The following article was written by Rich Leino, owner and administrator of the PuritanBoard, a confessional Reformed online community. Rich touches on the importance of “creed over deed”, or the Gospel over works. God is not concerned with the reforming of our lives. God is concerned with our response to the Gospel. The Gospel, the Evangel, is at the center of the Christian faith. America, and most western nations, have traded the Gospel for what has been described as Therapeutic Deism. Therapeutic Deism views God as our helper, a tonic for what ails us. It has placed a veil over God’s holiness, man’s sin, and the hope of the Gospel. Rich Leino’s article is a fresh reminder of that which is most important.
~ Bill
The National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) has published its first major findings in Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, by Oxford University Press.
The book Soul Searching accurately describes the state of American Christianity today by describing the beliefs of teens, the book:
…vividly portrays complexity and paradox in the story of contemporary teenage religion. Though widely practiced and positively valued by teens, faith is also de-prioritized and very poorly understood by them. Nonetheless, religion remains a significant force in shaping their lives.
More broadly, Soul Searching describes what appears to be a major transformation of faith in the U.S., away from the substance of historical religious traditions and toward a new and quite different faith the book describes as \”Moralistic Therapeutic Deism….\”1
A further description:
Based on a nationwide telephone survey of teens and their parents, as well as in-depth face-to-face interviews with more than 250 of the survey respondents, Soul Searching shows that religion is indeed a significant factor in the lives of many American teenagers. Chock full of carefully interpreted interview data and solid survey statistics, Soul Searching reveals many surprising findings. For example, the authors find that teenagers are far more influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of their parents and other adults than is commonly thought. They challenge the conventional wisdom that many teens today are \”spiritual seekers.\” And they show that greater teenage religious involvement is significantly associated with more positive adolescent life outcomes.
Soul Searching reveals the complexity of contemporary teenage religious life, showing that religion is widely practiced and positively valued by teens, but also de-prioritized and very poorly understood by them, yet significant nonetheless in shaping their lives. More broadly, Soul Searching describes what appears to be a major transformation of faith in the U.S., away from the substance of historical religious traditions and toward a new and quite different faith the authors call \”Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.\”2
What does this all mean? This means that Evangelicals of all stripes are raising children that essentially believe that God is far off somewhere, cannot really be described in words, and doesn’t really interfere in human affairs unless He is invoked when we can’t get things done on our own. Further, most believe that life can pretty much be managed except when we get in over our heads. At that point, God is there to help us out. Most believe men are basically good and we get to heaven as our good deeds outweigh our bad. Most shocking is that such beliefs are fairly consistent among the religious groups surveyed. Thus, a Roman Catholic might identify themselves by the title or a Baptist decry that they are not Roman Catholic, but their “creed” is identical.
This confirms a trend I have lived and that I now lament as one whose eyes have been opened to the power of the Gospel. Growing up Roman Catholic, I attended a Charismatic parish for several years. The priest emphasized the experiantial aspects. Belief in Christ was meditative and “discerned” while the creedal formulations were never discussed. I, thus, went to college in 1986 looking for experience of the same. Eventually discouraged that Catholic Churches lacked the “excitement” I had grown used to as a youth, I stopped going to Church for several years. Eventually I found my way into a broadly Evangelical Church where charismatic expression reigned again over doctrine. I was convinced that Roman Catholics and Evangelicals were divided only by a level of fervency for Christ. I suppose I imagined that Martin Luther and John Calvin were primarily interested in making Jesus an exciting thing again.
I attended Charismatic Churches for years. Expression of worship and excitement was always emphasized. Christ was said to have died for my sins but this was devoid of any meaning. I still understood that I must contribute my fervency and devotion to Him if I was to be accepted. I lived the life of the therapeutic Deist. I sought new experience week in and week out but always left flat, depressed, impoverished.
Then in 1997, I read Faith Alone by R.C. Sproul and everything changed. Suddenly the seemingly dead and confusing words of Scripture became utterly clear. The truth of the Gospel, for the first time, was unencumbered by vague speech. Somebody finally spoke clearly and said that Christ was the Just and Justifier. Somebody spoke plainly about imputed righteousness. I had experienced nearly everything that Charismatic experience has to offer. I had gone to the depths of the earth pursuing Christ and tried to climb to the heavens but it was all zeal without knowledge. I was not pursuing righteousness. I was not pursuing Christ. The awakening, excitement, and joy of that information, that News, filled me with a joy that no song or charismatic experience could ever replicate.
