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Passage: 1 Tim 4:6-9
Living in a calorie-conscious, calorie-counting culture of belly burgeoning America, anything –lite is considered to be a healthier choice, but in the spiritual realm the meaning reflects an unhealthy choice from an evangelical perspective. Coining of the phrase theology-lite is relatively new, but this theological tact for living is as old as dirt – the pursuit of happiness apart from biblical holiness. Going forward I will relate this to seeking a spiritual sugar high or fix at the expense of truth.
The question in my mind is why are people attracted to theology-lite [sugar] churches in the first place rather than solid Bible-believing evangelical churches? Are we running people off with some kind of spiritual compulsive disorder? There are probably multiple reasons for people leaving evangelical churches for T-L churches such as ignorance of the Word, a cliquish or high-minded congregation, ignored, or feelings of being out of place or unwanted. The church may have given the impression that they were more interested in money than the person. Church members may have left because they felt uncomfortable from invasive, demanding, domineering, or guilt driven practices. Maybe something said from the pulpit dislodged them. They may have simply felt alienated, unloved, unappreciated, or unaccepted. Perhaps they thought the church was too judgmental and felt ill at ease with all of that accountability stuff? It may be a sin issue at the heart of the move? Whatever the reason, they landed in a sugar church, one that promotes a rich theology-lite lifestyle.
This, I believe, is an unhealthy spiritual choice in which I will elaborate on shortly. The church may be partially to blame for such migration; after all, no church is perfect, but T-L churches are made up of imperfect people, too! Is orthodox Christianity simply too heavy a load for people to process nowadays, too demanding, too divisive for 21st century living, too Bible…? It may be that sugar coating and the absence of judging (acceptance without standards) are attractive to people desiring a less intrusive “religion” into their personal lives. They want to be accepted by the church, loved on a little, but left alone concerning how they live when having one foot in the church and one foot in the world. Allow that to simmer as we move on.
Whenever a church appeals to emotions more than the facts of Scripture two things are quite apparent: (1) Scriptural standards have been lowered, and (2) the focus is on feelings rather than faith. Evangelical theology and theology-lite are not on the same worldview track. Historical evangelicalism is rooted in the principles of Scripture producing Christlike behavior. Theology-lite uses the Bible as a store front, but its principles for living are rooted in humanism, having a form of godliness but denying the power (2 Tim 3:5). It elevates human feelings over faith, all with an engaging smile! This appeals to many who only want to hear candy-coated Bible messages, feel-good-about-myself anecdotes, self-esteem builders, prosperity gospel, and no talk about that negative and divisive word called “sin.” Gifted and charismatic speakers deliver the goods to a growing crowd addicted to meism.
Theology-lite represents a sugar gospel of offering a cafeteria-styled obedience to the Scriptures and promote social and spiritual acceptance without question. The ecclesiastical expectations of a T-L church are feeding the flock what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear, avoiding any unnecessary sectarianism. After all, doctrine divides and sugar unifies and generates a healthy revenue stream....
Stuff about self is always a more popular subject than holiness before the Lord considered to be steeped in a killjoy theology. Personal happiness is pursued at the expense of holiness. Acceptance of one another has become a kind of idol-like desire than acceptance before God according to the Scripture and conforming to the image of Christ. Anyone with common sense knows that the physical body cannot survive on a diet of candy; so why do sugarites think that the spiritual body can thrive on a diet that runs contrary to biblical revelation? They don’t; they live for the sugar high or sugar fix. The spiritual adrenaline is addictive, contagious, and fun but lacking the spiritual substance that plumbs the depths of Christlike behavior.
I think the flesh naturally craves sweets over vegetables, don’t you? Like any normal kid,I hated veggies; mom rightfully made me eat them anyway because they were good for me. Given time, spiritual anemia will develop from an unhealthy spiritual diet, and emptiness begins to gnaw within the heart; restlessness stirs, and unhappiness simply will not dissipate because the key to genuine happiness is found only in biblical holiness. By the way it is in biblical holiness that significance is realized, too! That’s another lesson. Usually what happens after this realization of spiritual deprivation, the normal response is disenchantment and quitting on God altogether. Sugar isn’t enough to sustain the inner man in obedience to God. The flesh will never accomplish anything for God; it opposes Him.
