Are you believing a counterfeit gospel?

Parents and students,

As we continue to focus on the Gospel this month, I have a question for you: Are you believing a counterfeit gospel?

In his book How People Change, Paul Tripp identifies seven counterfeit gospels– ways we try and “justify” or “save” ourselves apart from the Gospel of God’s grace. I found these unbelievably helpful and revealing J. Which of these do you tend to gravitate towards?

Formalism. “I participate in the regular meetings and ministries of the church, so I feel like my life is under control. I’m always in church, but it really has little impact on my heart or on how I live. I may become judgmental and impatient with those who do not have the same commitment as I do.”

Legalism. “I live by the rules—rules I create for myself and rules I create for others. I feel good if I can keep my own rules, and I become arrogant and full of contempt when others don’t meet the standards I set for them. There is no joy in my life because there is no grace to be celebrated.”

Mysticism. “I am engaged in the incessant pursuit of an emotional experience with God. I live for the moments when I feel close to him, and I often struggle with discouragement when I don’t feel that way.”

Activism. “I recognize the missional nature of Christianity and am passionately involved in fixing this broken world. But at the end of the day, my life is more of a defense of what’s right than a joyful pursuit of Christ.”

Biblicism. “I know my Bible inside and out, but I do not let it master me. I have reduced the gospel to a mastery of biblical content and theology, so I am intolerant and critical of those with lesser knowledge.”

Therapism. “I talk a lot about the hurting people in our congregation, and how Christ is the only answer for their hurt. Yet even without realizing it, I have made Christ more of a Therapist rather than a Savior. I view hurt as a greater problem than the sin itself—and I subtly shift my greatest need from my moral failure to my unmet needs.”

Social-ism. “The deep fellowship and friendships I find at church have become their own idol. The body of Christ has replaced Christ himself, and the gospel is reduced to a network of fulfilling Christian relationships.”

I don’t know about you, but I found these statements very eye-opening! Certainly, there are idols that we can worship that are outside the church. But it is the idols of our hearts that we cannot neglect to address, and these things are often hard to identify! One theologian said that “we know it’s wrong to bow to the god of power—but it’s also wrong to bow to the god of preferences. We know it’s wrong to worship immorality—but it’s also wrong to worship morality. We know it’s wrong to seek freedom by breaking the rules—but it’s also wrong to seek freedom by keeping them. We know God hates unrighteousness—but he also hates self-righteousness. We know crime is a sin—but so is control. If people outside the church try to save themselves by being bad; people inside the church try to save themselves by being good.” As we celebrate this Christmas season let’s remember that Christ came not to angrily strip away our freedom, but to compassionately strip away our slavery to idols so that we might become truly free!

In Sunday School, our DVD series on “The Blazing Center” continued as we examined what true love toward God and others is – delight versus duty. For our 10:31 Bible Study tonight, we will continue our study on the church, and meet in Wednesday Discussion Groups, breaking down the one-another passages in the New Testament.

Here is what is coming up in 10:31...

• Christmas Caroling and Party: This annual event will be held on Saturday, December 11th from 3pm-9pm. Come ready to serve and fellowship with one another! We will start at the Student Ministry Room at 3pm and end at the church by 9pm. We ask that each student bake and bring 2 dozen of their favorite kind of cookies and we will sort them out and put them into gift bags. After caroling around our community, we will head back to the church for supper and our Christmas party. You will need to bring a gift to the party, but this gift DOES NOT have to cost any money at all. If you want to spend some money, I ask that you not spend more than $5. Please let me know if you are coming. Parents and students are welcome to attend!

• New Year’s Eve Party: Details to come next week! Stay tuned...

Let’s remember to pray for one another that we would reject any counterfeit gospel and address the idols of our hearts!

Your fellow servant,

Pastor Stephen