Last week I wrote an entry on the Logic of Love, as introduced by Brian McLaren in chapter three of "We Make the Road By Walking." He also writes about the Logic of Rivalry as an alternative to love. These two logics are represented by the two trees in Genesis 2: The Tree of Life and The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now, as McLaren leads us into Genesis chapter three, we see Adam and Eve make their choice between these two logics.
Whether you're a Christian or not, chances are you know how the story goes. The serpent in the garden is having a chat with Eve about what God said they can and can't eat. Eve tells him that they're not supposed to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The serpent tells her that the only the only reason God said that is because he knows that if Adam and Eve eat of that tree, then they will become "like God." In other words, they can become equal to God or rivals with God. Eve is convinced, and she eats the fruit, then she takes it to Adam and he does as well. The choice is made, and they now live in the logic of rivalry and judgement.
Later God shows up walking in the garden looking for them. However, now Adam and Eve no longer see God as a friend. According to McLaren, they now see God as a rival and they hide from him out of fear and shame. God confronts them about it, and they immediately try to disperse blame and avoid responsibility (as often happens when something goes bad for competitive people.) Adam blames Eve, and Eve in turn blames the serpent. God isn't impressed, and expels them from the Garden of Eden, out into the world to make their way with the logic they have chosen.
McLaren points out that you don't need to (and probably shouldn't) read the story literally to see the issues that affect us as humans even today. Everyday, all over the world, people have to choose how to live their lives. They have to choose between the logic of love and the logic of rivalry. Far too often people choose the logic of rivalry, just as Adam and Eve did in the story. This results in all kinds of negative behaviors. People become selfish, always seeking to look out for themselves as opposed to others. People view others as somehow less than themselves, especially if they're a member of a different gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation. This can devolve into anger, rejection, and even violence. The logic of rivalry is the heart of "us vs them" thinking.
But what if we had an example of how to live better? What if we had an example that showed us how to take the course that Adam and Eve didn't? Well in Philippians 2, Paul very deliberately sets Jesus up as that example. If you read my first entry from my study of Philippians with NT Wright, you read that I really love this letter, but strangely enough, I had never picked up on this role reversal with Adam and Jesus before.
Adam and Eve acted out of selfish desire. Paul says that's the exact opposite of Jesus and what he desires for us. Adam and Eve, and later Cain and Abel, saw themselves as rivals. For Adam and Eve this resulted in blame shifting and scapegoating. For Cain and Abel, it resulted in violence and murder. In turn, Paul urges us, through Jesus, not to be rivals with each other, not place ourselves above others, but to put others above us in a life of love and service. Adam and Eve and wanted to be "like God," yet Jesus, one in being with God, didn't see being equal with God as something to be grasped. Adam and Eve acted and chose the logic of rivalry. Jesus acted and chose the logic of love, serving others and eventually giving himself up to death.
So what do we take away from this? Looking at the story in Genesis 3 this way makes it about more than the theology of original sin and atonement. It provides two concrete examples of how we can live our lives. We can choose the rivalry of Adam, or we can reverse the roles and choose the love and servanthood of Jesus. We each have to make this choice everyday of our lives. Hopefully we can free ourselves from the rivalry of Genesis three and exist in the selfless love of Jesus and Philippians two.
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