- February 22, 2012
- 2 Comments
3 Religious Temptations in the Christian Life
One of my favorite theologians, Michael Gorman, has a new post here about a sermon he preached on the book of Revelation. In it he mentions two temptations facing the churches in Revelation (and specifically Smyrna – Rev 2.8-11). They are:
1. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
There is a god who created the world, looks down on us from heaven with a smile, wants to bless us, wants us to be good to ourselves and kind to others, is there for us when we are in a jam, and promises us a place in heaven if we are good.
2. Civil Religion
There is a god who created the world, looks down on our country (fill in the blank) with a big smile, has blessed us more than any other nation, thinks our values are his values, wants to expand our influence around the world, wants us to be good to our friends but helps us defeat our enemies, and expects us to love our country as a way of loving God.
I’d like to offer a third:
3. Religious Moralism
There is a god who wants us to be obedient and holy. Life is an endeavor to overcome the guilt and shame we feel for the wrong we’ve done. Focus tends to be on overcoming sin, taking a stand against culture, and working on myself. Many live with the secret disappointment in themselves and the belief that “I should be farther along than I am”. There is a desperate desire to please to God.
Each is missing the gospel…and the following post will discuss how we live a gospel life – a submissional life – as a Christian. But first…
Do you see these at play in your church? The church you grew up in?
In your story which has been the greatest temptation?
How do you see each of these ‘missing’ the gospel?
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Your third item is spot on, IMO.
I tend to automatically consider each of these in the manner of a chapter from “Screwtape.” The idea being that Evil loves to see us pull back our bow, give our all to the shot, and be just enough off the target that we are sure to miss, all the while thinking our aim is ok. i.e., to get us to waste our time and energy is a way of ensuring we are eventually too tired to keep at faith, and thus become lost again.
Gary – i.e. Spending our energy on things that have the appearance of truth but are off the mark – well said. I agree. Each of these three groups – and my next post will put me in this predicament as well – thinks the OTHER groups have the problem. This serves to keep us in a perpetual state of defending ourselves to others, justifying and solidifying our beliefs to ourselves, and working on polemics to reveal how “everyone else doesn’t get it.”
I don’t see anyway out of that religious quagmire other than to humble ourselves, submit to each other, ask questions, and truly believe that repentance is the best thing that could happen to us. I’m willing to learn from a Religious Moralist even if: A – They’re mostly wrong and B – They think I’m wrong. This is hard for me, but necessary so that I (we) don’t fall into the same self-defeating trap.