Nihilism in the Church Run Amuck!

Please click on the YouTube video below to hear what Victoria Osteen recently said during the benediction at a worship service at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.

First of all, Victoria Osteen is the Co-Pastor of Lakewood Church, the largest Protestant congregation in the United States with a weekly worship attendance of 43,500 people according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakewood_Church). Her husband Joel Osteen is the other Co-Pastor of the church.

I could write about she said for hours.  For the sake of brevity, I will address just a few thoughts that come to mind tonight.

In a previous post titled, "Knowing God Deeply Part 3" I attempted to dialogue with this very situation which sociologist Christian Smith, from the University of Notre Dame, calls "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."  Dr. Smith defines moralistic therapeutic deism as:

1.     God created the world.
2.     God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions.
3.     The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4.     God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when needed to solve a problem.
5.   Good people go to heaven when they die.

This understanding of the Christian faith has taken over much of western Protestantism. The problem with moralistic therapeutic deism is that there is no gospel in it.  There is no good news. There is no Christ!

What's more, there is not comprehension or acknowledgement of the brokenness of creation and the depths to which humanity will sink to achieve her goals.  Further, there is no Savior to redeem that which is lost and broken.

I am a confessional, Protestant, Christian of the Presbyterian flavor (EPC to be exact).  As such I look to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms to help guide my understanding of the Faith of the Church.  I also have a deep appreciate and love for the other great confessional documents of the Church, especially the The Heidelberg Catechism. It begins (with

Scripture proof texts):

Q. 1. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.  He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil.  he also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.  Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from on to live for him.
1 Cor. 6:19-20; Romans 14:7-9; 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7, 2:22; John 8:34-36; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8; John 6:39-40, 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Peter 1:5; Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18; Romans 8:15-16, 28; 2 Cor. 1:21-22, 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14; Romans 8:14.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins (with Scripture proof texts):

 Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. Ps. 86:9, Isa. 60:21, Rom. 11:36, 1 Cor. 6:20, 1 Cor. 10:31, Rev. 4:11, Ps. 16:5–11, Ps.144:15, Luke 2:10, Phil. 4:4, Rev. 21:3–4. 

God did not create humanity because he was lonely and desired companionship, and God certainly did not create humanity to be at our beck and call--to do whatever was necessary to make us happy.  Furthermore, the central goal in life is certainly not to be good and to feel good about oneself.  God created us for a purpose--to worship God in all of God's fullness: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

As the Church, we need to wake up!  We need to pass along the Faith we received once and for all from the saints who have gone before us.  We need to proclaim the truth of the gospel-the good news of redemption found only in the Lord Jesus.

Lord, in your mercy...And thank you Bill Cosby!