I’m not a big fan of flies. Flies are gross. To be fair, anything with an exoskeleton is not welcome near me or in my house. I’m aware that there is a world of microscopic creatures with exoskeletons that is not only unavoidable but needed for healthy living. I’m not talking about that right now. I’m talking about flies.
Flies are evidence that something has gone wrong in a human habitation. One or two is an annoyance. Just one can ruin a video recording when it dive-bombs my face during a conversation. This doesn’t necessarily indicate any moral failure. It’s just a frustration of trying to remain clean in a dirty world. If one has children, it is a losing battle to get them to close the front door of the house quickly enough to keep from letting all the cool air out and many of the flies in from the outside. We have had many days this summer in which I peruse the house for 10 minutes at a time with a swatter, doing some population control. I consider this a very worthy use of my time.
A story from our blessed scriptures:
Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
-Matthew 12:22-27
Over the years, people have argued about what the name for the ‘prince of demons,’ “Beelzebub” or '“Beelzebul,” might mean. Many believe (and I’m one of them), that it means “lord of the flies.” Flies indicate spoilage. They gather on a carcass to lay eggs. Maggots are to be found in rot. Wherever there is a stench, something foul in the air, death and decay: there are flies. A demon who is their lord must be associated with these gross things.
I remember coming home one day when living in an apartment in North Little Rock. I didn’t produce much waste, so the trash would sometimes stay in my kitchen for two or three weeks before I finally needed to take it out. Somehow, a fly had time to lay many eggs that came to full development while I was out. There must have been a thousand flies in my apartment. I spent over an hour smashing them on the walls and windows. This actually happened to me twice. It is important to take out your trash, folks.
Another story: I served a church that had an older couple who came to worship every single Sunday, without fail. They were sometimes grumpy, sometimes confused, but always present. One day in the middle of winter we learned that their ramp into the house was damaged and in need of repair. Several of us from the church went over to their house to do the repair. We found them living in a state of squalor. There was a stench throughout the house, with much clutter. I remember they had somehow kept flies alive in the house despite it being the middle of winter. A few flew overhead as we visited with the aged matriarch. One had to zigzag through the house to avoid the piles of waste and clutter. It was no way to live.
We fixed the ramp, but we also found a way to get ahold of their grown children. They did not stay living in such conditions for much longer. This was undoubtedly why they had been reluctant to ask the church for any sort of help, or have anyone over to their house, before that point. I remember the patriarch being angry at our intervention. Yet our consciences were clear that we could not let beloved friends in Christ live under the lordship of spoilage and clutter.
A final story: A TV news crew came out from Tulsa to report on the arrest of two parents in their twenties who had been living in section 8 housing here in Nowata. They had two or three little boys living with them. One day, they decided it was a good idea to do drugs together. The wife loses her mind and starts attacking the husband, who then flees the apartment. The police are called, who then enter the apartment and find it in a state of utter depravity. Spoiled food is to be found around the house, along with mice and their feces. On the floor, passed out, are the little boys, whom they struggled to revive.
I’ve gotta tell you, that last story always makes me angry. Sick to my stomach. Sick to my soul. How many people like this are living in my town, in my county, in my sphere of influence?
People act as though mess is cute. “God bless this mess” hangs in so many homes around our culture. Rather than manage and purge their stuff, Americans pay for storage units so that they can keep all their stuff, valuable or not. While some still make sure to maintain their houses and properties, one cannot help but notice how many houses slowly become dilapidated while people living them are too busy watching tv or playing video games to maintain them. In fact, many have grown hostile to an old-fashioned culture that once insisted that “cleanliness is next to godliness.” This is now made a problem as current cultural voices associate this sort of thing with ‘whiteness’ and ‘Western values.’ It is problematic to keep one’s room clean, one’s household ordered, one’s life curated. Rather, there is a large push to make the dysfunctional normative, to make mess more acceptable, to significantly lower, if not demolish, any such standards that can be seen as classist or white.
In my instruction with the children of the churches I serve, we read through the days of Creation at the very beginning. One cannot help but notice that ours is a God of order. When things begin, everything is formless and chaotic. Step-by-step, he divides, orders, organizes. As he does so, each space he orders becomes a fount of life and wellbeing. When we acknowledge that humans are supposed to be like God, why do we imagine that this quality of God does not apply to us?
Many lack the discernment to see the difference between the life that comes from creating order and stability and the carrion, rats, flies that emerge in the wreckage of such order being destroyed. Not all life is healthy or flourishing. Not all life is redeemed and made right with God.
I believe the Christian witness, opposed to the rule of demonic powers, is innately defined by a moral impetus towards order, structure, and stability. It is only under these circumstances that the forces of darkness can be adequately repulsed in order for the light to reign. The lord of the flies would love to have us believe that we can manage the flies alongside the Holy Spirit. No. Light casts out darkness. Holiness casts out sin. Love casts out indifference.
In the context of the Matthew 12 scripture I shared above, Jesus warns against those who cannot see the difference between good and evil. He actually warns that those who accuse him of being in league with the powers of evil are actually flirting with the unforgivable sin when they blaspheme the Spirit animating Christ (v. 31-32). So this is not some tertiary issue in the Christian faith. This is actually quite important. If Christ casts out the spirit of Beelzebub, then what does that say about us and our lives?
Christians need to claim and reclaim the importance of order and stability. Otherwise we will find ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, under the rule of the lord of the flies. This is a serious threat. We would be wise to be warned.
Your story about the elderly couple that came to church regularly and faithfully reminds me of a time when I was a part of the church "visitation team". We regularly visited the homebound and those in elder care or in the hospital. One lady I refused to visit had a house full of cats that did not receive proper care. Her house smelled. My sinuses cannot tolerate mold, mildew, cigarette smoke and other pollution. I could not go with the others to visit her. The two who did visit relayed to me they stayed only a few minutes because they also couldn't tolerate the stink any longer. How sad and probably lonely when some people live in filth.