The Functioning False Gospels

A couple of weeks ago I went on a podcast Sacred Shenanigans. Of the many things we discussed we got around to the “real” “Gospels” that different branches of American Evangelicalism ascribe to. This is different than whatever stated doctrine or statement of faith these same Christians claim to hold. Rather, it is culturally and practically how fundamentalists, authoritarians, and charismatics in essence “promise” power and prosperity. I think it’s important to recognize these because it is so easy to fall into one if not more of these false promises.

Fundamentalism/Old School Charismatics- “Just try harder/have more faith”

Of course there is belief in Jesus. Worship songs are sung passionately about faith, the resurrection, and altar calls for people to “give their lives” to God are ubiquitous. But what happens after that moment of salvation? How does one navigate this life of faith, trial, and suffering? For fundamentalists and Charismatics prior to the New Apostolic Reformation the answer has almost historically been some sort of “try harder”. This “try harder” insinuation includes the encouragement to “have more faith”. If one is facing a trial or difficulty in life the answer almost always is couched in some sort of “do more” answer.

This can most readily be seen in the rise of “Biblical Counseling”. The answer to almost every problem is couched as a sin issue. The person struggling with whatever thing’s real problem is they aren’t doing/believing the right things. Therefore, every problem’s answer is to “repent” and do the “right” things. Have anxiety? That’s a sin of not trusting God so you need to feel bad about your feelings and how your body is reacting and just trust God more. Have depression? Repent of feeling bad and obey God to “count it all joy”. The answer to practically everything is “do more”.

Of course there is a limit people reach. The adage, “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle” is simply a lie and isn’t in scripture. What’s more, this is a literal “works based” gospel. The promise is if you just have a little more faith, if you obey more, if you put in a little more effort, God will bless you. When the “blessing” doesn’t come, when the marriage fails, the children fall away, or that loved one dies, it’s NEVER the fault of God or the belief system. It’s always conveniently the fault of the individual.

New Charismatics: Intimacy with God Equals Power

There has always been an unhealthy preoccupation in Charismatic circles with “power”. “Power and victory” have historically been the “call” for many in the Charismatic world. On one hand there historically has been an emphasis on “faith” but more recently the other side of the Charismatic coin has been emphasized, intimacy. A mutual online in a group chat said this, “[Charismatic Churches] bill intimacy with God as the solution to all problems, and closeness to God = spiritual power.” This is normally expressed in two things, prayer and worship. If you have a problem it’s because it is a “spiritual” battle. You need to pray, worship, “get close” to God and declare victory.

The entire “ministry” of International House of Prayer revolves around this “gospel”. That if people just pray enough, worship God enough, invite God down to move enough, God will do X. Even this week “prophet” Lance Wallnau claimed that anti-depressant use was a sign of the “end times” because people are “drugged up to deal with demons”. The implication being that depression is a matter of spiritual liberation not brain chemistry.

The obvious problem with this charismatic “gospel” is that people are physical. People need to eat, rest, work, etc. We simply cannot spend endless hours “seeking the Lord”. What’s more, intimacy and “power” with God doesn’t replace expertise, knowledge, or experience. There is a kind of spiritual laziness that almost expects God to work a “miracle” supernaturally that bypasses the real need for work. This is one reason the “7 Mountain Mandate” has become a defacto religion within New Apostolic churches. Who needs to campaign, fundraise, take courses on public management, become proficient in a career when God has just given you a mandate?

Just Submit- The Slaveholder Gospel

Often what gets intertwined with fundamentalism’s “try hard” gospel is what I’ve called the “Slaveholder Gospel”. The “good news” given to people under Christian authoritarianism is always, “just submit more”. The presumption is that not only is God in charge, but He sovereignly is also directing and allowing everything one experiences. This is coupled with a not too subtle insinuation that because God can “turn everything for good” therefore everything he allows IS good. So, the answer is to always accept what difficulties you face. Always ask how you aren’t obeying or submitting to the “proper authorities”. Make yourself smaller, accept less, treat any expectations you might have had as “idols” that were sinful and unrealistic anyway. If you feel bad just resign yourself to the “promise” you’re getting a reward in heaven.

This was expressed recently in John Piper’s assertion that there can be such a thing as “toxic” grief. Piper gave five criteria for “sin” in grieving or lament,

1. It is never right, it is always sin, to feel or think or say critical things about God and God’s ways.

2. It may be right to feel or think or express perplexity at God’s ways and to seek help from God to understand as much as possible — to cry out for it.

3. It may be right to feel or think or express how painful God’s ways are in your life and to seek God’s help to understand and endure.

4. The sin of having critical feelings or critical thoughts of God is not made worse by the sin of expressing those words to God aloud.

