Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD)
This title entered my vocabulary on Sunday morning.
At first, church goers might have thought they had entered a seminary class. However, this was not the case.
The newest pastor at my church, a young and very intelligent man, was standing in the pulpit (or on the stage, if I am going to be accurate) and sounding a bit like the Baptist preachers I had grown up listening to.
This phrase was coined by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, two sociologists who studied what, exactly, it is that teenagers call “religion.”
Please allow me to copy the basic points, which were posted on the screen at church and which I found on this site…
1. A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.
Now, these things don’t sound particularly bad, do they?
Or do they?
That, my folks, is what I am going to call watered-down Christianity. It loosely resembles something religious, but its true heart is NOT Christ. How can it be?
Compare MTD to what Jesus says in Matthew 16:24-26…
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Do you notice any differences?
The MTD creed is “me” centered… that God exists solely to make sure “I” am happy and all of “my” problems are fixed.
Let me fill you in on a little secret.
God did not create us so that He could serve us.
It was the other way around.
He created us so we would glorify Him and serve Him.
SHOCKER! Especially in this world where there’s nothing better than to be waited upon hand and foot.
You know what’s even more shocking? The fact that He KNEW we would screw up the single task He gave us, and, thus, He provided a way back to Him through the sacrifice and resurrection of His blameless Son.
DOUBLE SHOCKER!
It’s no wonder, then, that Jesus’ direct words were for us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him. I mean, this man spoke these words with the full knowledge of what He was about to do, so He wasn’t asking anything that He wasn’t willing to do Himself.
Denying myself…now, that’s a novel thought, eh? This has the makings for a new “me” creed – one that is Christ-centered.
We live in a very self-centered world, where it’s every man/woman for himself/herself. You better look out for #1 because nobody else is going to.
Have you ever heard these words said? I’d venture to bet that you’ve probably spoken them too. I know that I have.
Jesus calls us to take up our crosses. What does this mean?
That cross represents suffering. He carried His own cross to the site where nails were driven into His hands and feet, and where He died for us.
He suffered for us.
He suffered for me.
He calls me to suffer for Him.
Jesus calls us to lose our lives so that we might save them.
This seems quite the paradox, doesn’t it? How on earth do you save something by losing it?
I wonder about this sometimes, but then I just had this thought.
What if we’re following Christ so completely that we completely lose ourselves in Him?
Imagine that you are walking behind someone outside on a sunny day. What if you step into that person’s shadow? Don’t you completely lose yourself in that moment?
To stay in the person’s shadow, you must follow that person step-for-step, never trying to run ahead, always allowing yourself to be led.
I think it must be the same way with Jesus.
To lose ourselves in Him means that you cannot separate one from the other.
Do you walk that closely with Him?
I am ashamed to say that I do not.
I am all about me most of the time.
I am not alone. The sociologists’ study revealed one very interesting fact.
The creed that the students were following was one passed down from their parents.
Gulp.
How convicting is that?
I’ve gotta tell you that I took the basic idea behind my pastor’s preaching and ran with it, adding my own twist and, what I believe, God spoke on my heart as I pondered my way though this post.
I will say that at the end of the sermon, when “T” gave the benediction, I could feel the Holy Spirit. The words that came out of his mouth were unplanned and unrehearsed. And yet, they spoke volumes.
If we profess to follow Christ, we must stop following the old “me” creed and adopt the “He” creed where Jesus is the center of everything we do…every thought, every decision, and every action. Honoring God by serving Him and following His commands must be our life mission.
My personal prayer is that I will follow Him ever so closely, keeping time with Him, and one day completely lose myself in Him, never to reemerge the same again.
That is my prayer for you as well.
Filed under: Christian | Tagged: Christianity | 2 Comments »
AuburnChick's Adventures 