Listen to the words of A. W. Tozer, spoken over 50 years ago:
The new cross says “come and get.” And a selfish human … will use the Cross for his own benefits, whereas the old rugged Cross says, “Come and give.” … God has intended that this Christian life shall be based on this one principle: The new life is lived not unto self, but unto God. Whereas the old Cross was meant by God to be the symbol of death and detachment from the old Adam life, this new substitute cross does not intend to slay the sinner but just redirect him. It gears him to a cleaner, jollier way of living and saves his self-center and ambition. To the self-assertive it says: “Come and assert yourself in the Lord.” To the religious egotist, it says: “Come and do your boasting in the Lord.” To the thrill seeker it says: “Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship.” The modern message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue, thereby catering to human taste and reasoning.
[The new cross] lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher [moral] plane.
Beware of Cross-less Teaching
Now, because we are celebrating Easter weekend, I must comment here about a current trend in the Evangelical church: a popularized version of Christian teaching that offers abundant life without the cross. This teaching says: “Believe in yourself! Follow your dreams and fulfill your destiny.” We must be leery of any teaching that is not founded on this principle: the cross is God’s means for fulfillment. This “new” gospel allows one to find fulfillment in one’s desires, never questioning one’s motive. This “new” teaching (it’s not really new; it began in the Garden of Eden!) says you can be “like” God and do anything. Beware of such cross-less teaching! The Bible says in the latter days people will be “lovers of self.”
Showing posts with label alternative gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alternative gospel. Show all posts
Friday, April 10, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Alternative Gospel in America
I have just begun reading "Christless Christianity, the Alternative Gospel of the American Church," by Michael Horton. This book speaks volumes to my concern (albeit indirectly) about the cross-less message of Joel Osteen.
When I began this “dyingtolive” blog on December 27, 2008, my first post was called “Let’s talk about Joel Osteen.” I wanted to use this venue to illuminate and expose the false teaching of Joel Osteen to those who think him to be harmless. In my view, anyone who has the largest church and TV audience in the world, and whose teaching minimizes the saving work of God through Jesus Christ, and is called “the most influential Christian in America," cannot be considered harmless.
However, today I am announcing I will no longer focus my conversations on exposing the half-truths of Joel Osteen. Having searched the internet these past few months, I am satisfied there are enough people already doing that. From this point on, I will use this blog to share the multi-faceted “dying-to-live-abundant-life” truths that I love so much.
However, having said that, please allow me to share with you some writings from Michael Horton’s book that truly capture the essence of the problem confronting the American church today, and which is easily summed up in the teachings of Joel Osteen.
In this Alternative Gospel, Michael Horton points out: “everything is measured by our happiness rather than by God’s holiness, [and] the sense of our being sinners becomes secondary, if not offensive.” The Alternative Gospel tells its followers they are truly “good people who have lost [their] way, but with the proper instructions and motivation can become a better person,” in effect making the need for Jesus’ work of redemption in our lives irrelevant. In fact, Horton says, by “assimilating the gospel to [our] felt needs, we end up saying very little that the world could not hear from Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura, or Oprah,” … “focusing the conversation on us—our desires, needs, feelings, experience, activity, and aspirations—it energizes us.
"Aside from the packaging," Horton says, "there is nothing that cannot be found in most churches today that could not be satisfied by any number of secular programs and self-help groups."
And the quote from Horton's book which I find most compelling as we examine the message of Joel Osteen is this one:
“God is not denied but trivialized—God exists for the pleasure of humankind. He resides in the heavenly realm solely for our utility and benefit...as a personal shopper for the props of our life movie: happiness as entertainment, [and] salvation as therapeutic well-being."
When I began this “dyingtolive” blog on December 27, 2008, my first post was called “Let’s talk about Joel Osteen.” I wanted to use this venue to illuminate and expose the false teaching of Joel Osteen to those who think him to be harmless. In my view, anyone who has the largest church and TV audience in the world, and whose teaching minimizes the saving work of God through Jesus Christ, and is called “the most influential Christian in America," cannot be considered harmless.
However, today I am announcing I will no longer focus my conversations on exposing the half-truths of Joel Osteen. Having searched the internet these past few months, I am satisfied there are enough people already doing that. From this point on, I will use this blog to share the multi-faceted “dying-to-live-abundant-life” truths that I love so much.
However, having said that, please allow me to share with you some writings from Michael Horton’s book that truly capture the essence of the problem confronting the American church today, and which is easily summed up in the teachings of Joel Osteen.
In this Alternative Gospel, Michael Horton points out: “everything is measured by our happiness rather than by God’s holiness, [and] the sense of our being sinners becomes secondary, if not offensive.” The Alternative Gospel tells its followers they are truly “good people who have lost [their] way, but with the proper instructions and motivation can become a better person,” in effect making the need for Jesus’ work of redemption in our lives irrelevant. In fact, Horton says, by “assimilating the gospel to [our] felt needs, we end up saying very little that the world could not hear from Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura, or Oprah,” … “focusing the conversation on us—our desires, needs, feelings, experience, activity, and aspirations—it energizes us.
"Aside from the packaging," Horton says, "there is nothing that cannot be found in most churches today that could not be satisfied by any number of secular programs and self-help groups."
And the quote from Horton's book which I find most compelling as we examine the message of Joel Osteen is this one:
“God is not denied but trivialized—God exists for the pleasure of humankind. He resides in the heavenly realm solely for our utility and benefit...as a personal shopper for the props of our life movie: happiness as entertainment, [and] salvation as therapeutic well-being."
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