A recent article in our local newspaper (The Ahwatukee Foothills News; 11.9.11) “’MTD’ and how it’s becoming the ‘new Christianity’” caught my attention. The author, Colin Noonan, was sharing his thoughts about a study by sociology professor Christian Smith at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” or “MTD.” The 2005 study was looking at religious beliefs of American teenagers. Professor Smith came up with the title based on his conclusions: “Moralistic” – do good and live morally; “Therapeutic” – my faith offers benefits that are helpful when they’re needed; and “Deism” – a belief in God, or a god. His findings had five main points:
(1) a god exists that created the world and watches over human life;
(2) God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and in most world religions;
(3) the central goal in life is to be happy and feel good about one’s self;
(4) God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to solve a problem;
(5) good people go to heaven when they die.
He also realized that these beliefs go beyond the American teen population and are found to be true with many adults also. At first it all seems OK and beneficial – some belief is better than no belief, right? – but it’s really a pretty superficial belief system. The major deficiencies are that the approach is not biblical; it’s ego-centric – “It is all about me!”; and it treats God as a servant to be beckoned as needed. There is no Lordship involved or personal responsibility to the Gospel.
I have posted about similar problemic beliefs three times over the past three years (see archives for “Don’t Mix” 2.12.11, “1 From Column ‘A’” 1.10.10, “Train up a Child” 8.16.09), so you can see that it’s a concern of mine. From “1 From Column ‘A’”: “When we start to incorporate other beliefs into how we practice Christianity, the dilution doesn’t strengthen us or add to our spirituality, it has the opposite effect. It weakens us by blurring the lines of what belief comes from what basis until it’s hard to identify just what it is that we believe or who we believe in. It cripples our ability to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ and diminishes the faith we pass on to our children. (See “Train Up a Child,” 8.16.09)
The Lord created us to be His and we are called by His Name. Isaiah 43:21 “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise.” Don’t mix!”
As the time of His return grows short, we don’t have time to endure another “Dark Ages” when Christianity is forced underground or diminished to the point of having little influence. We must be confident and strong in our own faith based on a firm foundation of a good understanding of the Word and a close personal relationship with our Lord and be ready to share the Good News with others, especially the youth. Fluff isn’t faith.
