Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. This term has entered into the
conversations of some Christian circles in recent years. It was developed,
defined and introduced by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton,
researchers who sought to understand the spiritual lives of American teenagers.
Their book,
Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American
Teenagers, presented findings that defined American teens as hugely moralistic,
therapeutic deists.
Why “moralistic”?
Smith and Denton
found that as a whole, American teens took a moralistic approach to life. In
other words, they believe that central to life is being “a good and moral
person” – someone who is nice and fair to everyone. They would say that, as
taught in the Bible and by most world
religions, good people go to heaven when they die.
Why “therapeutic”? The authors describe the worldview of these teens as one
that provides “therapeutic benefits to its adherents.” All in all, American
teens believe that the central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good
about oneself. There is little, if anything, within the belief systems of these
“Christian” teens that promote “repentance from sin, living as a servant of a
sovereign divine or building character through suffering.”
And lastly, they are labeled “deists” because they believe that god
exists and created and ordered the world
and watches over human life on earth. This “god” however “
does not need to be particularly involved in one’s
life except when he is needed to resolve a problem.”
An unfortunate picture indeed – one
that believes itself to be Christian yet approaches God on the basis of human
goodness and not the justifying righteousness of Christ (Romans 3:21-26). Unfortunate
still because many of us know these teens. They are in our Sunday schools, our
youth ministries and in our churches. Some of them are faithful church
attendees, they do well in school and while they may not be perfect, they are
perceived on the whole as “good kids.” Yes, good and moral kids who, while they
may profess Christ, do not possess the saving faith once for all given to the
saints (Jude 1:3), they do not love the
Gospel of God enough to sacrifice their lives, much less their comfort, for it
and they are far from any commitment to holiness and maturity in the faith.
I find that last sentence immensely
tragic and I write it with a heavy heart. My prayer for my own children (and
for those that I have the pleasure of knowing) is that they would be Christian and not merely “good and moral
children.” I understand of course that there is nothing that I can do to save
my children. It is God who saves. Salvation belongs to Him (Revelation 7:10). He
chooses and regenerates men, women and children (John 6:65). But the Bible does
not leave me without responsibility. I am to be a faithful steward of the
Children the LORD has given me. I must be faithful in praying for their hearts
to be contrite and repentant. I must impress upon them the meaning of the
gospel – drawing clear distinctions between saving faith and moralistic deism.
And most importantly, I must pray for the grace to live a life of discipleship
that faithfully displays the gospel.
This last point is essential for
it calls parents to examine the state of their own Christianity. How much do
you understand what you claim to believe? Do you accommodate yourself to the
dominant culture’s definition of a “good person” and a “good life” or do you
hold fast to the only “Good Person” who ever lived, trusting in His imputed
righteousness for your salvation? May it
not be that our own moralistic therapeutic deistic beliefs serve as the
example for our children.
