No, this is not a normal post for my blog. Nor is it a sign that I've changed topics. I'm at a conference and I feel that what was presented is such an important topic that I should take some time to share some of it.
Prof. Tony Cook from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis presented yesterday. He focused on the huge switch that is taking place in how spirituality is lived out among Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers, and even Gen-Y. So for starters, Cook defines spirituality as the awareness of and perceived relationship to a higher power or transcendent being. This is important, because a person can be spiritual without being formally connected to a religion or denomination, and that is becoming more and more common. Note, that being spiritual is not the same as being Christian either, although that is what interests us the most; especially how the hope we have in Jesus is passed on from one generation to the next.
Cook sited a recent news article from CNN that indicates that many teens today are becoming "Fake Christians." Those are CNN's words. This article was forwarded to me a while ago by some of the members at our church. (You can find it here: http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-27/living/almost.christian_1_teens-share-moralistic-therapeutic-deism-dean-talks?_s=PM:LIVING) In it we are told that the message of the gospel - that we are sinners in need of redemption, who have been redeemed by the love of God as Jesus shed his blood for us - has been replaced in our youth groups by a message of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.
Huh? What's that?
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism believes that there is a god who created and watches over us. Kind of like Bette Middler's From a Distance, this god is not necessarily intimately involved in our lives. He (or she) does not need to be involved in our lives until there is a problem we need him to solve. After all he created this huge universe, so he is busy! It doesn't mean he doesn't care, but don't bother him with trivia, after all he has already give you a whit and a will to overcome these thing. That's Deism. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good, and that is mostly by following the Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This belief teaches us that God is like a cosmic Stewart Smalley telling us that we are good enough, smart enough, and doggone it people like us! That's the Therapeutic part. This god wants us to be good, nice, and fair, and those are it's highest values. One of the most important parts of this belief is how we treat other people, and ultimately if we are nice, and we are good, when we die we will go to Heaven. That's the Moralistic part. Our morals become the key to heaven so to speak.
There are probably bits and pieces of that that resonate with us. It is a picture of American culture that thrives in a Christ-less Christianity. And we are losing our children to this form of belief.
We need to establish an understanding that what we are doing as the Church, and as God's people, is more than establishing moral behavior.
I feel I need to repeat that: We need to establish an understanding - within ourselves! - that what we are doing is more than establishing moral behavior.
If what we teach our children or preach in our churches boils down to, "be nice," we have lost the Gospel. We have also deprived our children of the life saving and transforming message of Jesus' cross and empty tomb! We may be raising some wonderful, kind, tolerant nice people out there, but at the end of the day if they don't have faith in Jesus . . . . Well, as my friend and mentor Dan Flynn says, "Nice people go to Hell." Everyone, who is separated from Christ does. That's why it is so urgent for us to make sure that what we present to this world and to our children is the right message.
Cook suggests that part of the solution for this problem lies in sharing our personal story of faith and salvation. Gen-Xers and younger, are very comfortable with the phrase, "this is what I believe." They become uncomfortable, however, when we then say, "And you have to believe it too!" They've seen the hypocrisy and the dark side of the the earthly church, and our behavior has eroded the institutional authority of the church. However, when we as individuals say, "this is what I believe," and they see us struggling to live it, make choices by it, and share it, they respect that. It's an opening for them to hear God's Word. We're just telling our stories, from our point of view. And our point of view - our minds being transformed by the work of the Spirit and our blind eyes having been opened by faith in Jesus - just happens to be the truth!
In addition Cook points out that for this to happen we need to do a good job of sharing what our "point of view" is so that we can know it and articulate it. This is not the same as apologetics - where we defend the faith. This is just telling our story over and over again. Part of how people are learn to articulate their true story in connection to God's true story is through things like Creeds and Catechisms. When we study these things we are learning our own language and becoming part of a community that, by God's power, enacts the God-story and live for a larger purpose. In fact, Cook sited a study that indicates that one of the tools that devoted young people are very comfortable with is Ancient Confessions. The Trinitarian Creeds are familiar to them. They are learning from early church writings and traditional catechisms.
Oddly, these are things that we have, but we have shunned because we've been told that they make things too difficult for our youth or visitors. So we've continually lowered the bar of what it means to be Christian.
So how do we turn the tide?
It's time for us to embrace who we are. For me and my congregation that means that as we dig into God's Word, we look back at the Creeds, Catechisms and Confessions of our church to help us understand a larger and longer story of our faith. Creeds, Catechisms and Confessions are no substitute for the Word, but they show us how our forefathers understood the Word, and we test it to see if it stands up to the standard the Word gives. It's also a strong return to understanding who we are in God's eyes, and experiencing our sin and God's grace.
One of the most life changing experiences of my life was when a dear friend of mine confronted me in my sin - he cut me off at the knees, and it hurt! But then he spoke words of forgiveness to me. I don't know that I would have ever known how amazing God's love and forgiveness are if I hadn't known how terrible my sin and guilt are too. It's a study in contrasts!
I don't know if you find this snapshot helpful. I hope it gives you something to think about in how you engage the world today as a Child of God. Overall, though, remember this. On a cosmic level you and I are not good enough or smart enough to get our lives together, be happy, be moral and get to heaven . . . but, doggone it, God loves us so much that He redeemed us through Jesus' blood and made us His own. He is active in our lives, and He will use us to bring hope and forgiveness to others. It's okay to recognize that we are broken sinners who have been loved and saved by our God. In fact that's the message our children and our world need to hear and see lived out in us.
