“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
(1 John 5:19)

There are moments in movie lore that you know will live on in infamy. Certain characters and single lines of script can go a long way in helping all of us solve the deep mysteries of the world. One such character is Jack Black in his role as the unassuming substitute teacher in School of Rock. Living in a fog of disillusionment and carrying the pain of unfulfilled dreams, he shares his pessimistic worldview with a class of privileged young students from a wealthy prep school. 

There has rarely ever been such insight and brilliance shared on the silver screen. Here is what he said…

“The Man. Oh, you don’t know the Man. He’s everywhere. In the White House, down the hall… Ms. Mullins, she’s the Man. And the Man ruined the ozone, and he’s burning down the Amazon, and he kidnapped Shamu and put her in a chlorine tank! Okay? And there used to be a way to stick it to the Man, it was called rock ‘n roll. But guess what? Oh no. The Man ruined that, too, with a little thing called MTV! So don’t waste your time trying to make anything cool, or pure, or awesome, ’cause the Man is just gonna call you a fat washed up loser and crush your soul. So do yourselves a favor and just GIVE UP!”

And then he reaches deep into our collective human angst to really grab the students’ heart…

“If you wanna rock, you gotta break the rules. You gotta get mad at the man! And right now, I’m the man. That’s right, I’m the man, and who’s got the guts to tell me off? Huh? Who’s gonna tell me off?”

GET MAD AT THE MAN

Do you want justice? Do you want to start a revolution? Do you want to gather thousands to rally behind you so we can change this world and bring real peace and fairness for all? The best way to do this is to cause people to “get mad at the man!” Bernie Sanders has mastered this. So has Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and every musician that was somebody at Woodstock realized that if they wanted to move humanity forward they must, “get people to get mad at the man … convince them that you have the answer to topple the man … and the world will love you for it!” 

So this begs the question, “Who exactly is the man?”

Understanding “The Man” is rather simple, and getting people to hate him is even easier. To begin, “the man” is no one in particular, he is an idea. Just convince the ignorant that somewhere there lurks a group of overlords who want to control this game called life. Through their evil brilliance, they have figured out how to rig the system in their favor. Through lies, empty promises, and underhanded deals, they have stolen the world’s large pile of “limited resources” and kept it all for themselves. Over the history of mankind they have hoarded all the wealth, money, capital, real estate, farmland and gold; and figured out how to keep it in their grubby, greedy hands.  They have written the laws, designed governments, invented banking systems and even manipulated religion to keep this vast pile solely under their control.

Above all, they fear losing their power – – so they are forever working to maintain the status quo. They do this by rewarding like-minded “good ol’ boys” and hire obedient thugs to keep the majority of people in submission. Like obedient but ignorant guard dogs. the police have been trained through bribes and systemic corruption to not to ask questions, just enforce what “the man” wants.

And the poor rabble on the bottom, the marginalized, the innocent peasantry, are the ones being used to keep “the man” fat and happy. This sad exploited group are not allowed to touch “the man’s” pile of treasure. They are forced out. So they are waiting for a hero, a person to lead them forward to topple “the man”. All a revolutionary leader needs to do is to convince this group to band together, join forces, because it is in “the collective, the community” that the dynamic power of solidarity can be unleashed. It is together that this once powerless group can become “the man” in collective form. All it takes is the stirring up of their hate and anger, and they can move mountains.

THE MAN BEHIND THE MAN

But in order to vanquish “the man” the collective needs to get rid of the power, or should I say, the myth behind “the man.” Here is another diagram…

This entity is jokingly referred to by “the man” as the “man upstairs.” He is nothing more than a projection of themselves. What a brilliant lie he is.

Not only is he said to be all-knowing, all-powerful and wise, but he also is a white European male. And as ruler over all he has chosen a special group of men to carry out his will on earth. He refers to them as the chosen, as special, a better race of men.

To keep people in line, the “man upstairs” has left a book to tell people how to behave. Clearly, it is nothing more than a product of “the man” to keep all of us in the collective scared, enslaved and silent. And just to make sure people fall in line, there is a well-paid clerical class that insists on having special insight from the “man upstairs” that they alone possess. When examined closely, this same clergy is sharing in the hoarded wealth as well; they too have membership in the ranks of “the man.”

This is why the revolutionary class, the voice of the collective, tells us that religion should not be trusted – – this is why we must see faith as nothing more than a fairy tale, a superstitious construct to support the system developed by “the man.”

This is what Jack Black means by “the man”, and for that matter, this perspective is really believed by many in our world. This is where our current culture’s inherent cynicism toward others is born. This is what gives birth to progressive politics, to celebrity arrogance, and increasing numbers in the armies of the agnostic and unbelieving. But this is not really what is driving “the wrongness in the world.” This narrative of “the man” is shielding us from what is really going on.

THE REAL TRUTH OF POWER

Ephesians 6:12 tells us something very startling, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” We need to stop being fooled and stop pointing fingers at others because our collective jealousy, hatred and covetousness is killing us. “The Man” is a myth, because if truth be told, “we are the real problem.” Let me show you exactly what I mean…

If you want to know what power is pulling the strings behind reality, go to the very first book in the Bible and you will see Satan has been against God and his creation from the get-go. Satan is real, his name means adversary and he hates you primarily because God loves you! This is where hatred originates. Above all he wants to hurt God by hurting you. And he is the one who wants you to believe that “the man” is behind it all.

In 2 Corinthians 4:4 it tells us very clearly that he blinds all of us. We are the pawns in his sick game. Not only are we polluted by sin, but in our brokenness, we want to believe Satan’s lies. As a result, we all are in the business of dominating others, we want to win, we want to hoard money, riches and gold, we have become “the man.” One of the most obvious ways to tell we are part of “the man” is by blaming “the man” so we can get things from “the man.”  We, as individuals, are the real selfish ones.

And the one person who is getting trampled on in this crazy world is God himself. Not only was he murdered on a cross 2,000 years ago, but he is daily ridiculed, ignored, mocked and made fun of. He is not power hungry, he only wants us to love him. How could a person be power hungry when he already owns everything? How could a person be power hungry when he is inviting people to share in his wealth and glory through faith? 

THE REAL MAN

Jesus came to die for you. He did this to prove he hasn’t come to dominate, but to serve and save. It was in his death he set all of us free – – now offering all of us a chance to no longer be a part of “the man.” We can be set free from our sin, we can leave behind our selfish ways, we can be forgiven. 

All you need to do is believe. In fact, as Johnny Cash’s song puts it, he is the real man:

“And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder
One of the four beasts saying,
‘Come and see.’ and I saw, and behold a white horse”
There’s a man goin’ ’round takin’ names
And he decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won’t be treated all the same
There’ll be a golden ladder reachin’ down
When the man comes around
The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup
Will you partake of that last offered cup
Or disappear into the potter’s ground?
When the man comes around

(“When the Man Comes Around)