Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism
Now that the General Conference dust has settled and the, uh, excitement is over, a few memories linger and provoke my thinking. One of them comes from some statements Lance Finley made in his report as the Director of Youth and Family Ministry.
He said, “Eighty percent of our youth graduate from the faith of their childhood.” That’s not news to me. It’s probably not news to any of you either. That’s not what provoked me.
Here’s the part of Lance’s report that has really stuck in my mind. Lance said
"The belief system of the 80% of our youth who graduate from faith in Jesus is characterized by a 'moralistic, therapeutic deism.'”
Yikes!
Well, if that’s what their theology amounts to, they’ve come by it honestly. We are reaping what we’ve sown. Moralistic, therapeutic deism is a fair description of the excesses of modern evangelical theology.
When modern evangelicalism falls prey to its excesses it worships the inerrant text of the written Word. It doesn’t embrace the god-breathed, inspired Word. It idolizes what is written. It doesn’t worship the One who was incarnated.
When modern evangelicalism falls prey to its excesses it hucksters for salvation defined by eternity in heaven. It doesn’t herald service to the ‘least of these’ in the here and now.
When modern evangelicalism falls prey to its excesses it plans for growth using the marketing strategies taught in MBA classes. It doesn’t devote itself to the Apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
When modern evangelicalism falls prey to its excesses it preaches the Word as if it is a ‘How to’ manual. It doesn’t lay open the mysteries of God to postmodern people who are, at the same time, both spiritual and post-Christian.
IOW: When modern evangelicalism falls prey to its excesses it presents religion that amounts exactly to moralistic, therapeutic deism.
Eighty percent of our Youth hear that. They get it. Make no mistake; many of them understand it fully. And, they find it unsatisfactory. They see no reason to give their life to it. And, why should they? It’s inadequate and empty. And, it certainly doesn’t answer the questions they are asking.
That’s why I’m here, gang.
I know that what I’ve been doing is anachronistic—it’s out of date. It’s old-fashioned. And, more importantly, it's flawed. The answer to reaching most Gen Xers, who turn 42 this year by the way, and almost everyone younger than they are is to present a truer Gospel—one that challenges the emerging world with the grace and justice of the God Who Incarnated Himself for the world to meet the people of the world and satisfy their spiritual yearnings.
posted by bill Sloat at 10:56 AM
3 Comments:
Bill,
Just a couple of points of clarification....
Christian Smith, currently a sociologist at Notre Dame (formerly of North Carolina) was the individual whose research showed that the average american teenager is growing up with a faith that could best be described as moralistic, therapeutic deism (see his book: Soul Searching: The Religious And Spiritual Lives Of American Teenagers. Oxford University Press, 2005.).
His research wasn't connected to the 80% - 20% comments. In other words, some of our 20% who are staying in the church could best be described as having a moralist, therapeutic deism.
We've stripped theology from most of our teaching and left the gospel out most of the time too and reduced the OT narratives to moralistic lessons that end with "be like Moses" or "be like David" and completely missed the gospel message that God chooses to use and redeem people (like Moses and David) who, in many ways shouldn't be imitated.
My doctoral project (which is 3-4 years away from being complete... just starting the program) is probably going to explore the teaching ministry of the church as it relates to discipleship. The churches that still offer catechism often offer a stale, rigid, lifeless kind of dogmatic ritual.
On the other end of the spectrum, we evangelicals often have little thought or design behind what we teach and I believe you're seeing the results with the emerging generations of church kids who belive God wants them to be good (which can be defined in a lot of different ways) and that God isn't all that involved in their day to day life unless they need him to show up to ensure that their personal happiness and fulfillment isn't jepordized.
The classical model for catechism is a rotation of teaching focusing on 1) theology, 2) teaching prayer and worship and 3) developing a Christian ethos. In the early church, this was done mostly through worship and in more relationally connected ways (community, etc.) ... not just through Wednesday night bible study.
We've failed to teach people who God is, His nature and His story. We've failed to teach worship and prayer and now play to a consumeristic culture that sees prayer as something I do to get something and worship as something that better move me or I'll go down the street to the "church of what's happen now." It's obvious that we've also failed to teach a consistent Christian ethos as our kids are just as likely to do all the things their friends are doing in a self-absorbed pursuit of their own happiness.
My hunch is that we've spent a lot of time working on the ethos piece (be good, do the right thing, be a moral person) without ever doing an adequate job of helping them understand this God we serve or equiping them to relate to Him through worship and prayer.
I could go on and on, but I'll quit now.
Just my two cents. Sorry... forgot my password so this is posted under anonymous.
Lance
Thanks for the 'clarification' Lance.
Good stuff.
We'd all benefit from a lot more of your participation here.
Doctoral project? Sounds like you are describing a D. Min. Fill us in.
just verifing my account
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