Christian Slogans

Slogans are handy sometimes to get a point across.  But sometimes they handicap an adequate understanding of an idea by boiling it down of critical details.  When I read the results of the Pew survey (Tuesday's postings) I began trying to think of why evangelicals, supposedly Bible-believing Christians, would have an inclusivistic view of salvation.  And I think it's because Christians have slipped into a relativistic view of belief, in part, because Christianity has become so focused on relationship rather than creed.

A popular slogan that is the vanguard of this shift is "It's a relationship, not a religion." 

Not really.

Christianity is a relationship because it's all about reconciliation with us God.  Christ is the center of Christianity.  And it's because of Him we are able to be reconciled. 

But it's not just a relationship.  It's not that over a religion.  This slogan expresses a false dichotomy.  And because so many churches have adopted this slogan in practice if not specifically, the focus of teaching and discipleship is on the subjective aspect of Christianity and has diminished the objective content of Christianity, leaving many, many Christians to live as thought their faith is a merely subjective, personal preference rather than a conviction about certain things that are true.  Religion is the creedal part of what we confess when we claim to be Christian.  But if the content is diminished for the relationship, it's not surprising at all that many Christians would form the belief that the content isn't very important.  If religion is subjective, it's not a big leap to conclude that there's no objective truth value to religion and other subjective choices can't be called false or wrong.

Christians are always vulnerable to being influenced by the world and being more like the culture than Jesus.  And if the church focuses too heavily on the subjective and neglects the objective instruction of the faith, then Christians become relativists and inclusivists.  And there's nothing much distinctive about their faith.

The focus on relationship over religion was an attempt to address an imbalance of empty practice without true faith.  But imbalance in favor of relationship leads no less to problems.  Jesus' last words to His disciples was to teach all He commanded.  All.  The Pew polls is a tragic assessment of how poorly the church has done this in this generation.

Comments

[BillNav]

Melinda
A hearty "Amen." Word Pictures put together a series by John MacArthur called "Does The Truth Matter Anymore?" Great series in my opinion. Anyhow, the series contains audio clips of popular teachers who, if you listen closely, you can tell who they are. One "teacher" ranted calling doctrine doo-doo. One can Google it and find transcripts of the actual show that is quite disturbing for those of us that revere the Word of God. Here is the crux, we've replaced doctrine with feelings and those feelings are captured, as you note, in slogans. I weep for the church for God has given us the answers but we don't listen: 1 Timothy 4:16 "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."
Thanks
Bill

[William Wilcox]

I believe all persons have a relationship with God whether they recognise it or not. Satan had a relationship with God. So did Abraham. So does Richard Dawkins! It seems to me that for a Christian, it is not enough just to have a relationship.

Bumper sticker type slogans like "It's a relationship, not a religion." are really useless to me unless they provoke a thoughtful examination of God's word seeking right relationship.

In and of itself I think the slogan is simply false.

[Louis Kuhelj]

"I believe all persons have a relationship with God whether they recognise it or not."

Should we be calling "rebellion" a relationship?

[David Porter]

Melinda,

You constantly, in just a few short paragraphs, bring your reader to the heart of the matter.

I stand amazes at your talent and am quietly a pupil of your literary skills.

Thank you for this particular reminder.

[David Porter]

I also need to do a better job of proof reading my comments before hitting the send button.

I apologize for the typo just above.

[William Wilcox]

Louis said: "Should we be calling "rebellion" a relationship?"

Sure, why not? If a child rebels against the parent the relationship (I am not speaking of the biological fact of relation) remains, it is just not a right relationship.

[Alvin]

'A popular slogan that is the vanguard of this shift is "It's a relationship, not a religion." '

I tried explaining this to a pastor once. He refused to have Christianity labeled a "religion."

Enforcer, are there any tactics helpful to driving home this idea?

Christianity IS a religion and more.

[Mo]

I am not sure why it has to be one or the other. It should be both right doctrine (head) and love/emotions (heart).

And really, the more you know correct doctrine, the more you will respond in passionate love and devotion! How can you not?

[Heath Griner]

The New Church (the politically correct model) puts forward the relationship angle to take the emphasis off that nasty old word that the world hates so much: sin.
We need a relationship with God because He made us, and He wants a relationship with His creation.
We also need the relationship with Him because we are utterly lost without Him. God thought it was so important for us to have a relationship with Him that He sent His only Son to die on a cross to make this relationship possible. God had to send His Son because our sin destroyed the original, right relationship we had with our Creator.
Anyone who preaches a Gospel that doesn't take into account our need for a Savior to deal with our sin should be given the third degree. They're only giving you a small portion of the Message.

[Bryan Y]

I wonder if these same christians would describe other institutions in the same way.

"It's a relationship, not a marriage."