Is 'grace' the new secular humanism?
Monday, April 19, 2010 at 10:41AM I'll tell you why I raise the question: For many in the grace movement (of which I consider myself a part), there is the subtle transition away from the distinctive work of Christ for us (and the radical problem of personal evil it solves) towards a secular-humanism with a nod to Jesus, (but a revised Jesus.) This new 'grace' is a constraint-free, fully-permissive grace (but not 'profitable') that permits the adherent to believe whatever suits him or her.
This revised grace flows from a reconstructed version of Scripture that no longer values absolutes: Everything is now fluid and flexible. This has happened in large part because of postmodernism's affect upon the Church, as much as anywhere else. It has resulted in the deconstruction of everything, leaving many in the Church to develop their own stories piecemeal, and according to their own tastes...and wounds. (Our unhealed wounds lead us far more than we know.)
This new grace is also a reaction to the failures of institutional ideals (and there are many). I myself was deeply wounded by the institutionalized version of the 'gospel.' In many ways, an initial polarization against the things that once bound us is completely normal....as long as we don't stay there. Healthy development means continuously reassessing our current position so that we are lead to truer and deeper freedom in Christ.
Grace is a great thing, but it is not license to construct our own versions of the Gospel. I'm not even sure you need Jesus with this new and revised grace, nor do you need the testimony about him and his cure for the human condition as described in the scriptures. Many no longer even hold the Scriptures as the final authority against which all other voices are measured. (God does speak to our hearts outside of Scripture, but never in contradiction to it. So how do you evaluate what you hear if you've discarded the template altogether?)
Secular humanism, under the guise of 'grace' doesn't lead us into reality any better than the storylines we followed before we met Christ; for it becomes unhinged from the actual person and restoring work of the actual Jesus. This altered humanistic distortion of grace reconstructs the Gospel, leaving each of its adherents coccooned in their private plot-lines and fragmented narratives. How is that helpful?
Have you seen this dynamic at work? Do you agree, disagree?
Reader Comments (21)
I have to agree with you.
I agree!!!! Thankyou for writing this. It is late at night here so I will just write a quick note, but there is a huge chunk in the grace message missing. It has been disheartening me so much lately. You learn it pretty quickly when something really evil is done to you or someone you love, something really unjust and you realise, the law of God still stands.....the scriptures still stand.....there is a balance and we are still need to abide in Christ. It is not an 'anything goes' or 'do whatever feels good'. Following your heart or living our of your heart can be taken to an extreme....I think it is when Jesus LIVES in our heart and His life lives in us that we can do that safely, but apart from Him, doing that can lead to being easily deceived and ending up in bad situations, or making our own rules. I may not be making sense, I just know that when grace is idolised as a seperate entity and we lose the plot again, its just like the law without love, but in reverse, except its grace without any boundaries or the commandments of the law, which is also not the full gospel. It does turn into a form of humanism. There has to be some plumbline of which things are measured against, or what do we define as good and evil? Our plumbline is the Word of God, and the Holy spirit in our hearts. I think this is being forgotton or left out. Again, I probably havent explained it well, its late and its coming out disjointed, but what you wote above says it so well.
Hi Rick and Katie. This phenomenon in the grace movement (those who have come out of institutional ism and rediscovered the grace and freedom in Christ) has been a concern of mine for a while now.
Katie, what you said here: "when grace is idolised as a seperate entity and we lose the plot again..." is so right on. It's the idea that "I will maintain my 'freedom' at all costs, even if it means I discard long-held biblical ideas, or even any claim to foundational reality. It's postmoderism's reaction to modernity's abuses of truth. But it's a reaction that doesn't help.
I definately agree and have been getting that sense. You know, I do trust the Spirit within me, though. If I "go astray", He is my friend, and loves me enough to pull me back in.
Hey Mason. I agree -- the Spirit now residing in our hearts can be trusted. He's also renovated our hearts, making our hearts trustworthy. Our new hearts might be young and in need of maturity, but our hearts have been made like His.)
