What Do You Believe?

This number of graduates is the largest we've had in several years.

When I first saw the list, I started thinking about what many Christian leaders have been saying for the past 15 years or so

about the religious beliefs of most high school students in this country.

And as I'm going to mention a little bit later on, what we're going to look at is the predominant view of adults in this country as well.

What we're going to see is disturbing.

About three years ago, I preached a message that described these beliefs of Americans in general now under the heading moralistic therapeutic deism.

If you remember that, would you raise your hand?

Okay, there's a few. Good.

Maybe it's not so good that more hands didn't go up, but I'm going to look on the positive side.

This phrase, moralistic therapeutic deism, was coined by a sociologist, Christian Smith, from the University of North Carolina.

In 2005, or their research was compiled and published in 2005, after they had conducted over 3,000 interviews with American teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17.

Now, in doing this research, listening to these young people explain what they believe or didn't believe,

Christian Smith and his team of researchers came up with what they call the mainstream belief system of American teenagers.

This is not describing any denomination, any particular group.

It's just what they came up with after all these interviews, and they call it the mainstream belief system of American teenagers.

Here are the five statements that describe those beliefs.

Number one, a God, little g, exists, who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.

Number two, God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

Number three, the central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

Number four, God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.

Number five, good people go to heaven when they die.

Now, here's one summary statement of those five points.

God exists to meet my needs and help me be a nice person who feels good about myself.

When I put that list of one through five on the screen, some of you probably scratched your head and thought, what's wrong with that?

I hope this summary statement helps you to see what's wrong with that.

Now, do you know where Smith and his team said that teenagers learned these beliefs?

They learned these beliefs from their parents and their churches.

But they explained it was not that their parents actually taught these things.

It was not that any church had this as a part of their basic doctrine.

They said it's what they saw.

What they saw in their parents.

Just how little their parents actually believed and put into practice in their daily lives.

And concerning the church, they observed how their churches had tried to blend in with the culture of the world.

And so, these young people, not just yes and no answers, but in discussing their beliefs,

what they had heard, what they had seen, as they put it all together.

They came up with this moralistic, therapeutic deism as being the predominant belief system of American teenagers and American adults.

That's one thing that I'll follow up to these studies.

Many Christian leaders have pointed out, pointed to a lot of different evidences.

That this is the predominant view of Americans today.

And disturbingly, a lot of people in churches, a lot of professing Christians think this way, believe this way as well.

But what I want us to look at this morning is, this is a belief system that is not found in Scripture.

And if it's not found in Scripture, it cannot be true.

I think this is something worthy of us interrupting our series on the family to pay close attention this morning.

I want us, as we go through this message, to...

I've got... let me put it this way.

I've got three reasons for this message.

Number one, I want to make sure that no one here believes this false teaching.

I want to make sure that you, when you leave here as high school graduates going off somewhere,

you didn't hear this garbage from this pulpit.

You didn't hear it anywhere in our church, many of our other pastors, Sunday school teachers.

And I don't think you heard it from any parent.

But I want to make sure this morning that no one believes the kind of things that I've mentioned and will look at.

Number two, every Christian needs to be aware of this and be able to spot this false teaching.

Don't be misled by it.

Number three, every parent, grandparent, and Sunday school teacher needs to make sure that you don't unintentionally teach it by your words or your actions.

This is needed.

I've been a pastor for a long time now.

I've been around a lot of Christians in a lot of churches.

And including our own church from time to time.

I hear church members say things along the line of,

I hope I'm good enough to get into heaven.

I even heard it said one time by one person,

I think I've earned my place in heaven.

I'm not exaggerating.

Church people,

people who attend Pickens First Baptist Church,

sometimes think this way and make statements like this.

We need to hear this.

We need to be clear.

Let's start.

Number one,

the Bible does not teach the moralistic idea that God simply wants us to be good.

The Christian faith is about much more than helping people be good.

The false teaching of moralism says this.

I'm going to use the survey of Smith's five statements here.

Number two,

God wants people to be good,

nice,

and fair to each other as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

Number five,

good people go to heaven when they die.

The Bible does not teach that.

Now,

I'm sure some of you say and scratch your head and said,

are we not supposed to be good?

Obviously,

we need to be as good as we can.

The gospel of Jesus Christ does come with moral commands and expectations.

The problem is,

we can't be good on our own.

