We’re reflecting on an excellent essay by Christian Smith, “On ‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism’ as U.S.Teenagers’ Actual, Tacit, De Facto Religious Faith,” which I found at the website for the Princeton Theological Seminary.
Christian Smith wrote Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers
The Bible is bold and plain that we live in a broken world where pain and suffering are part of the human experience. Indeed, God’s people sometimes have to suffer more than others.
(Rom 5:3-5 ESV) 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
(1Pe 3:14-17 ESV) 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
Persecution, slander, and suffering are part of the Christian walk. Peter gives the nearly cynical answer — that if you’re going to suffer, it had may as well be for doing right!
Now, some of God’s greatest servants lived blessed lives. Abraham died wealthy. Job suffered miserably but was ultimately rewarded with a life filled with blessings and wealth. Joseph was imprisoned, but ultimately ruled in luxury as second in command over all Egypt.
However, the Old Testament prophets were all martyred (Luke 6:23). Many of God’s most noble servants suffered greatly for their faithfulness —
(Heb 11:36-38 ESV) 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated– 38 of whom the world was not worthy — wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
The apostles, other than John, all died as martyrs. The early Christians often suffered horrific deaths following unspeakable torture.
And today, some of the best people I know have lost children while still teenagers, suffer from terrible diseases, and have been betrayed by their spouses.
When we preach that converting to Christianity will make everything right, and pleasant, and nice, we lie. We just do. That’s not the deal. It never was. It never will be.
We are quick to condemn those who preach a prosperity gospel, but it’s just as wrong to preach a gospel that shelters us from pain and loss. It doesn’t.
Rather, the gospel gives us something even better. Not just heaven. Not just salvation. But a purpose, a mission, and a relationship. It gives us the love of God, it gives us his presence within us through the Spirit, and it gives us an opportunity to serve alongside the Son of God in God’s great mission. And it gives us the church.
We get to join a community that’s centuries old, filled with the holy and righteous and wise, and join with them in serving the Creator of the universe in his mission to set things right.
But to do this, we join on the Creator’s terms. And it costs us everything. And, of course, to be on mission to set things right, we have to admit that things are very, very wrong. We can’t be Pollyannas and serve in the mission. No, God needs clear eyed vision. We need to see pain and suffering as quite real and very wrong and respond accordingly — rather than denying the reality of suffering.
You see, when we understand that Christianity is about dying to Jesus, about surrendering everything, then some wonderful things happen.
First, we get over the pagan illusion that we have a deal with God where he magically fixes all our problems. We escape being disillusioned by a lie. Therefore, when bad things happen, our faith is not threatened. We don’t feel that God has betrayed us. We don’t get angry with God. Rather, like David, we find consolation in the blessings we have even when we don’t have all the blessings we wish for.
Second, we give up our selfishness, and so we see the world through a very different lens. We begin to see things more as God sees things. And so we are less concerned about how pleasant life is for ourselves and much more concerned about how life is for everyone else. And while my life may not always go to suit me, I can always pour myself into service for others. I can always find joy in sacrificing for someone else.
Third, as we give up our selfishness and become others-centered for the sake of Jesus, our relationships heal. We become better parents and spouses. We become better friends. And life really does get better — maybe not the way we expected.
Fourth, as we lose ourselves in Jesus, being with Jesus becomes more important than the good life today. I learn to long for a better day after Jesus returns. I defer my pleasures, knowing that whatever I lose in this life will be more than made up in the next.
Fifth, when horrible things happen to me, I’ll suffer with friends and loved ones who will be with me forever. It’s hard to suffer but even harder to suffer alone. By being a part of a community of selfless people who are filled with Spirit and serving in God’s mission, I find support and encouragement far beyond I would even know how to pray for.
There’s no real comfort and no real joy in a counterfeit religion. Indeed, the religion we often practice truly is the opiate of the masses — an addiction that dulls the senses and eases the pain with lies.
Real Christianity is very, very different from moralistic therapeutic deism — and far, far better. It’s not magic. We don’t get to manipulate God to our own ends. And we don’t get to pretend that life is perfect. It’s not.
Rather, when we see the pain and suffering that’s part of this life, we recognize these things as the product of sin and separation from God — products of the Fall — and so we redouble our efforts to bring the Kingdom in its fullness — so that God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
We cannot help others deal with real pain and suffering while pretending that God has protected us from these things. If we think God has protected us, then we have to figure that God has protected all his children. Therefore, the suffering of Christians in other parts of the world, well, it can’t be real. After all, doesn’t God shield them, too?
No, the real thing is better than the counterfeit. It costs dearly. It costs everything. There will be times of suffering and lament. There will be times when, like David, we cry, “How long, O Lord?” But there will also be times when Christian service and the consolation of God’s presence will overwhelm us with joy. Indeed, sometimes it’s wonderful to see God at work in this world through faith — an honest, clear-eyed faith that can see the joys of God’s salvation most clearly because we aren’t afraid to see the horrors of separation from God just as clearly.
It takes both. You have to see the suffering, pain, and horrors plainly to be able to see God’s victories for all they’re worth. And you can’t help God redeem the world from its brokenness while pretending it’s not broken.
