Dr. Paul Brownback, in his Evangelical Reformation blog, offered these words in a blogpost found here:

“. . .it seems that every society adopts its own gods. The Canaanites chose Baal, the Europeans, after rejecting Christianity, opted for philosophy. Americans, in our post-Christian pagan state have deified psychology.

As Isaiah demonstrates so graphically, idolatry is idiotic, making fools out of its followers. Philosophy has made fools out of intellectual Europeans. Psychology is doing likewise for Americans.

(Carl) Rogers taught that we optimize ourselves as human beings by accepting ourselves unconditionally, i.e. feeling good about ourselves regardless of how bad we live. A bad self-image is the ultimate disease and unconditional self-acceptance is the cure.

However, we can only accept ourselves unconditionally if significant others accept us unconditionally. This means that allowing our kids to do their own thing will not turn them into unbridled hedonists, but will make them into psychological saints—wholesome, actualized individuals.

This belief that unconditional acceptance fixes broken people and makes them into the persons they were meant to be dovetails beautifully with the gospel denuded of repentance, described in the past two postings.

In the absence of repentance, the gospel is reduced to unconditional acceptance. Though this is an unbiblical message, in our culture shaped by the psychology of Carl Rogers it feels right.

Rogers taught us that unconditional acceptance provides the power to change and grow. The gospel stripped of repentance seems to be saying the God agrees. It seems the grace is synonymous with is unconditional acceptance. Salvation comes through a realization that God accepts me “just as I am.”

Change comes, not from repentance, but from this realization that God accepts me apart from any intent to change—even though I am living with my girlfriend, watching pornography, and smoking pot. As I experience God’s grace, His unconditional acceptance, I change will come spontaneously.

This is a life-changing gospel in the sense that it gives people freedom from guilt without change of lifestyle—sort of like spiritual Paxil offered free at your church pharmacy. This is not a biblical gospel and, as George Barna has demonstrated, the promised change in behavior is not occurring.

However, evangelicals are hooked on the message because it is extremely comfortable, fits well with secular culture, and sells well.”

Some time ago I was involved in a small group bible study and actually ended up the study facilitator. The material provided was from a leading evangelical ‘apologist who is know for his work with teenagers and young adults. I found myself dealing with the philosophy of “unconditional acceptance” as the core of the author’s “relational apologetic”. I became concerned when I couldn’t find the concept of “unconditional acceptance” in scripture and decided to research it’s origin. What I found was exactly what Dr. Brownback expressed in his blogpost – that it was developed and articulated in the field of human psychology and became enormously popularity thanks to Carl Rogers in the mid 50s. The study became an excellent opportunity for critical analysis in light of scripture and proved to be very profitable for the members of the group.

God’ “unconditional acceptance” has become so entrenched in today’s evangelicalism that there are many professing believers that have never heard anything other than the lie that God accepts us just the way we are. Not only has believing the lie resulted in countless false conversions, it has resulted in a disdain for critical thinking and the labeling of believers who would dare challenge scripturally unsound teaching or opinions, as legalistic Pharisees. The ever self-congratulatory “what does this verse mean to you” bible scholars don’t allow that which is not intentionally uplifting and encouraging. That which is critical of, or that might challenge another person’s “insight” or faulty interpretation of biblical text, is deemed unkind and “unaccepting” – contrary to God’s very character!

There is a cure for the “addiction”. Wherever pop-psychology has supplanted sound doctrine, get rid of the junk and embrace scriptural truth. How do we do that? For the believer it begins with personally reading a sound interpretation of the Bible. The indwelling Holy Spirit, our ‘instructor in residence’ will take care of the rest.