A Turning Point in the Church
In his book, “Without God, Without Creed”, James Turner makes the case that the Church by capitulating to the culture had in effect brought on deism and ultimately an acceptable and mainstream atheistic practical ideology. In one point, Turner argues that in the late eighteenth century on to the middle nineteenth century, the effects of the Enlightenment had not yet fully blossomed. He states, “Evangelicals strove to shape the minds of their fellow citizens—to “Christianize America,” as they said.”[1] However, he points out that Enlightenment’s rational religion was–by that time–a side current flowing along the edge of the religious mainstream.[2] If you have ever watched how river banks are washed out and destroyed, then you would know that it is only a matter of time until a steady flowing side-water has its way with the bank. What was formerly an anomaly was inexorably becoming a mainstay. Thus, Turner highlights one effect of the Enlightenment’s side-stream—separating Divine intervention and natural law—that began to compromise the common notion that God watched every sparrow fall.[3] You can imagine how unsettling this thought became among evangelicals of that day.
Fast forward to today. What’s fascinating is how widespread deism has become—even in the Church—and how backwards people are viewed if they do not accept its teachings. One contemporary rivulet of this fateful Enlightenment principle among adolescents is a concept called “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” In effect, the tenets[4] of this flow of thought are that there is:
- A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over life on earth.
- God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
- The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
- God is not involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem.
- Good people go to heaven when they die.
Insight into Confusion
At some level, we can all speak from experience that the waves of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD) continue to splash against the shores of not only our church but many evangelical churches today. Whether or not most evangelicals will ascribe to its tenets, in practice it is lived out on a regular basis. See also Christian liberalism, health and wealth gospel, the social gospel, and the lack[5] of Bible reading among evangelicals today[6]. The problem with MTD is the same problem with only reading half of Proverbs 29:18. It is a problem with how a vision is accepted, communicated, and lived out.
One of my heroes in the faith is Martyn Lloyd Jones. He was a man of sincere gravity. He was trained as a medical doctor but left his practice to pursue a life of pastoral ministry. Many of his sermons from 30 years of preaching at Westminster Chapel in London are still available for listening today.
One of the incredible aspects of Dr. Lloyd Jones’ ministry that stands out to me was not that he preached for 30 years at Westminster, but how he began his ministry in Aberavon, Wales. His first pastorate was at a church in decline. His response was not to formulate a catchy phrase to draw people in. Nor was it to preach sermonettes for Christianettes. Instead, he began by eliminating noisy elements of the church that neither advanced nor explained God’s Word to the members.
One casualty of this change was a wooden stage being torn down and used for firewood that had previously been part of that church’s weekly drama ministry hoping to draw in the local community to church. He started preaching expositionally from the Scriptures on Sunday morning, evangelistic sermons on Sunday evening, and led a men’s Bible study on Friday nights. The net result? Revival in this little community. The miners in the area were getting converted, people began reading their Bibles, and God’s Word went forth.
Dr. Lloyd Jones captured the essence of Proverbs 29:18. He brought the insight of God’s Word into a world in confusion. Which leads to our next point.
Ways of Wisdom
There is the wisdom of the world that is foolishness before God (1 Cor. 3:19). It has been handed down to humanity in the subtle whispers of the enemy (1 Tim. 4:1). We are reminded also about the fact that our path in this life is darkened by the world. Surrounded by this darkness (Eph. 6:12) and without a light (Ps. 119:105). To navigate, we will turn to teachers who please our own desires (2 Tim. 3:1-7). We then will walk in our own ways and determine for ourselves what is best. See also human history. See also the modern evangelical church. To be sure, not every evangelical church, but the mainstream, nevertheless.
What is the reason? Why does this continue?
The reason is the same reason why we cannot stop halfway in Proverbs 29:18. We must finish reading to see…
“…But happy is one who keeps the Law” Proverbs 29:18b.
Light into Darkness
What Adam was called to do could only be done if he had a Word from God. Being that he was created by God, sustained by God, and guided by God, he could only exist in harmony with God if God spoke. If God did not speak (i.e. giving Adam clear understanding of how to remain in fellowship with Him), then Adam would have a reason to justify his actions. God spoke, and thus Adam must yield and obey. But, he did not.
What we see happen in Genesis 3 happens every day. It is man facing a problem or a situation, resorting to himself to solve the problem and either blaming God when it fails or taking credit when it succeeds. This is the story of the new MTD ideology. In some ways, we have organized God out of church, we have mitigated God out of commerce, we have diversified God out of finances, and we have rallied God out of politics.
Thus, God’s Word has not taken priority in our lives. The consequence? We stop at the first half of Proverbs 29:18, which means we rely upon ourselves to: __________. To be sure, God uses vessels, but He distinguishes the kinds of vessels He will use for good. We learn that the vessel God uses for good works, i.e., a vessels honor are ones who are “diligent to present themselves approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15). How remarkable. Paul’s instruction to Timothy is the same as the writer of Proverbs 29. God’s Word must hold sway. It must be yielded to and it must be obeyed.
A Bigger Vision
When we talk of obedience to God’s Word some will squirm in their seats. They will hope that we are not becoming legalists. To be sure, when we tie obedience to gaining or keeping God’s love we are bordering on legalism. However, that’s not what Christ was talking about when He said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” John 14:15. Paul reiterates one of Christ’s commands by stating that he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law (Rom. 13:8). James echoes this sentiment by saying, “If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,” you are doing well” James 2:8.
What’s the bigger vision? The bigger vision is a vision for God’s Word. Recall the burning hearts in Luke 24. Their hearts burned because Christ appropriated and explained Scripture to them. Every revival revolves around the Word of God.
When we tie, “…happy is he who keeps the law,” to “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained…,” we gain understanding into true vision. We see through the lens of Scripture. Vision then is always gained through a biblical knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.
What this generation needs is a vision for…true success…true greatness…true happiness…true love. The only way we can give this to them is to give them a vision from God’s Word. Gimmicks, slogans, and sleight-of-hand tricks won’t cut it.
But we have bigger problems to deal with before we offer the solution to this modern day evangelical vision crisis. We’ll get there, but first, we have to see where we are is not where God wants us to be.
[1] James Turner, Without God, Without Creed: The Origins of Unbelief in America, New Studies in American Intellectual and Cultural History (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985), 79.
[2] Turner, 79.
[3] Turner, 79.
[4] David Kinnaman, Gen Z: The Culture, Beliefs and Motivations Shaping the Next Generation (Barna Group and Impact 360 Institute, E-book Edition, 2018), 81–82.
[5] Kinnaman, 24.
[6] “State of the Bible 2021: Five Key Findings,” May 19, 2021, https://www.barna.com/research/sotb-2021/.
— August 18, 2021