Theological Worlds
Part 6, The Theological Worlds of Evangelicalism
One of the reasons I think it is important to ponder theological worlds is how streams of Christianity tend to embody or privilege a particular theological world over the others. Pastorally, we need to be alert to this as not everyone sitting in our pews is living in the theological world of the church. This can create a sense of alienation, where a person comes to feel that their church isn't providing answers to the questions they are asking. The epiphania the church is offering isn't the epiphania the person is searching for. Consequently, a person can come to feel "weird" and "strange" that "these are not my people." The dominant obsessio of the church isn't their obsessio. This creates a spiritual restlessness which can lead to an exit from the church. The person leaves in search of an epiphania the church is not providing.
To illustrate this, in this post and the next two I want to describe three prominent theological worlds within the Christian tradition. In this post we'll describe the theological worlds of evangelicalism.
Let me argue that evangelicalism is characterized by three main theological worlds, Guilt, Belonging and Self-Alienation.
The obsessio of Guilt should be obvious. Given the dominant views of atonement within evangelicalism, oriented around penal substitutionary atonement, the primary predicament of the human condition is our sin. The epiphania for our guilt is Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross. Accepting Jesus as our Savior is the primary experience of salvation. From Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" to the sermons of Billy Graham to Tim Keller, Guilt is an obsessio of the evangelical theological world.
Along with Guilt, I would add the obsessios of Belonging and Self-Alienation. You see these obsessios mainly in the lyrics of Christian praise and worship music. It has long been noted that Christian praise and worship music is very focused upon the self. The pronouns of the music are me, me, and me. This focus upon the self, in its search for connection and self-acceptance, highlights the obsessios of Belonging and Self-Alienation. The modern self is lonely and alienated, so we search for home. The modern self is also experiencing a mental health crisis. We are anxious and depressed. So we search for an inner experience of cosmic compassion, love, and acceptance to overcome our self-alienation.
Together, the obsessios of Belonging and Self-Alienation create the theological world of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. God sees me, loves me, supports me, and wants to make me happy.
As we step back and look at these theological worlds--Guilt, Belonging, and Self-Alienation--we can discern some tensions. A fire and brimstone presentation of Guilt can undermine the epiphanias of Belonging and Self-Alienation. We can come to feel that God hates and loathes us, which undercuts feelings of connection and love in relation to God. But the very best expressions of the obsessios and epiphanias of the evangelical theological world present a powerful and compelling connection between Guilt, Belonging, and Self-Alienation. We are drawn into the music and sermons by our obsessios of Belonging and Self-Alienation. We are looking for home, seeking connection. We are emotionally lost and unwell. These twin obsessios bring us powerfully to the third: our separation from God. Overcoming this separation from God in the epiphania of grace and the epiphanias of belonging and cosmic mattering follow. As you are likely aware, this is a powerful cocktail of obsessios when expressed with rhetorical skill and power, and it has proven very attractive. Many people live in the theological worlds of Guilt, Belonging, and Self-Alienation and the evangelical message resonates strongly with them.
Of course, the three keys of this piano--Guilt, Belonging, and Self-Alienation--can be played to create very different melodies. Some preachers lean heavily into Guilt, creating a old-school fundamentalist, fire and brimstone melody. Other preachers deemphasize Guilt, leaning more into Belonging and Self-Alienation. These sermons play a more "therapeutic" song, God loves me and wants me to be happy. In prosperity gospel spaces a theology of "blessing" accompanies this therapeutic message. Most evangelical pastors try to maintain a balance among the obsessios.
To conclude, gather the sermons and praise songs of evangelicalism and you will find the obsessios of three theological worlds: Guilt, Belonging, and Self-Alienation.
I’m breathing deep and taking a long pause to think carefully about what you have shared. The Hermitage Spiritual Retreat Center on Lake Pomme to Terre (‘Potato Lake’) where W. Paul Jones possibly is still the Resident Director, has on its website some amazing reflective comments by retreatants who have visited there. They are well worth reading through. I think part of the solution to dealing with the juxtapositions of Obsessio and Epiphania in our lives and various Christian communities, is to ascetically withdraw for a while, and take a spiritual and mental hiatus to embrace and rediscover who it is that we are, by emptying ourselves of all internal and external judgements and simply communing with Nature. Less of Me, more of Him! Eventually, all faith communities have the potential to become ‘lobster traps’ if we don’t allow ourselves to grow beyond their dogma. The Body of Christ is in the process of dynamic regeneration, and we must be a part of that change if our faith is real. The average human is made up of over 30 trillion cells, with about 330 billion being replaced daily. In about 100 days, that 30 trillion will have been totally replaced and replenished - essentially creating a ‘New You’. We are wonderfully made, but not meant to last in this present state. When we are subsumed into his presence, the borders and boundaries that separate us, melt and we experience a beautiful moment of what will be in our eternal regeneration. Rather than bifurcating one’s Obsessio and Epiphania, could they not be same thing coextensive within our consciousness? We ‘Existentially’ contrive a problem, only to then ‘Essentialistically’ resolve it.