We can never be good enough for God to accept us as his children just by the way that we live.

The Bible clearly teaches that we cannot live a morally pure or upright life on our own.

The first point of the gospel is that we are sinners by nature and by choice.

We naturally choose to live life our way, my way, as opposed to God's way.

Children are the best examples of this.

You know,

I think about when I try to explain this point,

there's no better way to explain it than to say,

look at children.

No one teaches their child to disobey their parent.

Nobody in their right mind will teach their child to disobey their parent.

No one teaches a child to be just selfish,

to take things away from another child,

to hit another child over the head with their toy in the nursery, even in church.

No one has to teach a child how to tell a lie to avoid being punished.

Children just are born into this world with a sinful nature,

with a tendency,

look out for me.

And as they grow and mature,

can make their own decisions,

even as little fellas all the way up,

you see that they choose to be selfish.

Now,

the idea that everyone is a sinner before God

does not mean that everyone is purely evil.

Some people mistakenly think

that when the Bible talks about

we've all sinned,

come short of the glory of God,

some people have the idea that

the Bible is saying we're all just

purely evil people.

That is not

what it means when the Bible talks about

sin in our lives.

Everyone is created in the image of God.

Every human being

is created in the image of God.

And we have an inner sense of right and wrong.

Some people refer to it as the conscience.

The Apostle Paul talks about it in Romans chapter 2.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

God has put it within us.

This basic moral law.

This basic understanding of what is right

and what is wrong.

And here's how it comes out.

Let's go back to children.

Some children are more compliant than others.

If you've got more than one child,

probably you had one

that you could just sort of look at.

He or she would straighten up.

Or you could have had two like me

that you had to horse whip

to get their attention

to make them do anything.

Now, for any liberals to worry about that,

I'm just, I'm joking.

I did whip them, spank them.

I would do it again if they needed it.

If they were little, I'm talking about.

They could whip me now, size-wise.

But you know what I'm talking about.

Adults are the same way.

Some people in this room

just do more what's good and kind.

Some people just are more self-giving

than others by nature.

It's not because they're Christians.

So, just look around.

In your family, among your friends,

there are varying degrees of goodness

and evil.

The problem that the gospel addresses

is that we're sinners

who cannot be good as God defines goodness.

And that's the point.

Some of us are good

in comparison to others.

But we cannot be good

as God defines goodness

because God's standard is perfection.

We're talking about almighty God,

holy God.

His standard is perfection.

If we want to be good

or do what is right

in a way that pleases God

on our own,

we've got to be perfect.

Let me show you a verse of scripture

that makes this real clear.

James is writing a letter to Christians.

He's trying to help them understand

they cannot earn their salvation

by their good works.

He says,

for whoever keeps the whole law

and yet stumbles at just one point

is guilty of breaking all of it.

You might be a very good person

and you know

what the scripture teaches

about how you ought to live.

And for the most part,

you do that.

You're conscientiously doing that.

But are you perfect?

If you ever break one

of God's commands,

you are guilty

of being a lawbreaker

before God.

So even the best person you know

is not perfect.

Well, therefore,

we all stand before God

as sinners,

guilty of breaking God's laws,

not living up

to his standards of perfection.

Listen,

that's where we all are.

That's how we enter the world.

That's how we are

as we grow up

and make choices.

Well, the penalty for our sin,

the scripture says,

is death,

which ultimately means

eternal separation

from God in hell.

This is the bad news

of the Bible.

You know something?

The Bible clearly presents this.

The Bible writers,

they care enough about

human beings

to tell the truth.

This is a reality.

We're born with a sinful nature.

We make sinful choices.

The penalty for sin is death.

And that's all of us.

And that's the bad news

of the Bible

that we all need to listen,

understand,

accept.

You cannot

wish it away.

The good news

is that God loves us.

And he has provided a way

for us to be

forgiven

of our sins.

He's provided a way

for us not only

to be forgiven,

but to actually become

his children.

And when we're forgiven,

we become

his children.

He puts his spirit

in us

and that's how

we are able

to live

a morally

pure life

that will please

God

and be satisfying

to us.

Here's what God

has done

more specifically.

God sent his son

Jesus

into this world

for the purpose

of saving us.

Jesus lived a perfect,

morally

pure life

throughout his time

here on earth.

He lived the perfect life

that we couldn't live.

