Slipping Into Spirituality 1

Civil Religion vs. Biblical Christianity

The predominate religious orientation in the United States is based on Christianity. We are a “Christian Nation.”

Indeed Americanism is strongly equated with Protestantism. This has resulted
in a very confusing situation within the United States: The difference between what sociologist term “civil religion” and Biblical Christianity.

It is important to understand the concepts and the differences of both philosophies since much of the contemporary spiritual scene in the United States is affected or influenced by the concepts of these ideas.

Civil Religion

If the term “civil religion”, has caused you to draw a blank or to conjecture a rather vague explanation within your mind, this is not surprising. Most Americans don’t
understanding what is meant by civil religion.

As a starting point, civil religion has often been called “social gospel” or “feel good gospel”. It is a belief wrapped up in the phrase, “abundant living”, and a number of prejudicial beliefs involving the poor. Afro-Americans, and women.

Abundant Living: Isn’t it Biblical?

Abundant living does have its origin in the Bible. However civil religion applies a different connotation than what the Bible actually states. Civil religion interprets abundant living to mean only one thing; materialistic wealth. Yet, the Bible clearly presents a more complete viewpoint:

The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him saying:
“Here now is a man who did not make God his stronghold but
trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others.” Psalm 52:6-7

There is a portion of scripture often used by believers of civil religion’s doctrine that leads them to believe their doctrine is Biblically sound. In the thirty-third chapter of Jeremiah, verse six states. “Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.”

However like so many promises God makes to us in His Word, there is a condition that follows in the next verse that changes the meaning of the passage from material wealth, alone to also include spiritual wealth or blessing. (Verses 7 through 9):

I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them
as they were before. I will cleanse them all the sins they have committed
against me and will forgive their sin of rebellion against me. Then this city
will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all the nations on
earth that hear of all the good things I do for it… (NIV)

There seems to be a formula provided in this passage:
Sin —- Repentance —-Forgiveness = Spiritual + Material Blessings = Joy, Honor, Praise to God.

Money: The Root of All Evil?

“The root of all evil is money,” is a New Testament passage which is often misquoted as it is here. From the way it is quoted here, one would think that having money is evil. However, that is not what the Bible actually says about money in this passage or any other. Look at the entire passage and note the wording:

But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
People who want to get rich fall into temptations and a trap and
into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge man into ruin
and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of
evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the
faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:8-10 NIV

It should be clear this passage does not condemn wealth, just the attitude about it. Plus cautioning about some of the pitfalls of not having the right attitude about seeking wealth and possessing it.

How Abundant Living (Wealth) Can Destroy a Church

Putting emphasis on materialistic wealth leaves the door wide open for Satan and all his messengers to enter! Some of the problems that can occur are: dissensions, false guilt among the impoverished members, and favoritism.

To illustrate, in the late 1970’s I was in a church in which the congregation seemed to be split over the doctrine they embraced. Half embraced civil religion, the other half followed the minister’s adherence to being Bible based.

Those who did not possess wealth were shunned and gossiped about by those who were well-off and embraced the abundant living theory. The gossip went something like this: “It’s no wonder the Jackson’s aren’t doing better, they just aren’t living right! There must be some sin they are trying to hide.”

Some comments went so far as to tell a person they were a backslider. When I lost my job, after my auto accident and was facing a seventy-five percent disability I had to use all of my bank account for living expenses, these compassionate souls were quick to tell me, all this happened to me because I wasn’t living right! (Yet, I must have found favor in the sight of the Lord, for by His grace that seventy-five percent disability dropped substantially and about as fast as I dropped from this church!)

Needless to say, this caused a lot of unnecessary false guilt. Weaker members in the church who were victimized by this gossip were constantly put down, snubbed and excluded from any activity those embracing civil religion were in charge of handling. The Bible calls this type of attitude, favoritism! And speaks strongly against it. Check out James, chapter two:

…don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting
wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man also comes
in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes
and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man,
“You stand here”, or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” you have
discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil
thoughts. Verses 1-7 NIV

And in verse 9: “But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.”

The “Scourge of God”

Do you believe the poor of our Nation are the scourge of God? Those locked into civil religion’s doctrines do. A civil religion believer would accuse a poor person of being: “immoral”, “lazy”, “low-life”, and the “scourge of God”.

