Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
INNER CIRCLE: Killing Your Inner Man

INNER CIRCLE: Killing Your Inner Man

Last updated on: February 23, 2024 at 7:11 pm by Keith Giles

0 Comments

INNER CIRCLE: Killing Your Inner Man 2024-02-23T19:11:14+00:00 Keith Giles

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

IMAGE: Keith Giles[MidJourney]

Saying 98

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who wanted to kill a powerful man. He drew the sword in his house and drove it into the wall, that he might know his hand would be strong (enough). Then he slew the powerful man.”

At first, this saying may shock us with the sudden shift to violent imagery, but we need to step back and realize that Jesus is always seeking to surprise us with unexpected ideas that stimulate us to reconsider our assumptions.

The violence here in this saying invites us to look beyond the literal and to imagine the metaphorical applications of the concepts. The Kingdom is like a man who wanted to kill someone more powerful than himself.

That sounds like an analogy of the True Self and the Ego, doesn’t it? The Ego feels more powerful as it usually has control and subverts our True Self at every turn.

So, if our True Self wanted to kill the Ego, how would it do that? Wouldn’t it make sense to practice the murder of the Ego “in his house”?

The house metaphor shows up often in The Gospel of Thomas as an allusion to a framework or system of thought. In some cases, the “house” is the world system that perpetuates the illusion of separation.

In other cases, the “house” is a metaphor for our own inner being which must be rebuilt from the inside out. In this case, the “house” is the internal sense of self-identity.

So, the sword must be driven “into the wall” of the house because this is where the illusion of separation has taken hold. To kill the “powerful man” or Ego, we must first have the strength to drive the sword into the very foundation of our own identity where these divisions take hold. The house itself must be the place where we drive the deadly sword before we attempt to slay the Ego persona.

This saying pairs well with the Lion and the Man of Saying 7 where the Lion must be consumed by the Man so that the Ego becomes subordinate to the True Self.

Here, the sword is driven first into the house itself to test our willingness and resolve to accomplish the great assassination of our Ego.

Are we willing for the entire house to be demolished if that’s what it takes to slay the powerful Egoic self?

If not, we are not truly prepared to finish the task at hand.

If so, then we know we have what it takes to plunge the sword into the heart of the Ego which thrives on the illusion of separation.

Would you like to learn more about The Gospel of Thomas? My online course, INSIDE/OUTSIDE takes a deeper dive into this text and it’s totally self-paced so you can start whenever you like and revisit the lessons anytime you want. The entire course is just $19.99 so what are you waiting for? Learn more and register here today>

Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.” He hosts the Second Cup with Keith podcast, and co-hosts the Apostates Anonymous podcast, and the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast.

His latest book, Second Cup with Keith is available now on Amazon HERE>

Previous Post

February 16, 2024

INNER CIRCLE: The Kingdom Is A Leaky Jar

Next Post

February 26, 2024 Unknowing: The New Religion of Unlearning

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"The Anointed One within me today clears up all mysteries as I mature as a ..."

Herm

INNER CIRCLE: The Mystery Revealed

"But Paul rejected the Jewish Christians (under James) who were the originals. In Acts, Luke ..."

Daniel Johnson

INNER CIRCLE: Those Who Divide

"The "Word" in the beginning was not Christ (anointed), Jesus(Yehoshua, meaning Joshua), or the one ..."

Herm

INNER CIRCLE: Our Equality With God

"This might be a profound mystery from the perspective of the Apostle Paul, also known ..."

Herm

INNER CIRCLE: Profound Mystery (Of Christ ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Biblicism Christian Politics Cosmic Christ Deconstruction Discipleship Dispensationalism Divine Unity Ekklesia End Time Stuff Eschatology Evergreen Following Jesus Gender General Christian Topics Gnostics God's Love Gospel of Judas Gospel of Mary Gospel of Philip Gospel of the Kingdom Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Truth Hell Historical Jesus Inner Circle Investigative Reporting Islam LGBTQ Issues Marriage Mental/Emotional Health Mystery Non-Duality Philosophy Podcast Poetry Politics Poverty Preemptive Love Prophecy Psychology Quantum Theology Racism Reconstruction Satire Sex Technology Theology Uncategorized Universalism

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

John Peter Paul Jesus

Books by This Author Books by Keith Giles

See All Titles »