5. God disapproves of being criticized because it dishonors God, but God forgives those who repent and trust Christ.

Let me walk us through this- for Piper your submission to God should always be such that to even think or feel any kind of resistance towards what God is doing in your life is sin. Bill Gothard used to have a very similar idea with what he called the “root of bitterness”. If you even thought or felt anything “rebellious” against an authority you sinned and were becoming “bitter”. What’s more, Piper does this really unhelpful thing that certain Evangelicals do where they parse words as if they are offering clarity but what they really are doing is muddying the issue more. You can’t think or express “critical” things but you can express “perplexing” things. To be perplexed by something is to be critical of it! What Piper is trying to get around is a kind of almost fatalistic acceptance of God’s “providence” that simply isn’t seen in scripture. There are Psalms that are laments, there’s a whole book called “Lamentations”, “crying out” to God is something every character does in both the Old and New Testaments (even Jesus).

The end result of this “just submit” theology is you cannot advocate for yourself. You cannot even work to change or even speak out against injustice because even the “injustice” is God ordained and because it is coming from an “authority” that supposedly has been “sovereignly placed” by God your only recourse is to learn how to take it better all the while feeling shame and guilt for feeling/wanting better.

Naomi and the Evangelicals

Consider how the book of Ruth would look if we take these “gospels” and apply them to Naomi. Remember that Naomi had left Bethlehem in Israel and went with her husband and sons to Moab. There her husband dies and then later after marrying her sons also die. Naomi returns home and says this about herself and God, “Don’t call me Naomi (Sweet),” she told them. “Call me Mara (Bitter) because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me. (Ruth 1: 20b-21)”

The Fundamentalist would tell Naomi that her problem is her unresolved sin in rebellion towards God. That she had “fallen away” from obeying Him in going to Moab (even though she would have had no choice in the matter) and that she needs to repent of her rebellion and submit to the “chastisement of the Lord”. What she needs to do now is obey God by going out and gleaning in the fields in obedience to God.

The New Charismatics would tell Naomi that she needs to fast and pray for God’s miraculous intervention. Naomi’s problem is she’s accepted a “false spirit” that has made her accusatory towards God and unable to access the “joy of the Lord”. She needs to fast, pray, and worship till she finds that again.

The Authoritarians would tell Naomi that God “works all things for good”. She just needs to accept God’s providence in her life and submit to what he is doing in/through her. They would reprove her for her unbelief, tell her she needed to trust God more, and BTW she needs to go out and glean with Ruth because that’s the position God has her in.

Yet that isn’t what we see in the Bible. Naomi’s anger isn’t condemned. The fact that she doesn’t go out gleaning is simply taken as fact. Even at the end Naomi doesn’t agree with the pronouncement that she is now “sweet” again, she’s silent. One of the great things about the Bible is that it’s messier than our theologies.

Getting Back to the Gospel

I think it is telling that when Jesus saw the multitudes his first reaction was compassion. We right now are living in an Evangelical world where some people are trying to say that empathy is a sin. In many cases depending on where you look in American Evangelicalism it would seem that having emotions at all is a sin. Yet Jesus’ response to seeing people wasn’t to wonder what sins they haven’t repented of, it wasn’t to ask how devoted they were, it wasn’t to question whether they were “submitted” enough, it was to see them as “weary and heavy laden”.

There is a pernicious tendency in Western Christianity that simultaneously says “you need to be doing….” while at the same time saying “your body and what it feels is sinful”. This gives people a double burden of shame because not only are they never enough, they can never do enough, and feeling like that is also sinful. All that is before burnout where people hit their emotional, physical, or psychological limit. What is really sad is they will often “burnout” on one false gospel only to pivot to another that promises “grace” or “blessing” only to start the cycle all over again.

There are multiple reasons for us who are “deconstructing” to recognize these patterns of “false gospels”. The first reason is we need to see how often American Evangelicalism is just like Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees, “They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. (Matt. 23:4)” I believe there is something to simply acknowledging that this is a cultural tendency that crosses denominations, theologies, and worship styles. I believe there are some deep presuppositions in Western Culture that cause us to tun to performance in some way every time.

Secondly, we need to differentiate between functional gospels and professed gospels. You can have all of the right doctrines. You can profess to the most articulate and precise statement of faith, that doesn’t mean that what “saves” you is what you claim to believe. We have got to stop assuming what we assent to mentally is what we live out practically. So many are singing “Jesus Paid it All” in worship while living like he didn’t do anything.

Finally this is where I think we need to understand about these various “gospels” is in reality you don’t need Jesus for any of them. You can just white knuckle behavioral modification. You can get high off of mushrooms. Stoicism existed before Jesus was born. What I think is so sad about too many of our churches is that people come with the invitation and expectation that they will encounter Jesus and while they may learn about him, they are only told that they need him while they attempt to get God by another way.

Welcome to the Resistance.

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