Prof. Tony Cook from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis presented yesterday. He focused on the huge switch that is taking place in how spirituality is lived out among Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers, and even Gen-Y. So for starters, Cook defines spirituality as the awareness of and perceived relationship to a higher power or transcendent being. This is important, because a person can be spiritual without being formally connected to a religion or denomination, and that is becoming more and more common. Note, that being spiritual is not the same as being Christian either, although that is what interests us the most; especially how the hope we have in Jesus is passed on from one generation to the next.
Cook sited a recent news article from CNN that indicates that many teens today are becoming "Fake Christians." Those are CNN's words. This article was forwarded to me a while ago by some of the members at our church. (You can find it here: http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-27/living/almost.christian_1_teens-share-moralistic-therapeutic-deism-dean-talks?_s=PM:LIVING) In it we are told that the message of the gospel - that we are sinners in need of redemption, who have been redeemed by the love of God as Jesus shed his blood for us - has been replaced in our youth groups by a message of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.
Huh? What's that?
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism believes that there is a god who created and watches over us. Kind of like Bette Middler's From a Distance, this god is not necessarily intimately involved in our lives. He (or she) does not need to be involved in our lives until there is a problem we need him to solve. After all he created this huge universe, so he is busy! It doesn't mean he doesn't care, but don't bother him with trivia, after all he has already give you a whit and a will to overcome these thing. That's Deism. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good, and that is mostly by following the Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This belief teaches us that God is like a cosmic Stewart Smalley telling us that we are good enough, smart enough, and doggone it people like us! That's the Therapeutic part. This god wants us to be good, nice, and fair, and those are it's highest values. One of the most important parts of this belief is how we treat other people, and ultimately if we are nice, and we are good, when we die we will go to Heaven. That's the Moralistic part. Our morals become the key to heaven so to speak.
There are probably bits and pieces of that that resonate with us. It is a picture of American culture that thrives in a Christ-less Christianity. And we are losing our children to this form of belief.
We need to establish an understanding that what we are doing as the Church, and as God's people, is more than establishing moral behavior.
I feel I need to repeat that: We need to establish an understanding - within ourselves! - that what we are doing is more than establishing moral behavior.
If what we teach our children or preach in our churches boils down to, "be nice," we have lost the Gospel. We have also deprived our children of the life saving and transforming message of Jesus' cross and empty tomb! We may be raising some wonderful, kind, tolerant nice people out there, but at the end of the day if they don't have faith in Jesus . . . . Well, as my friend and mentor Dan Flynn says, "Nice people go to Hell." Everyone, who is separated from Christ does. That's why it is so urgent for us to make sure that what we present to this world and to our children is the right message.
Cook suggests that part of the solution for this problem lies in sharing our personal story of faith and salvation. Gen-Xers and younger, are very comfortable with the phrase, "this is what I believe." They become uncomfortable, however, when we then say, "And you have to believe it too!" They've seen the hypocrisy and the dark side of the the earthly church, and our behavior has eroded the institutional authority of the church. However, when we as individuals say, "this is what I believe," and they see us struggling to live it, make choices by it, and share it, they respect that. It's an opening for them to hear God's Word. We're just telling our stories, from our point of view. And our point of view - our minds being transformed by the work of the Spirit and our blind eyes having been opened by faith in Jesus - just happens to be the truth!
In addition Cook points out that for this to happen we need to do a good job of sharing what our "point of view" is so that we can know it and articulate it. This is not the same as apologetics - where we defend the faith. This is just telling our story over and over again. Part of how people are learn to articulate their true story in connection to God's true story is through things like Creeds and Catechisms. When we study these things we are learning our own language and becoming part of a community that, by God's power, enacts the God-story and live for a larger purpose. In fact, Cook sited a study that indicates that one of the tools that devoted young people are very comfortable with is Ancient Confessions. The Trinitarian Creeds are familiar to them. They are learning from early church writings and traditional catechisms.
Oddly, these are things that we have, but we have shunned because we've been told that they make things too difficult for our youth or visitors. So we've continually lowered the bar of what it means to be Christian.
So how do we turn the tide?
It's time for us to embrace who we are. For me and my congregation that means that as we dig into God's Word, we look back at the Creeds, Catechisms and Confessions of our church to help us understand a larger and longer story of our faith. Creeds, Catechisms and Confessions are no substitute for the Word, but they show us how our forefathers understood the Word, and we test it to see if it stands up to the standard the Word gives. It's also a strong return to understanding who we are in God's eyes, and experiencing our sin and God's grace.
One of the most life changing experiences of my life was when a dear friend of mine confronted me in my sin - he cut me off at the knees, and it hurt! But then he spoke words of forgiveness to me. I don't know that I would have ever known how amazing God's love and forgiveness are if I hadn't known how terrible my sin and guilt are too. It's a study in contrasts!
I don't know if you find this snapshot helpful. I hope it gives you something to think about in how you engage the world today as a Child of God. Overall, though, remember this. On a cosmic level you and I are not good enough or smart enough to get our lives together, be happy, be moral and get to heaven . . . but, doggone it, God loves us so much that He redeemed us through Jesus' blood and made us His own. He is active in our lives, and He will use us to bring hope and forgiveness to others. It's okay to recognize that we are broken sinners who have been loved and saved by our God. In fact that's the message our children and our world need to hear and see lived out in us.
Comments
I would like to ask you how do you think this MTD syndrome is impacting the children of baby boomers, Gen-x, and Gen-y? What does this "Christless Christianity" do to the covenant children who grow up being taught "be nice"?
Thank you for your ministry!
We need to learn to embrace the fact that we are forgiven, instead of continually trying to look good. Being rooted in forgiveness then, will change us but that is the by product - not the main point.