And then Jesus died

on the cross

as our substitute

according to the plan

of God

to pay the penalty

for our sins.

He died in our place,

suffered the punishment

that we deserve

so that we wouldn't

have to

experience that punishment.

And then God

raised Jesus

from the dead

to prove

he's accepted

Jesus' sacrifice.

That Jesus is

who he said he was.

He did what he said

he came to do.

He came back to live.

He's alive today

in heaven.

One day he'll come back

to this world

the scripture tells us.

Now,

this is the basic

gospel good news

of God message

from the Bible.

But that's not all

the Bible says

about our relationship

with God,

being right with God.

We've got to respond

to this gospel.

We've got to respond

to what Christ

has done for us

in order to experience

God's gracious salvation.

The apostle Paul

summarized it

like this.

He was talking

about how he had

traveled the world

and what he had

been preaching.

He says,

I have declared

to both Jews

and Greeks

and in his mind

that's everybody.

There's two kinds

of people in the world.

There's Jews

and Greeks.

I have declared

to both Jews

and Greeks

that they must turn

to God

in repentance

and have faith

in our Lord Jesus.

Paul is saying

that the way

of salvation

is open to anyone

who will repent

of their sin.

Admit that you have

failed God.

Change your mind

about living

your selfish way,

your disobedient way.

Sort of like

you make a debout face.

You turn from your sin

and you put your trust

in Jesus

as your Savior

and your Lord.

We're not talking

about just believing

the Bible.

Most people

in this room,

I'm going to guess,

you believe

John 3.16.

For God so loved

the world,

that he gave

his only son,

that whoever believes

in him will not perish,

but have eternal life.

Most people

in this room,

you believe.

That's in the Bible.

I believe it.

But do you believe

it just like you believe

a lot of facts

that you read

in history books?

Or do you believe

in this Jesus,

this son of God,

personally,

that he died

for you

to pay the penalty

for your sin?

Are you trusting him,

counting on him,

depending on him

to be right with God?

Are you truly

honoring him

as the Lord

of your life,

the ultimate leader

of your life?

When we choose

to live life

God's way,

when we choose

to trust Christ,

to follow him,

listen to this,

the Spirit of God

lives in us,

and he gives us

the desire

and the ability

to live that morally

good life

that pleases God.

Look at this passage

of Scripture.

Paul writes,

to a church,

therefore,

my beloved,

as you have always

obeyed,

so now,

not only as in my presence,

but much more

in my absence,

work out your own salvation

with fear and trembling,

for it is God

who works in you

both to will

and to work

for his good pleasure.

Paul is writing

to Christians,

people who are

trusting in Jesus.

This is his way

of telling them,

now you need to grow,

you need to mature,

you need to become

more like Jesus.

And the way that happens

is,

it's not that you try

to be good.

It's not that you try

to do your best

to just do this or that.

The idea is,

if you're a Christian,

the Spirit of God

lives within you,

and he works in you

to give you the desire

to please God,

to obey him.

He gives you the ability

to act on that desire

to live this morally pure life.

Do you see evidence

in your life

that you are a Christian

based on what

the scripture says

that a Christian is?

If we're really

God's children,

it will show,

it will show

in the way

that we love him,

the way that we obey him,

the way that we are

developing Christ-like character,

the way that we're

treating the people

that we live with,

that we interact with

every day.

Following Jesus

will lead us

to develop a loving

relationship

with our Heavenly Father.

Real followers of Jesus

have a desire

to know God better

by reading his word,

listening to God

speak through his word.

Real followers of Jesus

have a desire

to have a real relationship

with God

as their Heavenly Father,

and we want to talk to him.

That's what prayer is,

talking to God.

Once we know

how to please God

by spending time with him

in his word and prayer,

once we know

how to please God,

the Holy Spirit

will give us

those desires

and abilities

to do it.

Now,

the Bible does not teach

this moralistic idea

that all we need to do

is just try to be good.

And if we do our best

to be good

and we do more good

than bad,

we go to heaven

when we die.

That is a lie.

There is nothing

in the Bible

that even implies

some kind of

teaching like that.

So I want to ask you,

are you a Christian?

Why would you say that?

Are you trusting Christ

and him alone

as your Savior?

Have you

and are you still

turning from sin

as just a way of life?

Are you seeking,

do you have the desire

to be more and more

like Jesus?

To please God

more and more

by discovering

how he wants you to live

and then living that way?