This is all very interesting to reflect on. The language of theological worlds…
I remember once when I was thinking about all the different churches, I had this image come to mind to describe it, it helped me try to make sense of it:
I saw an open Bible. And, a multi-pack of highlighter pens. Various pages of the Bible were being flicked open and verses were being selected, then highlighted in the different colours. Each church had highlighted a different verse, using a different colour. I felt like this was what the church is like, different churches, denominations can often highlight a different ‘bit’ and then make it their thing, their expression, as if their chosen highlighted section IS the thing! I find this helpful, as it explains why I can sit in a church and sort of like it, I perhaps like the highlighted bit. However, I can also feel like I don’t fit in, as I cannot conform to the emphasis on the highlighted sections, or restrict my existence, my speech to ‘the bit’ that has been highlighted - it’s too narrowing, suffocating. It hurts my guts. And, I cannot just agree with the highlighted section to fit in. I guess in a way, the highlighted sections are a bit like each church, or each denomination’s selected, or assumed obsessio/epiphania.
it is true about evangelicalism. Very often the churches message is to try to convince people that their obsessio IS guilt, even if they do not actually feel it is! Interestingly, guilt is not really mentioned in the NT a lot! Churches can actually create this sense of judgement and move people into this obsessio!
Having said that, I am not completely dismissing the work of atonement. I do think this is part of salvation. Having previously worked in prison ministry for many years, I have seen how this message truly can be good good news for some. In can be received as good news, an epiphania for those that are literally living in the obsessio of guilt and enforced loss of liberty, confinement due to being judged and found guilty. Some do genuinely feel personal guilt, shame- evangelical language to describe atonement, being forgiven can truly be a grace. And, meet the criteria ‘good news’.
And, I remember once where I felt convicted of sin myself, the sudden stirrings of filth, shame were transformed to a feeling of being cleansed, lighter. The guilt, shame obsessio was a real theological world for me once upon a time, although it took the holy spirit to show me that it was. I do not feel guilt anymore. I do not have to wait for the eschaton to have this situation resolved.
And, I have a friend who is burdened by guilt. It is his obsessio, but the guilt hasn’t yet become so burdensome that he wants to act on it and perhaps move to the epiphania of forgiveness. The cost would be too high.
Conversely, I have seen some churches dismiss the realities of sin, they kind of brush it under the carpet because it is dealt with in Christ. They preach another aspect of the gospel which is our identity in Christ. They focus on the new identity we can claim in Christ. Sounds good. BUT, it is their epiphania that I struggle with, NOT their obsessio - they seem to preach and assume their audiences not knowing who they are, is their obsessio. For some perhaps this is the case. They assume their audience is looking for a secure identity. And, then knowing what their true identity is can solve all things, the epiphania is, it will lead you to doing great things. They forget that a lot of people in the pews just want to be able to get through the week, maybe enjoy it a little and doing great things is not on their list of priorities. Interestingly someone commented in the chat in this series that ‘identity’ could be an obsessio!
But, in my church this is truly individualised and can generate narcissistic traits, it is not a great message for those have a genuine narcissistic personality type. I see this as dangerous in churches. Wolves in sheep’s clothing. I literally do not want to hear another sermon on knowing my identity in Christ. I know what my identity in Christ is and this does not mean I am going to become a super hero, a Christian version of Elon Musk or a Christian version of Beyoncé. I think for me, my being ‘in Christ’ has led to more tribulation and suffering. Sometimes I feel my identity in Christ is the cause of me feeling like my obsessio is suffering!
But, my church doesn’t get this. They kind of preach, God loves us and wants to give us the ‘red bicycle’ we have asked our Daddy in Heaven for for Christmas - what good father wouldn’t want to give good gifts to his children? That is not the God I have experienced. I have asked for many ‘red bicycles’ and not one of them has arrived yet. I just think of the Christians in Gaza, praying for an end to the conflict to name just one conflict situation within the world. What my church preaches reminds me a bit of when Jesus suggested to his disciples that he would die and Peter was utterly offended that his Super Jesus would die. Peter said “no!” leading Jesus to rebuke him by saying “get behind me Satan!” Peter had a wrong concept of his epiphania I feel!
I like the phrase ‘cosmic mattering’ - people do want to hear this and yes, it is a thing in evangelical circles. I think this ties in with the trend for identity, purpose driven teaching and is preached A LOT. That isn’t to say we don’t matter - Jesus seemed to reach out to the ones and the twos, of course we matter, but there is an obsession with looking for ‘your purpose’. The trouble with this is we can actually miss the boat of everyday life itself. I think for many in the evangelical circles, finding your purpose is like finding your epiphania.
And, yes the songs do focus on ‘me’ and I would say over the last few years there have been many songs, again, about not just ‘me’ and my Jesus’, but who “I am”. They are hard to sing, as they feel more self affirmations, a therapeutic tool, rather than worship.
I have not been to church for a good while, not properly for many years - but as the new year unfolds I am going to try again! I will be armed with my new insights into different theological worlds to help me position myself securely and understand where ‘the others’ are coming from!
Ha!
Thank for this series, has been helpful and timely for me.