Commonsense should tell us the poor are not any more immoral than the rich. The
majority of the lower-income individuals I’ve met are not lazy by any stretch of the imagination. It is the poor who are holding down the low-paying jobs that are necessary to the economy and our financial well-being. The poor include the elderly on a fixed income that can not keep pace with the escalating economy. This group also includes the single parent holding down two jobs in an economy that is based on each home having two incomes or wage earners.

To classify these people as low-life’s is repulsive! And most certainly they are not the scourge of God. God said so!

His Word teaches: “A poor man’s field may produce abundant food, but injustices sweep it away.” Proverbs 13:23 NIV
And, “Rich and poor have this in common; The Lord is Maker of them all.”
Proverbs 22:2.

Women: Just a “Possession”?

Another prejudice upheld by civil religion’s doctrines is the attitude regarding women. Again proponents of civil religion vow their doctrine is Biblically correct. And again scripture has been badly misinterpreted and terribly twisted.

During the early years of the United States, women had no more respect than any other possession a man could own. In fact, they were thought of as; mere possessions!
Women had no voice, no rights, and very little dignity.

We are still a little hazy in our thinking about women. Consider these facts still prevalent in our society: Women are still being used, abused and often battered by men. Up until the last century, domestic disputes were not an issue for law enforcement. Why are so many women being battered? Doesn’t religion provide our social norms and moral codes? That is what I learned in a sociology class a good many years ago. Why has civil religion failed in this area?

The problem goes back in history to men who interpreted scripture to provide them with the unchallengeable authority to “chastise” their wives. This concept got dangerously out of control when mere chastising (scolding, rebuking, correcting verbally) became brutal battering. Scripture does not teach that physical abuse is the way to maintain a relationship with anyone. The Bible teaches quite a different lesson about the marriage relationship:

Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the
head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, his body of which he
is the Savor.” Ephesians 5:22-23 NIV
And,
Husbands love your wives just a Christ loved the Church and gave himself
up for her…In this same way husbands ought to love their wives as their own body. He who loves his wife loves himself. Ephesians 5:25-28 NIV

If a man loves his wife he isn’t going to hurt her or permit anyone else to hurt or harm her. And if a woman loves her husband she will, willingly, submit to him. Notice the word is submit, not slavery.
Submit is a willing act of yielding to another for guidance, leadership and protection. Slavery on the other hand, means a person is owned by another and is forced to comply with that person’s will.

Conclusion: What’s Next?

The basis for Christianity is the Bible. Yet, God’s Word has been misinterpreted, distorted, changed and unread for a good many years. What is worse, is these misrepresentations have been passed off as “gospel”. It would be difficult to know exactly how much harm has been inflicted on a personal level. I am sure it would be staggering. Nationally, the United States has paid a hefty price for these lies, in a Civil War that cost us thousand of lives; and in social injustices that are still present and fostering discrimination against the poor, Afro-Americans, and women.

Today the Bible is still widely distorted, changed and unread. People tend to assume they know what it says, without reading it, and more importantly without studying it. The effects in full, are to been seen.

What is the solution?

There is only one Bible based solution: Each person has to be responsible for reading and studying God’s Word for him or her self. One can’t rely totally on clergy (a lot of ministers have led their congregation into the wolf’s den!)

But why do this? Why read and study the Bible?

• It is God’s Word
• He tells us to read, study and meditate upon it
• Doing so will keep us from being led astray by false doctrines
• It will provide strength for each day, and scores of blessings
• In the scriptures we find life (abundant life now, eternal life later)

Anyone who wants to be sure he or she is on track with the Bible, needs to make it a habit to read and study it just as frequently as possible; in the Book of Pslam it is suggested night and day.

Civil religion is one example of spiritualism that derailed due to those who preached it were not knowledgeable to what the Bible teaches. Or they tarnished the truth
received with their own self interests and desires.
Reading the Bible knowing what it teaches is the only way to avoid stumbling into false doctrines. The Apostle Paul warns:

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles
of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8 NIV

The best example we have for knowing the scriptures is Jesus. In Matthew (chapter four)is the account of Jesus being tempted by Satan. Each time Satan tempted him, Jesus would begin his answer with, “it is written”. We should follow the Master’s example; to do so, we have to know what is written in God’s Word to avoid twisted versions of it.