It is said, often, that American Evangelicals are “overfed”. That is, they get plenty of teaching but the problem is that they don’t act. We’re told today that we need less creeds and more deeds. This, of course, is reflected in the beliefs of teens today. They reflect their parents’ notion of truth – that in the end it doesn’t matter what you believe but it just matters how you live. In fact, the reason why this is perceived to be the case is that Evangelicals no longer are taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
That’s right, Evangelicals are STARVED of the Gospel. They are fed deeds. They are fed purpose. They are fed experience. What they lack is the very News that can transform human hearts. What they never hear is that a Holy God is pouring out His wrath on all flesh. What they never hear is that all our works are like filthy rags before a Holy God who mankind hates because He is Holy. What they never hear is that, left to ourselves, no flesh will be found justified in His sight and He has every right to punish every man, woman, and child. Because God is Holy, He cannot overlook sin. It must be punished. But men think that God is there to serve them so they never experience the terribly bad news that their sin is worthy of condemnation.
Moreover, men never hear that God sent His only begotten Son into the world to bear the wrath that His people deserve. They don’t hear about the initiating love of God that gives spiritual eyes to see as the Gospel goes forth that brings dead men to life. They don’t hear that Christ bore the full penalty of wrath from His own Father that we deserve. Because they never hear it, they don’t look to Christ and believe the Gospel – a simple faith that says that Christ is God and bore the penalty of sin in His flesh and rose again to declare Himself God.
Because men, women, and children don’t hear this Good News anymore they are left STARVED in the Churches. You see, it is the Gospel that is the creed. It is the data of who Christ is, what He accomplished, and the nature of His Church that men, women, and children are not taught about. They have nobody to trust in except themselves. They have no News to embrace. Sadly, it is this very news that is the thing that transforms and saves but people don’t hear it, they’re not taught it, and they know nothing more about God than their Roman Catholic friends.
Thus, because I am a man transformed by the Evangel – the Good News of Christ – it breaks my heart to see men and women and children who have a mighty heritage in the Gospel impoverished. Many believe Grace is less powerful than the Roman Catholic Church did at the time of the Reformation. They’re asked to commit themselves fully to Christ so He will bless them. Gone is what Christ has done and it’s replaced with what we must do to draw near to Him.
In the end, it is the Creed that is more important than the Deeds. It’s not that deeds are unimportant but the deeds don’t save. It is the Creed that saves. It is the Creed that takes a dead man, running with all his might toward hell, and knocks him down and makes him alive that He might see and embrace the Gospel. As his heart reflects upon the wonderous salvation, constantly fed the Good News of how God is for those whom He has redeemed and how God has purposed to save His own to the uttermost, his heart superabounds with joy. His heart sings praises of doxology to the God he now loves, to the God he is now reconciled to. His will is now empowered by the Gospel toward love and good works – a fruit of a heart transformed!
Thus, I am convinced that those who emphasize deeds over creeds will not only lose all creeds but they will lose the deeds as well. There is nothing left, after the creeds have disappeared to empower or inform what is good. Every man does what is right in his own eyes. Sure, religion is convenient and fun for a season but as soon as it is tested in the fire of life, a life that most suburban kids are sheltered from, the phony religion is burned away. Like the “burned over” generations of the 19th century, American Evangelicalism is burning out and many are turning to rank atheism.
And so, this board embraces the Reformation and it embraces the Reformation’s historic confessions because they proclaim Christ and Him crucified. They unabashedly express the full nature of God and the wonder of the great salvation He has brought to His enemies that He loved beforehand.
The Reformed Confessions also take God seriously for He is not only our Justifier but He is a consuming fire. He is worthy of worship and adoration. He is not some mere transcendant clockmaker but is very near to us and has covenanted with man through human history. He has made promises to save that He Himself kept in the person of Jesus Christ.
Thus, theology is not a dry and boring thing but neither is it a joke or a youth game. Rather, it is an encounter with a living and Holy God who we love because He first loved us. It is because we love Him that we love to sing His praises and hate all those things that rebel against Him.
And so, we welcome you to the PuritanBoard if you are of like mind. If you are not yet a believer in the person and work of Christ and don’t know much about His person and work then we pray that our interactions on this board will demonstrate how deadly serious we are about the Truth. We pray that this seriousness about doctrine will, in some measure, be a means to the salvation of some as well as an edification to God’s Saints.
Soli Deo Gloria!
1 http://www.youthandreligion.org/
2 Ibid.
