From Therapeutic Moralistic Deism to God
A supernatural encounter with the God of the Bible
The anniversary party was in the basement of a small church in Somerset, PA.
Chris, a high school freshman, was there to celebrate his grandparents who had been married for 50 years.
Chris wasn’t in a celebratory mood, though.
His own parents had recently told him that their own marriage would not include a 50th wedding anniversary. They had sat him down at the kitchen table several weeks prior and told him they were getting a divorce.
Not many people knew yet. Not even the grandparents who were being celebrated.
But Chris knew.
And knowing was suffering. Knowing was pain and hurt and wishing for impossible things that weren’t to be. It was a heavy burden that weighed on him.
How Could God Allow This?
Chris had been raised in a church setting.
He went to a mainline Protestant church where he did all the church things. He believed in God. He believed Jesus was real. He went to Vacation Bible School in the summer.
But now, Chris wasn’t so sure about God. In fact, he was now pretty convinced that God wasn’t real.
God couldn’t be real, it seemed, because of all the pain and suffering he was carrying around with him. It felt unbearable. A real God could not allow this, could He?
Years later, Chris came to see his beliefs were not orthodox Christian at this time in life. They were more similar to moralistic therapeutic deism.
He shared many of the beliefs common to MTD. Below are 5 core tenets of this kind of faith (source):
A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
Good people go to heaven when they die.
But Chris didn’t know that term back then.
He didn’t know that the “God” he believed in was based less on the God of the Bible and more on his hopes and dreams for a happy and pain free life.
That kind of “God” had no answers for life right now.
Back to the Party
Chris watched as his dad left the basement of the church and headed up the stairs. He followed, carrying up his burden with him.
He arrived on the first floor and saw the sanctuary of the small church. Without a clear reason to do so, he walked towards the front. And he saw a mural.
It showed a village that had just survived a rainstorm. There was a a rainbow in the clouds overhead.
And something happened as he stood before the mural.
Something spoke to him.
Something or Someone touched his heart and mind and somehow gave him the sense that this mural was a microcosm of his own experience.
Then he heard words.
Not a general idea this time, but real words. Specific words that he didn’t hear in his ears but in his heart.
Don’t do this alone. Let me help you with this.
The second part of that was even clearer than the first. Let me help you with this.
And at the very same time, he felt a physical weight lift off his shoulders. The burden. The heaviness he had been carrying had vanished.
It was accompanied by a feeling of warmth and energy that coursed through his body. He body felt like it was on fire with life and energy and power. It was like the strongest adrenaline rush he had ever felt, but 10 times stronger and more.
Chris, an engineering major with a disciplined and rational outlook to life circumstances, later described it this way:
“It was unlike any physiological experience I’ve ever felt before, and I can’t say that I’ve experienced it quite like that again.”
That was the moment when the real God began to be real for Chris.
He had experienced the overwhelming power and goodness of the Holy Spirit. The 3rd person of the Trinity that Jesus said He would be sending for His followers after he ascended back into heaven.
Chris didn’t understand much. He didn’t understand much of anything. But he knew one thing: it was real. It was all real.
What Happened Next
The party continued. Chris’s parents got divorced.
In many ways, life continued on as usual after the supernatural experience in front of the village.
But in one critical way, things would never be the same. Chris was convinced that there was a real and personal God who knew him and could see him. A God who cared about him.
Not a God who only wanted him to be happy and feel good feelings, but a God who wanted to be on a journey through the ups and downs of life with him. A God who wanted Chris to follow and trust and obey.
Now, over 25 years later, Chris is still following.
There are still ups and downs. But he knows that God is there. Through the dark and difficult periods, God continues to provide. Chris calls them "lighthouses,” markers on the road of following Jesus.
It’s one of the reasons that Chris believes the foundation of faith is grace. God’s undeserved favor and help.
Jesus followers believe we can’t earn it, but that it’s available to us. We know that because of The Cross. The place where the God of the universe showed how far He’s willing to go to help us carry our burdens.
Chris Ansell is Head Pastor of Restoration Community Church in Swissvale, PA, Borough Council President of Swissvale, dad to 3, and husband to Sarah Ansell.
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Last week: Do we all believe in a supernatural world?
Next week: Another supernatural encounter
What a gracious and loving God we serve that He would make Himself known to Chris in that moment and that Chris believed!
This is beautiful. The human Christian experience. I was just reading earlier.. ‘casting all your cares on him because he cares for you..’ thank you.