about food and clothing.” He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.”
A preacher was asked in a television interview whether he believed that certain kinds of non-Christians would be sent to hell. He was accustomed to focus on the positive even when the Bible calls for judgment, and so he answered, “It is up to God.” This is unacceptable, because although God is the one who decides, he has already decided, and he has revealed his judgment in his word. He will indeed send non-Christians to hell. The preacher answered as if God never said anything on the matter. Christians were rightly outraged at this, and considered the man a sellout. They did not compliment him on upholding the sovereignty of God or anything like this. They castigated him as one who compromised the gospel on national television.
However, these Christians do the same thing in almost all other areas of doctrine and life. Will God heal this person? “It is up to God,” they shrug. Will God provide for this person, or give him what he asks? “It is up to God.” God has made promises regarding physical healing, material provision, and many other things, but these Christians behave as if God has never said a thing. They speak as if there is no covenant, as if there are no promises. They pray as if they are spiritual orphans.
They condemn that preacher, but they do the same thing. The difference is that the preacher is known for encouraging people to believe the good things that the Bible promises to those who have faith. Of course, he indeed compromises when he fails to apply what this same Bible says about the judgment on unbelievers. On the other hand, these Christians who condemn him are ready to affirm judgment on unbelievers, but they refuse to believe the good things that this same Bible promises. They are also false teachers, only with different preferences.
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
The parallel passage in the Gospel of Luke applies the teaching to asking for the Holy Spirit. Jesus says, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13).
It is conceivable that Jesus used the same imageries numerous times in his itinerant ministry, and made various applications. Differences with the passage in Matthew suggest that Jesus could have said the above on another occasion. For example, the egg and scorpion contrast used here is absent in Matthew. In our own theological reflection, it is appropriate to employ the same line of reasoning to anything that the Bible tells us we could ask from the Father. If your child asks for knowledge, will you give him deception? If your child asks for healing, will you give him sickness? How could you think less of your Father in heaven?
Jesus applies this to asking for the Holy Spirit. Asking for the Holy Spirit is asking for the Holy Spirit. He is not talking about asking for conversion or holiness. Christians who reject essential aspects of the gospel might force the text to mean these things. However, if I claim to become a believer without mentioning Christ but only by asking for the Holy Spirit, the same people would likely correct me (Romans 10:9). And if I were to evangelize by telling people to ask for the Holy Spirit instead of confessing Christ, they might say that it is not Christian evangelism at all. Jesus is talking about asking for the Holy Spirit, not something else.
Luke consistently associates the Holy Spirit with spiritual power – power for preaching, for healing the sick, for casting out demons, for prophetic utterances, for speaking in tongues, for visions and dreams, and for all kinds of miracles, signs and wonders (see Luke 4:18, 24:49, Acts 1:8, 2:4, 17-18, 10:38, among many others). The Holy Spirit is a person. He is God. When he comes, there is an infusion of power and manifestation of miracles.
Asking for the Holy Spirit is not the same as asking for inspired preaching. It is not the same as asking for theological acumen. It is not the same as asking for superhuman boldness. It is not the same as asking for healing. It is not the same as asking for prophecy, or tongues, or visions and dreams. It is not the same as asking for miracles, or signs and wonders. Asking for the Holy Spirit is asking for all these things – it is to take everything in one gulp. This is what asking for the Holy Spirit means in the Bible, and especially in the writings of Luke.
Christians who reject these aspects of the gospel warn about spiritual deception. Beware of false signs and wonders! There is a Chinese idiom: “Cut off the toes to avoid the sandworms.” This is more like cutting off the head to cure the hiccups. It is the loser’s solution. It is incredibly stupid. The Bible’s solution against false miracles is not only to expose them with truth, but also to defeat them with overwhelming force.
Moses delivered the word of God to the people of Egypt, but he also defeated the nation’s chief magicians in direct miraculous confrontation. Elijah preached the word of God to Israel, but he also called down fire from heaven and shamed the false prophets. Paul declared the gospel of Christ to the proconsul, but he also spoke judgment against the sorcerer and struck him with blindness. What? Is this not in your seminary’s apologetics curriculum? In the Bible, this is basic discipleship.
I learned to stop witches by sheer spiritual force in the name of Jesus long before I learned that I could torture them first with infuriating arguments. They cannot function in my presence. If there are spiritual deceptions, and if there are false signs and wonders, why don’t the heresy hunters stop the evil powers in the name of Jesus? A fortuneteller had an evil spirit and followed Paul around for a while. He said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” (Acts 16:18), and that was the end of it. Why don’t the cult watchers do that? It is because they are like the sons of Sceva – all talk, no power (Acts 19:13-16). Their ministry is an echo of faith. They know nothing about spiritual operations.
The Fatherhood of God is the ultimate spiritual protection. If your son asks for a fish, will you give him a stone? If he asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? Why would you think any less of your Father in heaven? Jesus teaches us three things. First, it is good to ask for the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, and especially in Luke, this represents the whole spectrum of spiritual powers. You get everything. God wants you to ask. It happens when you ask. Second, the Father wants to give you the Holy Spirit. He is “much more” willing to give you the Spirit than you are willing to give your child good things. Third, when you ask for the Holy Spirit, you are getting the Holy Spirit. If you ask for the Holy Spirit, you are not getting an evil spirit, or something else. You can be certain of this, because God is a good Father.
