Special Saturday Edition
Ethan Barton, Pastoral Resident, Tallowood Baptist Church
A sociologist a few years ago observed the way many people today tend to treat their Christian faith. In 2005, he published a book in which he referred to this religious movement as “moralistic therapeutic deism.” These are the commonly-held believes he observed: God just wants me to be happy, and if I’m a decently good person who is nice to people, I’ll go to Heaven when I die. A surprising number of self-proclaimed Christians would say this is what Christianity really is.
But does that sound like the Bible? Does that view really line up with Scripture’s countless depictions of the atrocity of sin, the wrath of a just God, the demands of righteousness, or even the gospel of Jesus? How often do we try to explain away those things in order to keep Christianity comfortable? More than I’m willing to admit, personally.
Paul says we reap what we sow. In other words, the life we choose has its due consequences—there’s no avoiding it. In everything we do, we either seek to please the Spirit or the flesh. The Spirit is the very source of all goodness and joy; the flesh looks in vain for happiness anywhere else. The Spirit offers eternal life with our glorious Father; the flesh offers only cheap substitutes. The Spirit is love and truth; the flesh deceives.
There are no shortcuts to Heaven. Does God want us to be happy? Yes. Extremely. But we’re horrible at knowing what actually makes us happiest! God has told us where eternal happiness is found and offered it freely to us! Let us pursue that instead! We reap what we sow; if we root ourselves in Jesus our Lord and allow him to transform us so that the fruit of the Spirit blossoms forth, eternal life is ours. Let us not weary in doing good, and the harvest will be plentiful.
