So what would Paul put his finger on if writing an epistle "To the Americans"? After all each letter he wrote seemed to address at least one issue. The Galatians had been infiltrated by the Judaizers - those advocating belief in Jesus andcircumcision to be saved. The Colossians were being influenced by some sort of "hollow and deceptive philosophy" - possibly a mixture of Greek philosophical ideas and Jewish mysticism.
In my last post I suggested he would address our "this worldly perspective" - that Christianity was for maximizing our lives in this world. But I think he'd also address our materialist perspective. By this I don't mean we're too much into stuff. I don't dispute that but what I mean by materialism here is that we're soft on the supernatural.
We've been raised in a culture of secularism that up until recently only allowed discussion of what science could verify. While Charismatic and Pentecostal Christians my be exempt from this charge, mainstream evangelicals have unknowingly imbibed this outlook. Three main things have rushed in to take the place of a real experience of the supernatural in American evangelicalism.
One is an over emphasis on the rational. In many churches vital Christian experience is virtually identified with an increase in knowledge through Bible study, Bible memorization, and theological learning. The educational aspect of discipleship predominates and the rational is so emphasized that it becomes rationalism.
Second, and swinging away from the rational, we find those churches that equate vital Christianity with feeling. Services are low on the rational element and high on emotional content. A sentimental "let's just love Jesus" mood pervades which often ends with everyone holding hands and singing "Bind Us Together". If this stage is reached (ideally with tears) a true visitation of the Spirit can be affirmed.
The third typical replacement for the supernatural is organization. Here vital Christianity is distinguished by the amount of programming generated by a church or perhaps the expansiveness of its physical plant, and the largeness of its staff and budgets. Better yet if it belongs to a growing denomination with its own corporate offices. Add to this a denominational university and seminary and no one can deny the presence of the Spirit. Emphasis is on the tangible and a "bigger is better" conviction under girds this very American tendency.
The problem is that all of these - the rational, the emotional, and the organizational - are all common to the realm of the flesh. There is nothing distinctly spiritual or supernatural about them. Indeed, we see them undergirding human enterprises of all kinds. But that's part of the problem. They are signs of life in one sphere and we automatically assume they're signs of life in the Church.
But this assumption is part of the "hollow and deceptive philosophy" Paul warns can encroach upon the Church. It is an approach "which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ" (Col.2:8). It's the very effectiveness of these things that hides their Christlessness.
