I came across this awesome post last week and its so relevant to what many of us have gone through at Teen Mania. Which of these 7 counterfeit gospels do you most identify with?
In one of his books (co-authored with Tim Lane), How People Change, he identifies seven counterfeit gospels—-”religious” ways we try and “justify” or “save” ourselves apart from the gospel of grace. I found these unbelievably helpful. Which one (or two, or three) of these do you tend to gravitate towards?
Formalism. “I participate in the regular meetings and ministries of the church, so I feel like my life is under control. I’m always in church, but it really has little impact on my heart or on how I live. I may become judgmental and impatient with those who do not have the same commitment as I do.”
Legalism. “I live by the rules—rules I create for myself and rules I create for others. I feel good if I can keep my own rules, and I become arrogant and full of contempt when others don’t meet the standards I set for them. There is no joy in my life because there is no grace to be celebrated.”
Mysticism. “I am engaged in the incessant pursuit of an emotional experience with God. I live for the moments when I feel close to him, and I often struggle with discouragement when I don’t feel that way. I may change churches often, too, looking for one that will give me what I’m looking for.”
Activism. “I recognize the missional nature of Christianity and am passionately involved in fixing this broken world. But at the end of the day, my life is more of a defense of what’s right than a joyful pursuit of Christ.”
Biblicism. “I know my Bible inside and out, but I do not let it master me. I have reduced the gospel to a mastery of biblical content and theology, so I am intolerant and critical of those with lesser knowledge.”
Therapism. “I talk a lot about the hurting people in our congregation, and how Christ is the only answer for their hurt. Yet even without realizing it, I have made Christ more Therapist than Savior. I view hurt as a greater problem than sin—and I subtly shift my greatest need from my moral failure to my unmet needs.”
Social-ism. “The deep fellowship and friendships I find at church have become their own idol. The body of Christ has replaced Christ himself, and the gospel is reduced to a network of fulfilling Christian relationships.”
As I said two weeks ago in my sermon, there are outside-the-church idols and there are inside-the-church idols. It’s the idols inside the church that ought to concern Christians most. It’s easier for Christians to identify worldly idols such as money, power, selfish ambition, sex, and so on. It’s the idols inside the church that we have a harder time identifying.
For instance, we know it’s wrong to bow to the god of power—but it’s also wrong to bow to the god of preferences. We know it’s wrong to worship immorality—but it’s also wrong to worship morality. We know it’s wrong to seek freedom by breaking the rules—but it’s also wrong to seek freedom by keeping them. We know God hates unrighteousness—but he also hates self-righteousness. We know crime is a sin—but so is control. If people outside the church try to save themselves by being bad; people inside the church try to save themselves by being good.
The good news of the gospel is that both inside and outside the church, there is only One Savior and Lord, namely Jesus. And he came, not to angrily strip away our freedom, but to affectionately strip away our slavery to lesser things so that we might become truly free!
15 comments:
CarrieSaumsays:April 1, 2010 at 10:09 AMReply
i like most of what the author is saying, though i don’t agree 100% with the Socialism part…in my experience, community is where i most often see Jesus and his Love reflected. i really like the quote “people inside the church try to save themselves by being good”. it’s just not possible.
thanks for the good read!
alumnusMTersays:April 1, 2010 at 11:25 AMReply
legalism/biblicalism/activism, most definitely.
i acquired the legalism at TM [at least most of it. i’m not naive enough to believe that i haven’t picked it up elsewhere as well]…
…the biblicalism stemmed out of the absolute frustration from my previous abusive church environment[s] and their distortion of the Bible, so I kind of became an obsessive watchdog [that can definitely lack grace]…
…and the activism stemmed out of an honest attempt to find a Gospel less painful than the one I had been living…and it seemed like a good fit. but like with anything, there can be “too much of a good thing”–and when taken to extremes, it can be harmful, definitely.
good post!
Recovering Alumnisays:April 1, 2010 at 12:36 PMReply
Carrie – I don’t think he is saying relationships and community are wrong – just that we can sometimes make them the goal and forget about Jesus.
Back in my TM days, I was definitely a strange mix of legalism and mysticism….Right now, I am probably most susceptible to Therapism…
Recovering Alumnisays:April 1, 2010 at 12:37 PMReply
And his comments on inside the church idols is I think the best paragraph of this whole piece…The HA has so many rules against the external sins – drugs, drinking, sex, etc – but self-righteousness, dependence on morality and arrogance go largely unchecked – heck, they are even promoted!
Anonymoussays:April 1, 2010 at 1:06 PMReply
RA, This is an awesome post. It’s so funny because I was just having a conversation with someone early today very similar to this post. We both were trying to put it into words but only could describe it as “Legalism.” I’m gonna share this one with some friends. Thanks.
Shannon Kishsays:April 1, 2010 at 1:48 PMReply
I think I struggled a lot with the socialism. I went to church to make friends and they were more important than learning about God.
legalism/biblicalism I got at TM.
Shilohsays:April 1, 2010 at 3:24 PMReply
“Psalm 27:4 -One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah, And to inquire in his temple.” ASV
I was listening to Mike Bickle (The main ‘pastor *Sorta* at the international house of prayer… Imma big fan 🙂 the other day. He said that in order to last in Night & Day prayer you have to gaze on the beauty of God. Reading this post I’m sitting here realizing how true it is. You have to make God the center to get around any of those I think. I mean, what does it mean to dwell in His house? A room full of people praying? (I.E. IHOP) naw man. It’s a spiritual house I guess. Go to Him and gaze on Him.
The Cult Next Doorsays:April 1, 2010 at 6:07 PMReply
Wonderful post- thanks for sharing!!
Philip Esays:April 2, 2010 at 1:02 AMReply
I love this post, I think it shows what we’ve gone through, not just at TM, but in the church at large.
I would have liked what is labeled Mysticism to be called Emotionalism or some such, as the normal definition of Mysticism is quite different than what the author states.
Then again, maybe that’s just the teacher coming out in me to correct things that I see are wrong, even if they don’t really cause any harm.
Shannon Kishsays:April 2, 2010 at 8:58 AMReply
Philip, I can see that could be confusing. Same with Socialism.
Philip Esays:April 2, 2010 at 11:16 AMReply
Shannon, I would have said the same thing about socialism, but the author wrote it as social-ism to avoid being confused with socialism(at least that’s how my mind interpreted it).
kristensays:April 3, 2010 at 6:19 PMReply
i don’t know if this comment should go here, but i have not been able to access the forum today… i keep getting an error page.
Recovering Alumnisays:April 3, 2010 at 7:39 PMReply
Hi Kristen, It seems to be working for me. What browser are you using?
kristensays:April 3, 2010 at 10:38 PMReply
RA – i got it to work 🙂
thanks!
miller_schlosssays:April 6, 2010 at 10:49 PMReply
Wow, I definitely do the Therapism one a lot. I need to remember that my sin is a much bigger issue than my pain…Jesus longs to heal my pain, but He also longs to redeem me in my sin.