The way to protect yourself from spiritual deception and from false miracles is to aggressively pursue the Holy Spirit, along with the spiritual powers that he brings, and all his operations and manifestations. Of course, the word of God protects us from deception, and in this case, the word of God tells us to ask for the Holy Spirit. How will the truth protect us, if we refuse to do what it says? Cessationists and other skeptics think that they avoid false doctrines and miracles, but because they refuse to accept what God tells them to do about such things, they are the most vulnerable. In fact, they have long been pawns of hell, stationed at the forefront of Lucifer’s army to spread their own brand of deception.
Orthodoxy on a Trojan Horse
The theologians come to us with impressive credentials that they conferred upon themselves. They attempt to sneak pass our defenses with deep pious language. They cite their orthodox pedigree, even centuries of theological and ecclesiastical development. But within this highly refined system of religion, there is a deadly venom taken straight from the serpent of Eden. It was that deceiver who first hissed, “Did God really say?”
Their theology smuggles in assumptions that undermine confidence in God, and interpretations that destroy intimacy with the Father. It mangles people’s faith until it becomes something grotesque, deformed, and repugnant. It makes people afraid of “the will of God,” because they never know what awful thing he will do to them next, and they are required to call it “good” no matter what it is.
If they ask for good things, things that even human children could expect from their parents, then they are either terrible people, or they will receive something terrible. And again, they are required to call whatever it is better than what they asked for in the first place. If they ask for healing, it is likely that they will not get it, or they are more likely to become worse than to receive miracle healing.
This kind of theology is pervasive in the Christian world, but Jesus said that if we think like this, then we think that God is less of a father than sinful human parents. People can call this kind of theology whatever they want. Associate it with the most respected theological heritage, and it is still paganism.
Sometimes people complain about misrepresentation. “Straw man!” they cry. Listen, if I want to sneak a straw man pass them, they might not even detect it. If I use a straw man, I would be fantastic at it. The truth is that I understand their own doctrines better than they do, and I draw attention to the necessary implications that they are too embarrassed to see uncovered.
They are angry with me because I show that the things they cherish are ridiculous and heretical. They complain about a straw man because I am exactly correct about them, and they cannot accept how atrocious they have been all along, and how easily they are exposed and refuted. It is a defense mechanism. It is a last-ditch effort to convince themselves, even if they can no longer deceive others.
One Calvinist said that I misrepresented compatibilism when I refuted it, until I pointed out that I referred to his own seminary professor to define the doctrine. It was unfathomable to him that the whole thing could be destroyed in several paragraphs. The truth is that I can almost always refute something that I consider false in several words or phrases, but my explanations are often padded – I make them longer – to reduce the shock and to show a little effort.
Still, I am accused of misrepresenting my opponents. It is their way to sidestep spot-on criticisms, and to indefinitely delay correction. If I answer that they have misrepresented me in complaining that I have misrepresented them, then I will never have to correct myself even if I have misrepresented them. But then I would not be a servant of Christ. I would just be playing religious games like them.
Sometimes people see that I am correct, and the matter is so simple and obvious that they cannot believe their theology teaches something different, and so they conclude that they must have been misrepresented, although the doctrine that they claim to embrace is exactly as I describe. In effect, they want to adjust their testimony but retain the designation, or the name of their position. Imagine a cessationist who could see that I am correct, and who is compelled to agree with me on at least a few essential issues, but he wishes to keep calling himself a cessationist. So he insists that I must have misrepresented cessationism. It is absurd, but I have come across this several times. This is what a religious spirit does to people. They care more about their religion as their personal culture and philosophy than as their worship and knowledge of God.
I have provided a correct account of what Jesus said, and an accurate assessment of those who believe something different. On the other hand, what they teach about God is the worst misrepresentation of all. What a cruel joke Christians play on themselves. But they like it more than the gospel that Jesus preached. People hate God so much in part because “Christians” like these have made things this way. And then they try to fix it with apologetics and politics. Get your gospel right first! Then see who still hates him. Now do your apologetics. And why do you talk so much about politics, when you have not been healing the sick and casting out demons? Do you want a different Jesus? You are still expecting a political Messiah (Matthew 11:2-6).
My interest is not for you to believe something bad about people, but to believe something good about God. Forget about people. Look at Jesus, and see the Father. Of course we must not crave our own welfare more than the glory of God and the progress of the gospel. However, this is not the issue at all, and to bring it up in this context suggests that one has missed the point. The problem is that false doctrine pressures people to honor suffering itself as spiritual, and to identify pain with piety, even when it has nothing to do with persecution from believing and preaching the gospel.
Jesus Christ sets us free from this heavy burden. He teaches us that, if we believe in him, then we can know God as our Father. He teaches us that it is a holy exercise to come to God in faith and talk to him about what you want. Do not be afraid that he will punish you for asking, or that he will give you something terrible and then force you to call it good. He is your Father. He is the deliverer, healer, supplier, your all in all. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Have faith in God.