Having said this though, there has to be some way to evaluate the messages that come to us (or that appear to come from the Holy Spirit within). I think that Scripture provides the truest litmus for interpreting the various voices. After all, everyone, even those walking with Christ, can be occasionally deceived. How will we know reality, apart from Scriptural testimony? I think the both/and of God's individual communications to us and the ultimate benchmark of Scripture need to be restored. To me, some have discarded that tension.
Yeah, I totally agree. I have gone through a phase where I given up reading the Bible every day, though; it was just too much of a ritual. But now I find the Spirit leading me there again; not on a daily ritualistic basis, but almost as a curiosity to jog my memory ("did it really say that") as it comes to my mind. It is really fun for Scripture reading to be totally spontaneous like that. I tell this to people and they are insistant that the Bible must be read daily or we will be deceived. I don't doubt the authority of Scripture or that it is the benchmark, but daily Bible reading to me just doesn't jive in light of the New Covenant and our new hearts.
I do want to say, though, that if someone communes with God that way, I am totally for that. It is just not for me and I feel reading the Bible on a regular basis is a conviction and not a commandment (in light of grace). Thoughts?
Hey Mason, I don't read the Bible everyday either -- like all other 'spiritual disciplines,' if it is purely driven by guilt and duty, it misses the point. The point is connecting with God.
This is no way diminishes the priority or character of Scripture, it just addresses it from a better motive than religious guilt I think.
On the other hand, I don't want to avoid Scripture, either, out of a reaction to the abuses of religious thinking. That's like allowing an abuser to continue to affect you long after the abuser and the abusive context are gone. You end up throwing away something that could bring life, just because that thing was used improperly in the past.
A scalpel can wound, or it can heal - depending upon who's hands it is in.
I have seen this dynamic at work and It has been a balancing act for me.
I do believe the scripture is inspired and that God will not tell me something that is a major contradiction to them. But I have hard time accepting that the bible is the final authority.
From my experience believing that the bible is the final authority is really believing that pastors, dogmatic parents, the better arguers and convincers, are really the final authority.
For example...my earthly father is a smart and convincing man....he teaches in the church, study biblical archeology and creation science, and has three rooms full of just books about the bible and Christianity.
He called me last week to scold me about speaking up to my mom her talking bad about my wife to me. He believes for me to honor my mom is to fulfill her emotional needs...even though it drains me and leaves me with not much to give to my wife and step and daughter. My wife and I almost divorced due to the legalism of my parents I was still embracing and the resentment I had towards my mom that I took out on here in passive aggressive ways. He believes that as Christians we should deny ourselves and have not confidence, and that our hearts are evil so we should believe the bible. He believes Jesus does not speak any more and all we have is the bible and if we follow it someday we may go to heaven. He has a stronger personality that I do and he is quick to correct me on differences (me being 34). If the bible is the final authority, then when my earthly father throws out all the scriptures...basically I HAVE to believe it becuase that is God's word..regardless of what my heart tells me and what I have experienced in Christ love, and what I TRUELY know about Gods character. I HAVE to do what my earthly father is telling me because he is sharing "the final authority" which makes him my final authority. SO this means I have to hold my heard down and tell my dad he is right, and I am sorry for dishonoring them, and I will do what he tells me because he is telling me "what the bible" says.
So I go back to my shame, low self esteem, second guessing myself, always begging God for forgiveness, cowering to my dad to honor him, giving my mother honor by giving in to her endless emotional need...and having my wife and daughter resent me while I do " the right thing" and do what the "bible says". If I just go by what the bible says it will be too easy for me to go back to the religious mindset I am most familiar and filter everything through that. For example the last 10 years of my Grandmothers life she was sick and would not go into a church...for a funeral or anything...because she could not get into a dress and being she was raised in a Holiness Pentecostal church, she believed God told her she could not go to church with out wearing a dress because that is what the bible told her, so that is what God was telling her. Her brother was a preacher believed the bible taught racism and that women were below men, one of her brothers abused his wife...because she was to submit to him...and the people in their churches all had to believe it because what the bible said. Maybe if they realized that Jesus was the word of God, then they would have stepped back...got to know the heart of God, and put the scripture the were believing as "God talking to them" in their proper place and context...as inspired but not the final authority to RULE someone's life.
