No, I am not referring to the 1986 film that earned several prestigious awards from the film industry. The film’s title had no question mark. I am actually just asking a question:

“Are many of today’s professing believers, for all practical purposes, children of a lesser God?”

First of all, let me calm any fears that I have become a heretic and somehow think that God could ever become ‘less’ than he always has been, is now, and ever will be. Again, this is a question; one that I cannot get out of my head. I ask it for several reasons based on a combination of study of evangelicalism, examining the depth of doctrine and theology taught in the church over the last century, and into this one, as well as personal observation.

Evangelicalism. Today’s brand seems to have taken on much of the character of the ‘social gospel’  that placed social action/concerns on a higher level of importance than the gospel of Christ. That tendency seemed to have taken hold around the turn of the twentieth century and gave birth to the National Association of Evangelicals, in order to combat creeping liberalism in the church.

Theology and Doctrine. They are both disappearing from not only the substance of what is taught and preached in churches throughout the land, but from many seminaries that are called (by God) to prepare men for ministry!

Observations. Of the churches I have visited and in which I have had the privilege of serving in some capacity, as well as those I have studied via other means, both of the above comments ring true. And while there does seem to be a ‘remnant’ of older believers that still clings to “The Old Rugged Cross”, as well as a growing number of younger believers who are returning to the doctrines of the Reformation and the Five Solas.

Secondly, let me assure you that I am in no way passing any sort of judgment on anyone. This post is not about any specific individual(s), except for yours truly. I can look backward in time with the 20/20 hindsight we all seem to have and see more than a couple of years of worshipping a ‘lesser’ God, not the mighty and awesome God of Scripture.

Everyone is in many ways a product of his/her upbringing, including Christians. Unless they are in the habit of applying the gold standard of Scripture to what they listen to from pulpits, are taught in their small groups, read in books ‘about’ Scripture, and/or are fed from the world of televangelism, they will become to large measure what they feed upon.

At the core of the matter, I believe,  is a man-centered Christianity that has replaced the God-centric faith of years gone by. It is not something that one morning just ‘happened’ to the church, but it took years to develop. Perhaps a significant milestone in the development of self-centered, humanistic Christianity was the entrance of all of the ‘self-esteem’ driven popular psychology that seemed to take root in the mid-fifties. However, the ‘why/how’ are not what we need to be dwelling upon as of first importance.

This old soldier is convinced that we have a generation or so of Christ followers who have been exposed to, and taught, a ‘lesser God’ than the God of Holy Scripture, and they don’t even know it!

The best way to discover if we are sailing along in that boat is to read The Book. That is my encouragement to everyone who reads these ramblings of an old soldier, including this one.