My new blog buddy Brett Trapp wrote this post on 28 things he’s learned in his 20′s. I loved it so much that I thought I’d take each of those things and elaborate on them over the next several days (since I’m about 3 months older and wiser than him.)
3. The American church teaches empty moralism for the most part. And that is not the Gospel. -Trappstr
Not sure about “for the most part”…I see a revolution happening every day to show people the Gospel of GRACE.
Nonetheless, empty moralism, the belief that the Gospel can be reduced to improvements in behavior, causes sooooooo many problems! Its one of satan’s greatest tools.
Ever heard someone say something along the lines of, “Christians think they are better than everyone else” ????
Empty moralism is where that comes from.
I feel that all to often we unintentionally give in to the “logic” of moralism and reduce the Gospel to a message of moral improvement. We communicate to people who need to be loved that God demands that they get their lives straight.
Its easy to be seduced into believing that you can gain all the approval that you need through your behavior.
I know several “moralists.” They would never claim to be 100% without sin; but they would compare themselves to others to feel validated. The basic idea is “if I am without scandal, then I am good to go. I’m….better…”
My prayer for Revolution is that we would never communicate this false Gospel to our community!