Another example would be a friend who weighs 500 pounds may not be using self control or may be gluttonous, and I may be able to share with him that the diet in the law was for our good. I could tell him what the bible says...and tell him that God is telling him he HAS to go on a diet,and not be so lustful....the bible is the final authority that is what it says..you must do it or your in rebellion.
Or the newly single mother who's husband walked out on her and left her with 3 kids and the bills and she is overwhelmed and starts complaining to her friend at church. Her friend tells her " The bible says that complaining is a sin and is what kept the children of Israel out of the promise land"
or when someone is grieving over a loss someone tells them "Rejoice in the Lord always, God commands it in his word"
Those scriptures may have been the word of God to the people they were originally written to,and also be the word to us today as well...but if man is the one throwing out a scripture and not God then I believe that scripture has no authority. It only has authority when it is in God bring the scripture to light, and it will always have the power to draw one closer to Father God, and it will bring life...not death like when some one push scriptures.
I am not trying to be ridiculous, but feel that the bible has too much authority in the church and being that people are imperfect putting too much confidence will actually make one harden their heart towards God (and there is a scripture that says that to...you must hear the word and not harden your heart or your in "rebellion")
This is where I am... believe in the death burial and resurrection (Paul says that with out the resurrection his preaching would be useless), I believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father, and that this is the most important thing to believe.. I do not believe in throwing the bible completely out, but to filter each scripture through what you know in your heart to be true about God.
For example scripture says "There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk after the spirit and not after the flesh.
I had heard that if you walk in the flesh, there is condmenation even if you were in Christ Jesus. The "who walk after the spirit and not after the flesh" never settled well with me because it seemed inconsistent with the finished work of Christ on the cross and seemed to contradict other scriptures...but it was the bible I had to take it as the gospel truth and final authority.
Not too long ago I was reading that in that scripture that the "who walk after the spirit and not after the flesh" was not in the original Greek text and was added in the side notes.
It confirmed what I already knew in my heart about the character of God;There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus PERIOD.
The things I am saying may not make sense and contradictory...I am still sorting through this stuff.
I will agree with you that absolutes are still important (to me the virgin birth, death, burial, resurrection, deity of Jesus, and Jesus as the only way to the Father)
I am still however sorting though what place the bible should have in my life, with out it taking the place of an intimate relationship with Jesus.
I appreciate the balance you bring to the grace message.
Shane, I am so saddened by the way the Scriptures were abused and used against you by those who should have protected and nourished your heart. What could have brought life (the freedom revealed in Scripture) brought condemnation and distortions. Glad you are moving away from that.
And, regarding your relationship with your earthly dad -- you and your wife have authority over your family. Not your dad.
You might find a book helpful that I'm reading now called, "Tired of Trying to Measure Up" by Jeff VanVonderen. I'm finding it very clarifying.
Yeah Shane; that is saddening. It reminds me of the Pharasees who knew the Scriptures up and down, but didn't know God's heart. I think this is what happens when we turn the Bible into a rule book and don't see it as a story about God's rediculous love for us. Sometimes following the rules is the best way to hide our hearts. God must be so grieved.
Hi Jim,
You mentioned scripture as a litmus test in hearing from the Lord. That is very important. It's amazing to me how much clarification that brings. Measuring a message's validity really does require in part making sure it doesn't conflict with scripture. The next thing is measuring something by how it makes me feel...if something discourages me or scares me in a bad way (we're not talking about, "better not text and drive, Meredith. You might wreck.") but dark scary things that disturb me...I assume correctly that it is not from God.
Meredith
I'm not so sure about what is occurring as I'm not really up with church trends anymore but for what it's worth - I found that there seems to be a disconnect between being someone who is grace to others and constantly saying that it is all Jesus' work. Somehow this takes away from the decisions that I can make to be a friend or to show compassion. It seems that it is okay to say to others that Jesus loves them but perhaps not as acceptable to say that I / we do and to let the normal progression of relationship to allow people to discover one's foundation and source.
We have had 100's of years of the status quo - why not start to believe that we are actually the expression of Jesus' hands and feet in how we engage and treat others and let people discover God through people's lives and actions than primarily through a book.
