Scraping At Scabs

There was a trend in Christianity in the recent past that marketed Jesus Christ as a life accessory. This was presented predominantly during the Dot-Com Bubble of the early 21st Century to people who were well-off, living in middle-class or upper-class society. The pitch delivered typically went something like this:

"You have your life together. You are married, live in a nice home, have two cars, two and a half children, and a family dog. You have a good job, go on nice vacations, have the wide screen plasma TV, and your 401k is growing every day.

"But, there is one thing you lack. You need Jesus Christ. He will give you love, joy, peace, happiness, and all the things you want in life. You should become a Christian because you have a God-shaped hole in your heart, and He is the only one who can fill it."

Most people could see through this flimsy presentation about why they should become Christians. Those who rejected this sales pitch were generally already happy with things going well in their lives, so they had no need to add on a deity who they believed would restrict their freedom in how they lived (sinning).

But for those who, "accepted Jesus," for the benefits of these reasons, they often later walked away from the faith. When life got hard and tough times arose through job layoffs, medical problems, economic woes, or other calamities, they turned around with anger, disdain, confusion, and sorrow towards their Savior. They had been promised great lives and contentment through Jesus Christ, and because they did not receive what they were told to expect, they abandoned Christianity and went away with a grudge.

This trend still exists still in some circles today, but has become relatively passe with the current recession and worldwide financial problems. In a time where the cost of food and gasoline is expected to rise 20% over the next year, promises of plenty and self-actualization ring hollow to ears that have already been through troublesome times. A new trend has emerged in its place, focusing instead on healing hurts and providing solace to past pains.

This new trend can be likened to picking at an old scab, where Jesus Christ is instead presented as someone who can make emotional injuries go away, instead of a courier of bliss. In this method, the unbeliever is petitioned to come to God because at some point along their life, someone has hurt them badly. Even if the person is a relatively normal, well-adjusted individual, the depths of the past are probed for even the remotest relational scar, which is then torn open once more and vivisected until the person cries out for the pain to go away, at which point the Savior is applied like a bandage.

Many pastors, in their altar calls, are now saying something like the following:

"I want to let you know that if someone has hurt you in your life, through abuse, neglect, harsh words, Jesus Christ is here to patch those wounds. You may have grown up in an abusive household. It's possible that one of your family members is going through some disease like cancer, and you're seeing them fall apart in front of your eyes. You may have lost your job and your husband is divorcing you. Someone may have even stolen your bike when you were a kid, or embarrassed you by giving you a wedgie in the school hallway, and you never got over it. I want you to know that you need to hear that Jesus Christ loves you and cares about you. And if you want to make Him the Lord of your life, please say this prayer privately...."

For those who have an open wound from recent problems, this promise of a healer sounds either wonderful or too good to be true, and a similar reaction happens like those whom were promised greatness. But for those who do not have a gaping psychological sore, it does not resound with the same level of imperativeness. So the person has to be convinced that there is a blemish on his or her life that was never cured. Past agonies are dredged up, magnified, and held up to show that the person has a tear that never stitched itself together, even if mundane, such as an errant rude comment from a parent in the heat of a moment of anger. And when the person has had enough of mentally revisiting times past, he or she is told that the salve can be found in faith.

Does Jesus Christ offer healing and restoration? Absolutely. But when this is made the motivation for coming to salvation, it builds up a false hope and expectancy of being innoculated from any further harm, in the same way that a person guaranteed happiness and joy would expect nothing but good things to enter into their lives. In both situations, when disaster and woe inevitably come knocking, the person is casting their hope on immediate deliverance from these circumstances through their profession of faith. And if their trial is not quickly put to rest, they can turn on their Deliverer.

The New Testament makes no promise that by becoming a Christian that someone will be saved from peril in this life, emotional or otherwise. Jesus Himself said that His Gospel would cause divsion even within households (Luke 12:51-53). The world would hate Christians simply for the name of Jesus Christ (John 15:18). The Apostle Paul suffered both medically (2 Corinthians 12:7) and through trials including beatings, stonings, shipwreck, and starvation (2 Corinthians 11:23-28), proving that even those who had a personal, supernatural encounter with Jesus Christ could still suffer.

The true Gospel, and not a message of contentment or Fruedian introspection/breakthroughs, must be presented to all men. This message must contain the truth about God's judgment and wrath towards sin, and the atonement, grace, and salvation found Jesus Christ. It is only through the preaching of this truth that someone will come to Christ and be able to bear infirmities and praise God properly for joys in their lives. When a person understands the deliverance from sin and standing as an enemy of God, no matter where his or her life may go, or what obstacles arise, that person has true comfort and peace in the knowledge that this life is temporary, and that that person will spend eternity glorifying his or her Father in Heaven.

The modern-day scraping at scabs, misconstrued promises, and preaching of everything but the core of the Gospel must stop.