Man-Centered Christianity?

Many times labels are a bit self-serving. After all, “I” am God-centered, Gospel-centered, Christ-centered, God-saturated, etc. etc. And of course you aren’t. Oh, and I’m orthodox, my beliefs are historical and Biblical, and Spurgeon agrees with my position! Labels are at the same time helpful. There is an orthodox position. History does matter, and gospel-centered does mean something.

Perhaps an aversion to any kind of theological pride in labels is behind recent blog discussion (by those Phil Johnson calls “post-evangelical”) centering on the question, “Can you be too God-Centered?” While some good points are raised concerning that question, from my vantage point the overwhelming problem in evangelicalism today is that far too many are man-centered.

I don’t want to merely throw out such a label in hopes of scoring points. And I realize no one will be standing in line to claim the label I’m describing here! But this is a very important issue, and I hope I can gain a hearing.

The problem I’m discussing is especially big among strict fundamentalists, yet it’s present among many more liberty-conscious evangelicals. From the TBN-watching Arminians, to even the staunchest, doctrine-loving Reformed — man-centered Christianity finds a home.

It’s sometimes overt, yet often dangerously subtle. And since we are all recipients of Adam’s sin nature (and the pride of our one-time father the devil), we would do well to at least explore whether perhaps we might have slipped into being too man-centered.

“I suddenly saw that someone could use all the language of evangelical Christianity, and yet the center was fundamentally the self, my need of salvation. And God is auxiliary to that….I also saw that quite a lot of evangelical Christianity can easily slip, can become centered in me and my need of salvation, and not in the glory of God.” — quoted in Tim Stafford, “God’s Missionary to Us”, Christianity Today, Dec. 9, 1996.

I read the above quote in John Piper’s book The Legacy of Sovereign Joy (pg. 118), and felt I just had to comment on it. Man-centeredness can be successfully cloaked in a religious and even conservative garb, and therefore it is even more dangerous.

So central to American revivalist evangelicalism, is man’s personal need for salvation. For many — the majority, I would say — in evangelicalism, the need of personal salvation brings them into the church, and is very soon taken care of. Then other needs find central place.

A wide segment of the church today emphasizes the emotional and physical needs of the congregation, straining to serve and help everyone become successful and happy. And another more Biblical (in my opinion) aim centers on the need to live a holy life and obey God’s commands. Serving the poor, reforming one’s own character, contributing to the common good by volunteering and giving to the church, sacrificing to reach the lost, these all are good things which become central. Even in worship, an emphasis on personal tastes and being accepted is quite common. Others stress a personal experience.

The danger in all of this, becomes the tendency to center everything around self. God saved me, so He deserves my love and praise. I want a better life, so I enjoy and benefit from teacher so-and-so’s practical teaching….

This can lead to lives that are not much different from the non-churched. God has a part, but He is not central. The here and now matters an awful lot, as does economical and emotional well-being. Helping each other, and feeling good about ourselves are essential.

But where is the light on the hill? How is this all that different from the world? Do you find a feel-good invitation in Scripture? Come follow Jesus, and there’s no cross to bear, and all your problems get fixed! God loves you so much he did everything just to help you. Shouldn’t you love such a God in return?

The problem with this is that we don’t need a great and glorious God to make it work. Its not all that different from secular health-and-wellness seminars, or the new age movement. Substitute yoga for God and you get about the same thing. Yoga can transform your life and give you real meaning and purpose….

All I’ve done here today has been to introduce the problem. I hope to explore what God-centered Christianity would look like. And I hope to point out how the popular methodology & doctrine concerning salvation has a profoundly negative impact with regards to this problem.

So for now, ask yourself: Am I too man-centered? And please, let me know if you think I’m off base in my assessment that this is 1) a widespread problem, and 2) this is a big problem.