I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments today. Thanks again Jim for this post. It seems to me that when you get away from reading the bible (though for a time I did also because of the baggage that I carried around) it is easy to begin to start thinking up your own version of truth and using it piecemeal for what you want to say. I have also found that it is easier to speak against the bible the less you actually look into it. This has come thru observing my own life, it is a theory I have.
I'm glad that this conversation is happening, I'm glad that we can do it in a civilized manner, and I am glad that we can honor and love one another while we do it. There is a lot of the conversation that is going on that is so far out there that I have found it to be unprofitable to say the least. Anyways, thank you all for the privilege to read a discussion that doesn't look like a political race.
Shane, I hate to hear what you are going through. It is sad when parents are more concerned about themselves than they are their children. Your in a tough place for sure, filled with some tough choices; may God give you wisdom, grace, and strength as you make them.
Hey Ian,
For me, as a follower of Christ, there is no separation between what I offer others in love, and "It's just Jesus in me doing it." It's our union with him that allows this. You're right...too many separate the two.
Hey Rick. Glad I could provide the place for sane discussion. I, too, have been on "grace-based" forums that look more like the Roman Colliseum.
I also think that for many of us, our reaction against Scripture or some of the foundational beliefs we used to hold is because the pain of abuse and misuse is still real. What we need is healing. Which, for me, anyway, takes time.
Part of that healing means breaking agreements (not with Scripture) but with those who misused it. By that, I mean, we no longer giving the abusers permission to continue hurting us. (Some of our abusers may not even be in the picture any more -- yet we continue to allow them to harm us, even in their absence. What can happen is that we continue to 'agree' with them and their conclusions, giving them authority over us, legitimizing their perspective.
Once we can heal, we can return to the beauty and life in those things (like Scripture) that are legitimate sources of vitality for us. Scripture wasn't the problem - the abusers of it were the problem.
Thanks for joining the discussion!
"Scripture wasn't the problem - the abusers of it were the problem."
Well said Jim, I think we have here the root of the issue. Thanks again...
During many years of an emotionally abusive marriage i studied God's word and prayed for truth... and this is some of what He taught me... We so often take the word out of its own context. The OT basically shows us all the ways by which we separate ourselves from God and our human inability to restore or compensate for that...starting with not trusting Him, then going on to living by the flesh, under judges, under law,under kings, idolatry unto captivity, and as summed up at the end of Malachi...arrogance. God's love and providence are all over the OT, along with those who did have relationship with Him...and those who did not. "But when the time had fully come" (Gal. 4:4) God sent His Son to show us in very human terms Who He Is and how much He loves us, and how intimitely and ultimately trustworthy He Is. Jesus shows us the Father and fully restores our relationship with Him in a new covenant... God lives in us and we live in Him....we are in His heart and He is in ours. Through His Spirit in us we receive faith, grace, love and truth to live out to others. If you want to know God's heart about something, look first to what Jesus said and did. As i sought the truth, i found that the only people to whom Jesus did not express grace were those who hypocritically denied grace to others...such as the Pharisees and the unforgiving servant. Legalistic, performance/conformance-based people, "churches" and entities deny Jesus' grace in the same way. God's word is the history of His relationship with the people He made and loves. In the NT, "churches" were groups of believers in various areas, and though they did have leaders, offerings and some people designated to do certain things, they were much more "bodies of believers" than the often powerful organizational hierachies that call themselves churches today. The NT writings describe the transformations of faith and grace as they were happening in the lives of the apostles and the early believers, and they help us through our own transformations. God's word is still being written in our hearts (2 Cor. 3:2 & Heb. 10:16) as the Spirt teaches us all things and reminds us of everything Jesus said. (John 14:25) I have read of missionaries who go to far-off places thinking they are bringing God, and finding that God is already there. He is not confined to a book or to a church or to anything else of this world. "The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." words of Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:8.
