Identify the Second Lie
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This is the hardest of the Four Rules to understand. On a closed planet, the First Lie is that Christianity does not exist. These isolated cultures possess in their libraries and databases only a radically altered version of history, a version that has eliminated all references to Christ. This revisionism is absolute, meaning the inhabitants of closed worlds do not know that their history books have been altered. In other words, they are not told, “Christianity does not exist.” They do not realize their colonies were established primarily to perpetuate this falsehood. They are so secular they do not know they are secular. This is the First Lie.
But non-Christians are incapable of lying just once. Given the opportunity to start a civilization from scratch, they find the temptation to “tinker” with the historical record irresistable. So they “cook the books” in other ways. On Laxalar, the population is told that all vertabrates are extinct. On New Caledonia, people are taught that Earth has been conquered by an alien race, and that they have to remain in hiding while developing new military technologies. These Second Lies, once discovered, can be exploited by missionaries. The missionary exposes the Second Lie to the clueless colonists, thereby convincing them that their founders were liars and losers. Once this revelation of the Second Lie stirs up doubts and critical thinking, the First Lie can be breached.
Remember the Humanist Hope: once mankind embraces naturalism, secular humanism, etc., humans will be able to create a paradise on earth (since religious thinking is the cause of all evil). But to achieve this absolutely secular culture, history must be revised. Utopia through ignorance, that is the idea. The humanists of today must make decisions on behalf of the people of tomorrow. Future people must not know what the people of today know. Alter the past and you alter how people think and live in the present. Lies are therefore the key to creating a perfect world.
How depressing that many well-educated people actually believe this rubbish. Our encouragement is that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Humanists will fail in their attempt to rewrite history. And not only will they fail, but man will always possess an inspired and inerrant record of the major events of our first 4000 years on Earth: the Bible. Unbelievers will never succeed in eliminating or even suppressing the Scriptures. We know this because of God’s promise in Isaiah 55: his Word will not return to him void, but will accomplish what he desires and achieve the purpose for which he sent it. And one of those purposes is that we might forever know with certainty what has happened in the past.
Biblical Allusions in Mytra Titles
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1) Discipling (title) – This word comes from Matthew 28:19, a passage commonly referred to as the Great Commission. Jesus commands believers to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Sometimes the verse is reworded to change “disciple” into a verb: “Go and disciple the nations.” The word “discipling” in the title has a double meaning. Sarah and her team are missionaries seeking to fulfill the Great Commission. Even though their task is pre-evangelism rather than evangelism, it is still very much a part of discipling the nations. So the reader should think of Sarah as someone who is trying to disciple Mytra. However, the title also refers to the training of Mytra’s citizens in a secular worldview. This humanistic indoctrination is so absolute that the victims are not even aware of it. When Alex finally “gets it,” when he realizes how he has been discipled to think, he feels an incredible rush of pleasure and enlightenment. This “eureka moment” is what shifts him away from thoughts of suicide.
2) The Gates of Hell (title of Part 1) – After Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus says, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Two kingdoms are at war: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. “The gates of hell” is a metaphorical way of referring to Satan’s kingdom. Mytra is the gates of hell, meaning enemy territory, a land still belonging to the devil. The more bound in spiritual darkness a culture is, the more that society can be referred to as the gates of hell. Mytra definitely qualifies for the moniker.
3) Talitha Koum (title of Part 2) – Jesus’ use of these Aramaic words is preserved in Mark 5:41: ‘He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”)’ This phrase is an appropriate title for Part 2 because Natalie is brought back to life (in a manner of speaking). Eve also undergoes a slow, painful process of being raised from the dead spiritually. Through the persistent declaration of the gospel, Christ calls to Eve, “Talitha koum!”
4) The Mother of All the Living (title of Part 3) – Immediately after being cursed with death, Adam demonstrates great faith in God by giving his wife an optimistic name: “Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.” (Genesis 3:20) Eve mothers the whole human race in a literal sense, of course, but symbolically she comes to represent the “Seed of the Woman,” meaning believers. Thus she is mother of all the “truly living,” those who have been born again to a new life with Christ. To be a mother of all the living therefore means to give spiritual birth to spiritual children. Thus the title of Part 3 refers to both Sarah or Eve, for both play a critical role in bringing a new Mytra to birth. Yet if you had to pick, which woman would you say is most genuinely Mytra’s spiritual mother? My answer is based on the following…
Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband. (Isaiah 54:1)
General Revelation
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Study Guide: The Discipling of Mytra
Chapter 1
The human population of Mytra knows nothing about Christianity or the Bible. Indeed, the historical revisionism under which Mytrans suffer is so absolute that the people do not even know they are a colony.
Yet the Creed recited by the Order of Wilderness contains several correct statements regarding the nature of man. Specifically, the Creed displays an awareness that there is something unique or special about man, that he possesses something that animals and robots do not.
The Bible teaches that man (and only man) is made in the image of God.
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” Ps 8:3-5
The question, “What is man?” is a rhetorical question. The implied answer is, “Man is the center of creation, the most special of God’s works, the bearer of the imago dei, crowned with glory and honor.” Thus the Bible exalts God by exalting man, who is made in God’s image.
How do the boys of Mytra know something of this, despite the fact that they have no Scripture? The answer is general revelation. According to the Bible, man is able to learn much (though not all) of what the Bible teaches by studying the works of God: both what he has made (especially man), and what he is doing.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Ps 19:1
“…what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Rom 1:19-20
General revelation is to be distinguished from special revelation (the Bible). General revelation is very useful, especially when trying to evangelize people with no knowledge of the Scriptures. Yet general revelation has its limits. It teaches us much about God and about ourselves. It does not, however, teach us about Christ or the gospel. Furthermore, although general revelation teaches us a great deal, there is nothing we need to know that is not also taught in the Bible (special revelation).
Despite the utterly secular nature of Mytra, the inhabitants still know enough from general revelation as to give Sarah a starting point in ministering to Alex. In other words, humanists can eliminate the Bible from a culture, but they cannot eliminate truth. Deny the idea of truth, erase the word “truth” from the vocabulary – still truth is all around us, inescapable, persistent.
May the truths revealed by general revelation serve as a bridge into the minds of many who do not yet know Christ!
Becoming All Things
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Study Guide: The Discipling of Mytra
Prologue
Sarah Chen excells at adapting to the “target culture,” meaning the culture that she and her teammates have been sent to reach with the gospel. Such adaptation is both necessary and biblical. Paul says that he became all things to all men so that by all possible means he might save some.
Occasionally readers are disturbed by Sarah’s actions in the Prologue. “Why is she selling her animals for such high prices? She shouldn’t be taking advantage of those primitive natives.” Such comments reflect a lack of missions experience. Anyone who has spent time on the field, laboring at the difficult task of reaching a strange people-group, would approve of her tactics without hesitation.
In fact, Sarah is simply doing what any good missionary does: adapt to the target culture so successfully that non-missionaries do not understand what she is doing or why. Ironically, the criticism indicates some success at portraying a genuine missionary. Only “real” missionaries get under people’s skin like this. Without even trying to, they make believers back in the sending culture very uncomfortable. As they should.
Sarah is a creative problem-solver, a “go-to” person, someone who knows how to get things done. Such outside-the-box thinkers must be sent to the field if the church is to succeed in discipling the nations. May God grant our missionaries the same creativity as Sarah - and the same fruitfulness!