Do you have the desires

within you

that come from

the Spirit of God

who indwells you

when God saves you?

Number two,

the Bible does not teach

the therapeutic idea

that our major problem

is low self-esteem

and that God's main concern

is to make us feel better

about ourselves.

This therapeutic teaching,

number three,

the central goal of life

is to be happy

and to feel good

about oneself.

Now,

everybody wants to be happy.

Everybody wants to feel good

about themselves.

Problem is,

we decide

the best way

to make us happy

and feel good

about ourselves.

The problem is

we put ourself

at the center of life.

That's the problem.

In today's

therapeutic age,

human problems

are identified

as anything

and everything

except the result

of our sinful choices.

Solutions are identified

today in terms

of treatment plans

and self-help programs.

But rarely do you hear

people talking today

about

the problem

comes from

my sinful choices

and I need to repent.

I need to change

the way that I

am choosing

to respond

to the truth

of God's word.

Now,

let me say this.

For sure,

every problem

we deal with

is not a sin problem.

It is not.

There are some

personal issues.

There are some

relational issues,

emotional issues.

It would do

a lot of people

good to talk

to a true,

trained,

biblically sound

counselor.

It's like you go

to a doctor,

physical doctor,

MD for a health

problem,

physical health.

There's people

that could help you

with some issues

if you give them

the opportunity.

Every problem

is not a sin problem.

Hear me say that.

But many of the

problems we deal

with

are a direct

result

of our sinful

choices.

And when that's

the case,

we'll never

find answers

when we ignore

or deny

our responsibility

for our sinful

choices.

Let me give you

an example.

The last two weeks

we've been talking

about marriage.

We've been talking

about God's design

for marriage.

Let's just say

Genesis 2,

24 right now.

It's God's intent

for a married couple

to leave their parents,

be united

to one another

in a one flesh

relationship.

It may be

that some of your

marital problems

are from your

sinful choice

of refusing

to let go

of your parents

and make your spouse

the number one person

in your life,

humanly speaking.

It may be

the problem

in your marriage

is your sinful choice

just to be

a selfish person

and expect your spouse

to live for you,

to please you,

rather than you

living for him

or her

to serve him

or her.

as a part

of your own life

because you're

that one flesh.

The Bible

has a lot

to say

about how

we relate

to self

and most

of it

can be

classified

in terms

of humbling

ourselves,

not exalting

ourselves

and denying

ourselves,

not

indulging

ourselves.

The Bible

repeatedly

calls us

to guard

against

exalting

ourselves

by warning

us against

the sin

of pride.

Look quickly.

Jesus made

this clear.

He says,

for everyone

who exalts

himself

will be humbled,

but the one

who humbles

himself

will be exalted.

Peter echoed

this.

Clothe yourselves,

all of you,

with humility

toward one another.

Stop.

Just go back

to marriage

or just

your home.

Spouse,

husband,

wife relationships,

parent,

child relationships.

Could it be

that some

of the tension,

some of the

hostility,

some of the

issues that

you're dealing

with in your

home is

because you're

just a prideful

person.

You expect

everybody in the

house to sit

up and take

notice and wait

on you.

It's all

about me.

Children think

that.

Parents think

that.

Some wives

think that.

Some husbands

think that.

And that's

the foundational

problem.

You're a prideful

person.

You're arrogant.

Your spouse

is supposed to

serve you

no matter what.

Your children

are supposed to

bow down to you

no matter what.

Or your parents

are supposed to

do whatever you

want them to do

no matter what.

Peter says,

clothe yourselves,

all of you,

with humility

toward one

another.

For God

opposes the

proud, but

he gives grace

to the humble.

Our major

problem is not

low self-esteem.

God's main

concern is to

not make us

feel better

about ourselves.

That's heresy.

That's in fact

the opposite

of what the

scripture teaches.

Let's look at

one more.

The Bible does

not teach

deism, that

God created

the world, but

does not remain

actively involved

in guiding

everything according

to his purpose.

This moralistic

therapeutic deism

teaches that a

God exists who

created and ordered

the world and

watches over human

life on earth.

Good, as far as

it goes.

But look at the

next one, number

four.

God does not

need to be

particularly

involved in

one's life

except when

God is needed

to resolve a

problem.

For sake of

time, I'm

going to skip

over the

teaching that

God is involved

in every detail

of life.