Note to Shane,
Ask God to help you speak the truth in love...keep it simple...resist becoming defensive. If your Mom is critical, you could say "You may think that, but I think (insert positive comment) and then change the subject. Part of the "hook" of emotional abuse is goading you into a conflict so they can be right or win or feel superior or secure or in control (or any & all of those). They know just how to yank your emotional chain, so don't let them. Let God help you be in control of your own emotions, words and actions. You already know you can't convince them or change them, so change how you REACT to them. Because you grew up in a family where maintaining control and being right were paramount, look at yourself and see how much feeling in control or being right is a factor in how you react when they harass you...or maybe it was always "go along to get along" and you can't anymore. You are starting to realize that what they believe and their tactics are actually counter to God. God is showing you truth in your heart and mind to which you are open and they are not. He is leading you away from their fear-based beliefs...they have kept you in fear...while God wants you to live in love. (1 John 4:18) So don't be afraid of what God is trying to do because His ways are so different from your family and that's why you have so little confidence. Be confident in Him and let Him lift the heavy yoke of your family's expectations. Be thankful! You can't open their minds or hearts...they will likely persist in their sad beliefs, but see it as that....sad, fearful (and yes, also evil) ways that they are living for now, while you keep praying and believing that God in His time has ways of opening their hearts and minds. Your family equates your agreeing with them and allowing their control with "love" so it will be hard for them to understand that you can believe differently from them and still love them. As they try to force things on you, decline to force things on them...ask God to show you where you can make a positive inroad of grace or love or truth in a few words or a small gesture. It's not passive aggressive to decline to get hooked into the same old conflicts. Ask God to help you remain calm, to give you words that are truthful yet grace-full, and guidance in disengaging, so they have less opportunity...be respectfully agreeable "I know that's how you feel about it" without stating your opposing opinion....talk about things you CAN agree about....trust God to show you when and how to best respond when you need to take a stand. If they start harassing you, it's time to go....just say "this isn't productive" and LEAVE. A couple thoughts: Is it possible that having had an emotionally draining mother, your wife may tend in that direction also? Does your wife have an understanding of what happens in your family and about where you are with God about it? I hope you have talked about it with her. Do you have children yet? God wants this pattern of emotional abuse ended for their sakes, even if that means less contact with your parents and relatives. Keep asking God to show you how to deal with this and give more of His truth and wisdom to you (and your wife) so you can show love and grace to your family, while minimizing their abuse. If you end up being the black sheep of the family, remember, so was Jesus. Read in the Gospels how He dealt with accusation and let Him be your help and example.
Hi Nancy. I agree with you. What you and I are saying are not mutually opposed, but both/and. Thanks for sharing.
Interesting post and comments, Jim. I guess I’ll share my thoughts even though others have already touched on them.
I no longer believe that the scriptures are the final authority in my life and I wouldn’t test others voices against scripture nor use them as a plumb line. I believe love is the final authority and, if the voice I’m hearing doesn’t lead me deeper in the love of God, then I would discount it even if it seemed to agree with scripture.
While I do believe the authors of the Bible were inspired in what they wrote, I don’t believe it was ever intended to be a pattern for our lives. I believe the various books or letters of the Bible were written to a specific people who lived in a specific time who were dealing with specific issues and, while we can learn a lot from what they wrote, I don’t believe we can necessarily take what was written and apply it to our lives.
Hi Aida, since everyone has a different idea of what love ought to look like, how do we get an accurate picture of Jesus' life and love? ...other than what is written in Scripture? (Even our faith in him today is directly tied to the picture of Jesus as handed down to us in those written documents. It has been handed down to us because of witnesses who lived with Jesus or around his time. -- esp the N.T, of course - and wrote about it. ) Why? Why call them 'inspired' at all if they are only time-bound for ages past?
However, I don't think Scriptures are without error in each word -- somehow the process of transcribing and translating always breaks down. Yet, as you said, they were inspired -- so we have to ask, "For what reason were they inspired?"
Granted, the Spirit within testifies to what love looks like, but we've all had times where we mistake another voice for the Spirit's voice. So where's the checks and balances if we don't think Scripture's authority is relevant? Many a cult can be formed from untethered belief systems as well as dogmatic institutionalism.
I also think that we can't look at everything in Scripture as prescriptive: some things are more descriptive. This takes time and prayer to see which is which -- but that doesn't imply that all things in Scripture are simply descriptive either (in my little opinion.)
Is it possible that many dear people have lost a sense of Scripture's authority and application to our lives because they've suffered under church institutionalism? Was the problem with Scripture, or with those who abused it?