Jesus Turns Tragedy Into Triumph – Steve Orr

In our Christianity Without the Religion blog, we often say: “PTM proclaims authentic Christ-centered Christianity without the religion, giving hope to those burned out by legalistic religion. We are centered in faith alone, grace alone, and Christ alone. Our focus is all Jesus, all the time.”

Religion rears its ugly head in people’s lives and in far too many churches. It is subtle, under the covers, and inconspicuous. Yet it is a constant presence in our world. Religion usually seems innocuous, even tame. But snakes are sneaky. They don’t come directly at you. Instead, slowly, quietly, and methodically, they approach from behind.

Most often, snakes are a mere annoyance. But, after moving to Montana, I soon found out about a very destructive non-Christian cult, The Church Universal and Triumphant, locally known as CUT, headed by Elizabeth Clare Prophet. It was located in Paradise Valley just over the hill from where we live. CUT was a New Age cult that was big on reincarnation. Some in the leadership claimed to have reached the divine celestial being status of Ascended Masters. CUT leadership was very centralized and hierarchical. They used extreme asceticism and sleep deprivation to control their members.

Through our church network, I became acquainted with a gentleman who was the lead nutritionist for the state of Montana. He encouraged me to meet with a patient of his, also named Steve, who was in recovery from the abuse and damage he suffered with CUT.

Due to medical privacy requirements, my nutritionist friend could not share the specific psychological damages that Steve suffered, but he said I would know Steve’s problem as soon as I saw him. Steve was an emaciated bag of bones, a seriously anorexic man. I arranged to meet him at the same restaurant where my Friday morning men’s group met every week. I bought him lunch. He chose the most calorie-restricted item on the menu and barely touched it.

During this first meeting, I invited Steve to meet with my men’s group the following Friday. He was hesitant, but the nutritionist strongly encouraged him to join the group, and he joined us the following Friday.

In this men’s group, we would often read through a book together and discuss it in our weekly meetings. Whether by coincidence or divine appointment, the next new book was “Journey of Desire” by John Eldredge, who also wrote “Wild at Heart,” which encourages men to be wild-at-heart Christian men. This is quite natural for my fellow Montanan buddies, but it was counter to the extreme asceticism Steve had practiced in the cult. Steve needed a recovery of the heart with a “Journey of Desire.” I bought two copies of the book, one for myself and one for Steve. It was the perfect book for him.

Steve showed up for the breakfast meeting and picked at his food. I was impressed at how the wild at heart bunch were gentle and patient with him. He ate a little more the following week, and the week after, he had a manly breakfast with meat and potatoes with eggs on the side. Steve was reading the book, listening, and learning from the gang. To avoid confusion between the two Steves, with his last name starting with a W, the gang called him Dubya. He enjoyed this healthy camaraderie. Dubya was on his own journey of restoration by rekindling his desire for the gifts God freely gives us all.

For several weeks, Dubya continued making wonderful progress. However, as we were nearing the last few chapters of the book, Dubya announced that he would be leaving for California to visit his daughter for a month or so. I was immediately struck with a deep foreboding, “No! Don’t go. Spend a few more weeks with us to finish the journey.” Some of the remaining chapters yet to be covered were: “The Great Restoration,” “The Adventure Begins,” “Entering More Deeply into Desire,” “Letting Go,” “Keeping Heart—To the End.” Dubya’s intentions were good. He wanted to share the new life he found after leaving the cult with his daughter. I could not argue against that.

Still, Dubya left too soon, and when he came back, he was hard to find. As a ranch hand drifter of sorts, getting hold of him was very difficult. He often slept in shacks and barns, completely disconnected from phones and email. To connect with him, I had to call his daughter, leave a message, and wait for a return call. Weeks went by. Dubya was a strange cowboy who didn’t eat meat; now he was the real deal, who ate meat and potatoes.

A month later, the nutritionist called to tell me Steve was back in town. Once again, I went through the rigmarole of making contact through his daughter’s phone. Steve was on a ranch somewhere in the valley, a few miles north of my house. All my attempts to make contact proved futile.

A few months transpired. Then, I got “the phone call,” which haunts me to this day. My nutritionist friend informed me that Steve walked to the most northern fence on the ranch, sat against a fence pole for a while, then put a six-gun to his head and ended it all. I am misty-eyed even now as I write.

I felt like a complete failure! Thankfully, my nutritionist friend rescued me from despair, saying, “No! Steve! You did far more and were much more helpful than all those psycho-babble professionals. Steve! It was not you who failed, it was ‘The System!'” He went on to express his anger at the psychiatrist who prescribed the wrong medicine with side effects of suicidal thoughts.

The lesson is clear. The System is Christless religion which is to blame for the apparent yet temporary destruction of many good folks. Especially religions that make false claims to be Christian, or religions that falsely claim to be spiritually compatible with authentic Christian teaching.

Of all the evil religious teachings, the one that claims Dubya was a lost soul predestined to eternal conscious torment in hellfire is most evil.

Religion teaches us to shrink and silence our inner whispers. It tells us to let us replace wonder with worry and maximize duty over desire. The religious spirit binds you with fear.

We are the boots on the ground caught in the spiritual war between good and evil.

A false god entered paradise

His name was Religion who says:

“Ignore your inner whispers”

“Stop wondering about what could be”

“Worry about what you must do”

“Kill your desire and do your duty”

Religion binds you with fear

Resist Religion, and he will flee from you

Let the true Spirit of God lead you to a fierce freedom stoked by the fiery light of a divine love that overwhelms the shadows of religion.

The King of Kings threw the false god of religion into the lake of fire. Let him burn.

Here is the truth that matters.

Jesus found Dubya, and Dubya found Jesus. Dubya was a victor, not a victim.

Yes, Dubya was restored to the life that is truly life. “He who the Son sets free is free indeed!”

Christ, our Revelator, says he will give us a white stone with our new name written on it. A name that represents our profound spiritual transformation, that we are new creations in Christ with an eternal destiny to enjoy an intimate relationship with our Triune God.

Pardon me in giving God a suggestion, but if it were up to me, Steve W.’s name would be “Dubya, the meat eater cowboy who fully consumed the Word of God.”

Some may think my pronouncing Dubya a victor is a linguistic sleight of hand. No! In pronouncing truths like this, we become co-creators with the one who says, “Behold, I make all things new.”

We are a new creation in Christ.

I look forward to that special day when I see Dubya again, when the former emaciated anorexic man joins all creation in celebrating at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb!

Jesus turns tragedy into triumph. In him, our victory is complete!

This is why I firmly believe in Christianity Without Religion and love writing about Matters of the Heart.

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Steve Orr writes to us from Montana. After working in the mecca of technology, Steve traded the rat race of Silicon Valley for the adventures of High Tech in Big Sky Country. Steve has an MBA with experience in accounting, finance, technology, and management. He occasionally writes a little software code, but mostly he likes writing about Matters of the Heart.

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