The Best Analysis of Our Current Religious World

current religious climate.001Read these five conclusions from a recent study by Christian Smith, a scholar from North Carolina University.

  1. A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
  1. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
  2. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about one-self.
  3. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when he is needed to resolve a problem.
  4. Good people go to heaven when they die.

Doesn’t this sound like the world you live in?  It certainly does to me.  This study focused on the religious convictions of teenagers in America, but in many ways accurately conveys the views of the majority of adults.  Christian Smith calls this philosophy or religious movement across our nation “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism”, or MTD.

This is the best analysis of the current religious climate that I have seen.  It concisely describes what is going on in our culture.  Christians must recognize the prevailing attitudes and actions of our culture.  MTD makes God into a “divine butler” that is there when you need him.  The emphasis is not on what you do, but how you feel.  There are at least four major problems with MTD that Christians should consider.

  1. No standard of God’s word. Our culture has become like Israel in the days of the Judges when the refrain was “there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6).  Jesus makes the Word of God the standard of judgment (John 12:47-50).  Today’s religious climate makes feelings supreme.  The Word of God is not viewed as the authority.  In many ways MTD represents our modern day idolatry, where we craft our own god!
  2. It strips the responsibility and repulsiveness from sin.  Our culture has buried sin, not even wanting to speak of it.  Paul in Romans teaches that all men have sinned and it pays in death (Rom. 3:23, 6:23).  Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  People are lost because of sin.
  3. It devalues the atonement and righteousness of God.  After describing man’s problem of sin in the early chapters, Paul then explains how Christ paid the price for our sins with His blood (Rom. 3:21-26; 5:6-11).  God is righteous and can have no part in sin, but He is able to reconcile himself to humanity through the offering of His Son.  MTD cheapens God’s grace and makes the cross of Christ foolish.  Mankind needs a Savior, not a butler!
  4. It misunderstands the Person of God and the nature of man.  God is the Creator.  MTD illustrates how most Americans do not know the characteristics of God.  God is holy, jealous, love, just, good, wrathful, and long-suffering.  He will bring the world into judgment and has promised heaven and hell.  Man is the created being whose purpose is not just pleasure, but to bring glory and honor to God. Our greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength and love our neighbor as ourself.  It is not to seek your own happiness.

MTD and Christian Smith’s study accurately gives a generalization of the current religious climate in America.  It is impacting all of us and will have significant impact upon future generations.  Christians must be aware of these attitudes and teachings in our culture and point out the problems with these philosophies.

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Christian Smith Article and Source:

I must give credit to David Shannon and his lecture on this topic at Polishing the Pulpit.

Also, I will have upload a sermon on this topic later in the week.

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