That God is

working out

everything according

to his eternal

plan in your

life, in this

world, and

everything.

I want to

zero in on one

major point that

needs to be made

about this last

heretical idea.

Look at it

again.

God does not

need to be

particularly

involved in

one's life

except when

God is needed

to resolve a

problem.

That's like

saying God is

always there for

me.

Now I know

as Christians

we may not

mean it to

sound as bad

as it does

when we say

well God's

always there for

me.

But let it

sink in what

you're saying

if you really

believe that.

to think God's

always there for

me.

As if he's on

the side

waiting like a

bellhop.

That's one of

the most

blasphemous,

God

dishonoring,

and personally

arrogant statements

a human being

can make.

I want you to

look at what

David Wells,

a theologian,

says about

this.

He says God

is not there

to conform to

us, we must

conform to

him.

He summons us

to know him.

We are summoned

to know him

only on his

terms.

He is not

known on our

terms.

This summons is

heard in and

through his word.

It is not heard

through our

intuitions.

God is not

there at our

convenience or

simply for our

healings or

simply as the

divine teller

handing out

stuff from his

bank.

No, we are

here for his

service.

We are here to

know him as

he is and not

as we want him

to be.

God is not who

you think he is

or want him to

be or imagine

him to be.

God is as he

is and he has

revealed himself

in his word.

I think one of

the best ways to

describe this is

like this.

I'm a father

of two sons.

I've got two

little grandchildren.

If my sons and

my grandchildren

never come around

me, never call

me, never have

anything to do

with me except

when they get in a

bind and then

dad, bop, I'm

going to resent it.

I'm going to see

through it.

They don't care

about me.

They care about

what I can do

for them.

I want to tell

you young people,

graduates, don't

go off to college

and your parents

never hear from

you until you

want something.

You're using

them.

You're abusing

them.

If I was them,

I wouldn't be

abused.

It's

dishonoring.

It's

disgraceful.

That is how a lot

of people and

even some

professing

Christians treat

God.

He's on the

sideline.

He's there when I

need him.

But there's no

relationship.

There's no ongoing

fellowship.

There's no talking

to him, listening to

him, no interaction

with him, no concern

about pleasing him

until I need

something.

If that's your

relationship with

God, you have no

relationship with

God.

You are doing more

to anger him, to

dishonor him, to

disrespect him than

anything by that

attitude.

Hear carefully

this morning.

The concept of

moralistic therapeutic

deism shows the

shallowness of a

American Christianity

and it shows us

there is a false

gospel that many

people have placed

their hope in.

And my prayer is

that there's no one

here that is placing

your hope in such a

gospel.

But if you realize

you have, you are,

admit it to God

now.

Admit that you've

been abusing him,

dishonoring him,

that you've been trying

to work your way to

heaven or whatever it

is.

Confess your sin.

Repent of your sin.

Put your trust truly in

Jesus as your Savior and

Lord.

Seek to truly follow him,

to please him, to serve

him, to do his will.

And you will find in, as

Jesus said, if you'll lose

your life for his sake,

that's when you will

really get the best life.

Because that will be

God's will, God's way.

That's the way you'll most

honor God and please him.

That's the way you'll most

impact other people in the

right kind of way.

And if you really want to

feel the best about

yourself, live life God's

way.

Humbling yourself, loving

him, loving others, serving

him, serving others.

And you can feel good

about that kind of God

honoring, Christ

following self.

Let's pray together.

Lord, show each of us how

we should respond right now.

Father, help us to not be

mistaken in thinking that

somehow or another, if we

just do more good than bad,

you'll accept us in heaven

one day or that we can have

a good relationship with you

now.

Help us to see and admit our

sinfulness, the fact that we

don't deserve a relationship

with you, but that by your

love and grace and mercy, you

provide it through faith in

Jesus.

Lord, show every person in

this room how they should

respond to this message.

For some, dear God, show them

they need to thank their

parents for being faithful to

the truth of your word and

guiding them in the right way.

Or they need to be thankful to

their Sunday school teacher or

some other teacher.

show us how we should respond.

Help us to do that.

And then an attitude of

prayer, let's just do what God

tells us to do.

The heads bowed, eyes closed.

If you'd like, I'd be happy to

pray with you here in front of

this room here in the next few

minutes.

Matthew 16.

Until post time.

Yeah.

Incauchen.

Hayesz.