You know the slogan, “You can do it, we can help.” It has become increasingly apparent to me recently just how much of an issue this has become for churches. In the old days, the enemy was always seen as outside the church. Conservative Christians were afraid of Evolution being crammed down their kids’ throat. They were concerned about long hair and short skirts. But those things are not too concerning to the modern Conservative Evangelical Christian. Today there is a brand new enemy. It is called by various names such as: the self-help gospel, the therapuetic gospel, the Jesus-is-your-life-coach gospel, etc ad nausea ab absurdum.
The idea is that you can change yourself to be a better you. The pastor is there alongside you to help you. He is simply your coach along the way. There is nothing to it except a change of attitude. One must simply take on the attitude of Jesus and all will be well. This is very dangerous thinking however. The danger is that it sounds like Christianity. It uses the same phrases and it uses the Bible as its basis. The church has seen this before in Modernism and even Neo-Orthodoxy ala Barth.
So what makes this new Evangelicalism so dangerous is that it removes God from the equation. It is almost like Deism where God is for you but is not really involved in the creation so much. He has given you the instructions, now you figure it out. You can call him, but the change is your doing. Of course no pastor who uses the self-help gospel would put it like that. All would say you need the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. But as always, there are trajectories with such thinking.
Examples: No one is offended by this so-called “gospel.” There is no offense of the cross. There is no stone of stumbling, rock of offense. It is simply Jesus is your buddy and he is there to help you along through life’s problems. Sound good? Sure, who wouldn’t want that? And that of course is the problem.
I am afraid however that this way of thinking is all too pervasive. It is probably taught in most churches in America each week that consider themselves conservative Evangelicals. There simply is no gospel. There is no cross. There is no need for the radical conversion from death to life. Paul could not preach this idea of Jesus being your buddy or life-coach. Instead he said things like, “we preach Christ and him crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Moreover he could say, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only (meaning no resurrection), we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor 15:19 ESV).
For Paul and the rest of the Bible, the historic event of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus was foundational to everything. Any foundation that is built on self-esteem, self-help, is a shaky foundation. Once the gospel is lost, all you have is self-help or do good because that is what you should do. Just stop and smell the roses. Life is too short to be in a hurry. Live your best life now, Jesus will help you. Once the cross is removed from the equation, the message ceases to be the gospel. It is something, but not biblical Christianity. May we repent of ever being guilty of offering people hope apart from the gospel.