So I was kind of excited last night. I got my new text books in for next semesters classes. I am taking another youth ministry class and I am excited to see what I will be learning this semester. So I open the box and this one book stands out to me, it’s called Almost Christian and it’s a book based off the results of the National Study of Youth and Religion. So of course I grab this book first and decide I am going to start reading early to prepare for my class. Well I made it all the way to page 15 before I decided it was time to put the book down and start putting my thoughts down on paper. So here we go.
I am going to throw out a very long and confusing name and then I am going to explain it a little. Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. I mean look at that, it just looks like a big bunch of mumbo jumbo. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that there is someone that actually comes up with words like this, but that is for another day. What this long word actually is talking about is the following believe system that is currently being adopted by our younger generations.
1. A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and other world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God is not involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.
Am I the only one who is bothered by this? I read about this and then notice that the author’s are not saying that the youth is to blame for this thought process rather that the congregations themselves are. So that begs me to ask; what exactly are we teaching our children/students today to where this kind of thought about God is even entertained.
What the authors or facilitators of the National Study of Youth and Religion are saying is that a noticeable trend has been to sacrifice and soften the truth of the Gospel in an effort to bring more students/children into the church. I ask you this if you are one who is willing to do this; are you still the church if you soften and/or sacrifice the truth of the Gospel for numbers?
A little while back my pastor presented a message on the salt of the earth. In his message he actually used props in order to present the message and it wasn’t until just now how much I realized that message applied to us. Human nature tells us we don’t enjoy pain and that the truth is indeed painful, therefore we should do everything we can to not present the truth to people so we don’t hurt their feelings. WHAT.
Have we actually gotten to the point nowadays were we are so desperate to tell people about Jesus that we compromise the message. I mean I look at it like this if we are softening or diluting the Gospel in an effort to reach the lost, aren’t we in fact helping them come closer to hell. Not to mention, by diluting the truth of the Gospel how are we glorifying our God? I mean there are just too many variables out there to play with in this realm and subject matter.
I for one will not compromise the truth of the Gospel when I am preaching or teaching to those who need to hear God’s Word. I am not afraid of the truth of the Gospel and what it represents. I will ensure that my students/children understand the truth of the Gospel because I love and respect them that much. I owe that to them. Don’t you?
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. (Romans 1:16-17)
Greg
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