MTD - The New Religion

When Paul spoke passionately in Galatians 1:6-7 about another gospel, he could not imagined what that might look like in 2014.   Canadians are unaware of "another gospel" creeping into our churches.   Like the Galatian problem it is deceptive and not immediately recognizable.   We could say, "[We] am astonished that [we] are so quickly deserting" the true Gospel.  This gospel has come with a name: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. [1]  According to Dr. Christian Smith it has several tenets of belief:

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

Indian theologian Vinoth Ramachandra describes it this way: 

"The Good News is packaged and marketed (using, uncritically, all the techniques of modern advertising) as a religious product: offering “peace of mind”, “how to get to heaven”, “health and prosperity”, “inner healing”, “the answer to all your problems ” etc. What is promoted as “faith in God” often turns out to be a means for obtaining emotional security or material blessing in this life and an insurance policy in the next. This kind of preaching leaves the status quo untouched. It does not raise fundamental and disturbing questions about the assumptions upon which people build their lives . It does not threaten the false gods in whose name the creation of God has been taken over; indeed it actually reinforces their hold on their worshippers. This kind of “gospel” is essentially escapist , the direct descendent of the pseudo-gospels of the false prophets of the Old Testament. It is simply a religious image of the secular consumerist culture in which modern men and women live.” {emphasis mine} [2]

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is also "about providing therapeutic benefits to its adherents." As the researchers explained, "This is not a religion of repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of sovereign divinity, of steadfastly saying one's prayers, of faithfully observing high holy days, of building character through suffering, of basking in God's love and grace, of spending oneself in gratitude and love for the cause of social justice, et cetera. Rather, what appears to be the actual dominant religion among U.S. teenagers is centrally about feeling good, happy, secure, at peace. It is about attaining subjective well-being, being able to resolve problems, and getting along amiably with other people."

This is a religion that anyone can do if they try hard enough.  God is unnecessary.   This modern movement in the Church is killing God -- it's doing the work that the Atheists failed at.   



________________________________________________
1. http://www.christianpost.com/news/moralistic-therapeutic-deism-the-new-american-religion-6266/
2. Tripp, Paul David (2007-10-31). A Quest for More: Living for Something Bigger than You (p. 74). New Growth Press. Kindle Edition.