The greatest plague on the earth today is a church that no longer believes in its message, and a mass of Christians who are unwilling to throw themselves fully into the hands of their so-called savior. And if the lights were to be thrown on, all would see an army of ministers leaning on everything but God. Do you ever wonder why psychologists are being added to pastoral teams at an ever-increasing rate? Do you ever wonder why your pastors bookshelves are full of self-help books, sold under the guise of Christian living? The answer, I fear, is that we have lost our faith in the Gospel's ability to address our deepest, most urgent needs.
Pastoral care classes have taught us to always have a specialist on speed-dial. We have specialists in every field, from eating disorders to alcoholism. Meanwhile, the only thing we pastors specialize in are referrals. We have become the quacks of the healing profession. Why? Because our medicine, the Gospel, has rarely been proven. It's rarely been proven because it's rarely been tried. Ministers now-a-days are trained as administrators and delagators, and we have largely forsaken our primary tasks of prayer and the proclamation of truth. As a result, we have come to believe more in the power of psychiatry than in the power of prayer. We seem unaware that most systems of psychology have little in common with the Gospel. Self-actualization and self-sufficiency have no resonance with the message of sanctification.
Our faith in Christ continues to weaken because we have given it little to stand on. We have become peddlers of secular humanism, urging our people to manage their sin rather than repent of it. When we do use scripture, we often treat it as a sort of inanimate object that we can grasp and manipulate to meet our own perceived needs. In this way and others, we have placed our religion at the mercy of science. As it stands, we have essentially said to our most hurting people, " Oh I'm sorry, you need real help, and all I have to offer is the Gospel."
4 comments:
Very good post...I think the resurgence of self help seekers is part of an extreme pendulum swing. I think that there is a generation of people who have presented real problem's to well meaning pastor's...and were given a response of.."Just Let go and let God" or worse yet..."When God closes a door" etc etc
While some of these bumper sticker statements are true...because let's be honest...we should "let God"...they are somewhat of a cop out. I think that when a deeply rooted Christ follower listens to a person...allows space and then when given the opportunity...shares about the power of the cross and the transforming message of the Gospel...there is power. I do believe in counselors and recovery programs etc...but I believe that they must be Christ centered or there will not be true healing.
Hi Josh,
I struggle with these thoughts too bro. For years I have felt like a peddler of a weak gospel because we don't see the miracles performed - in my own life or in others. We all yearn for a moving of God. To preserve my faith, I fall back on God doesn't allow anything you can't bear (even though Paul was referring to temptations - of course your circumstances can lead to temptations, so it's ok to apply that verse in this way, right?) or the thorn in my flesh idea.
I think it's a fine line to walk when considering these issues. We both know that the Gospel holds out the greatest hope for humankind and not just for its soul. God cares about the quality of the life we live on earth. While waiting for the train to heaven, we are supposed to live this life for the glory of God. God can change a whole community's outlook when he moves through and redeems it - body and soul.
Sometimes I wonder if we haven't thrown the baby out with the bath water. Do we necessarily weaken the Gospel when we consult mental health professionals?
If more Christians entered the field and appropriated orthodox Christianity to the healing of the mind, we would get the best of both worlds. When I sought counseling for my depression, I went to a Christian psychologist. Honestly, I was amazed at the theology I learned in my few sessions with her. I would have loved to see her engage some of our ATS profs on her thoughts.
After a few thousand years on the planet I don't think we're even begun scratching the surface on living out what it means to glorify God and seeing our faith in him permeate every area of our lives. Some have resisted the label, but we need more Christian _________ (fill in the blank with ANYTHING)
I am wondering if there is a self help book for those who like to self help. I am reminded of the passage in Acts where the begger asked Peter and John for money. Peter's response was that he did not have silver or gold but he did have the power of Christ. Have we traded the power of Christ for money and self help, which I think we have
I think one of the most detrimental things in all the psycho-babble that takes place in pulpits today along with the lack of preaching the real Gospel is that it leaves people feeling satisfied that they're really not all that bad, when in reality,we're bad enough that the Son of God had to die for us. So much for self-help...
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