The popularity behind the theology-lite movement stems from a less judgmental approach of being “more spiritual than doctrinal” which is indicative of the old saying,”He that stands for nothing falls for anything.” Theology-lite proponents hold to the idea that dogma divides, but love unifies quoting their growing numbers as support of this (cf. Mt 7:13). Following down this slippery slope it is easy to see why sin is minimized, and the love of God and acceptance of others are maximized. It taps into the well of people who desire tolerance over truth, compromising truth for “grace;” something Jesus never did.
In reality theology-lite represents a false teaching that cannot save or help others grow and mature in the faith. It serves an unsuitable and unsustainable spiritual diet because it is not based on the truth of Scripture. There is no exercise toward godliness because the theology is sourced in humanism and not the superiority of the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16-17). Naturally, there is an acknowledgment of the Scriptures but no real submission to its authority. This problem is not limited to theology-lite churches; many attending evangelical churches acknowledge the Word but never submit to its authority in all matters of faith and practice, ugh. They seek solutions to life’s complex issues without obedience to the Word of God. In the spiritual world solutions only follow obedience to God according to His Word.
Getting back to food, we are so obsessed on losing weight without effort, like popping the next wonder diet pill or taking some shot and shedding the pounds while we keep stuffing our bellies full. So it stands to reason that people can and do think that way spiritually, something without effort my way. They truly believe they can achieve Christlikeness without all of that doctrinal-stuff of healthy spiritual dieting and exercising godliness according to the Scriptures. They think that this is all okay with God that they choose not to submit to the authority of the Scriptures which is tantamount to rejecting God's very authority in the life, but they don’t see it that way, naturally.
Agape love (or God’s love) without holiness is not agape love; it’s an earthy or natural love that all men possess; we cannot be carnal and reflect the love of God to others. We think we can, but we can't. When we get in the flesh the only love we can express is natural love, not agape love. Agape love has standards and expectations. God didn’t die on the cross for us so that we could do our own thing! How can one not be doctrinal and truly believe in John 14:6, for example? As soon as you articulate that publicly, people will label you as dogmatic and divisive in a heartbeat!
How in the world can we honestly claim to love God without obedience to His Word which obviously make demands of us (1 Pet 1:15-16; 2 Pet 3:18; Jn 14:15)? This last verse is a byproduct of a true love for God. Want a really tough expectation from God Almighty for every single believer claiming the name of Christ? Read Lk 9:23. For these verses to mean anything you have to accept the Bible as the ultimate authority in all matters of faith and practice. For sugarites a crosswalk is too divisive, controversial, and ignored. Regard what you like and disregard the rest, cafeteria Christians.
Any theology that fails to demand Christ-likeness in an anti-Christian world is dangerous and deceptive. A theology that is so pumped full of the “love of God” there is no room to entertain the holiness of God and His wrath towards sin. Hell isn’t one degree cooler today than it was when Jesus walked the earth, and it isn’t running out of space any time soon (cf. Prov 27:20). The sugar gospel of theology-lite falls under the curse stated by the Apostle Paul in Gal 1:8-9, all sugar and twisted truth.
A proper theology, on the other hand, moves people away from sin and religion to a personal and intimate holy relationship with God Almighty through Jesus Christ, resulting in recognition of, submission to, and reliance upon the authority of the Scriptures by and through and in the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Christ-likeness only emerges from heart-felt obedience to the full scope of Scripture. Genuine happiness is hardwired to holiness which results in obedience to the God-breathed Scriptures (cf. Psa 1:1-3; 2 Tim 3:16-17). Pursuing acceptance over holiness leads only to unhappiness. Will we ever learn this?
After Paul warned Timothy of the apostasy (departing from the faith, 1 Tim 4:1), he was to instruct the brethren of those thing in the first five verses (1 Tim 4:1-5), being a good minister (servant). Notice the diet of one who is serving Christ – “nourished in the words of faith (truth revealed by God, 2 Tim 3:16) and of the good doctrine (theology sourced in Scripture) which you have carefully followed” (1 Tim 4:6). Note the phrase "have carefully followed" - "tracing its course and accompanying it" [Alford].
Not only spiritual leaders like Timothy, but all believers need to continually feed upon the Word for spiritual health not from feel good anecdotes, hugs and cheers about being courageous in sinning against God, and sugar-laden sermons. Analogous to our physical well being is spiritual healthiness. Both require a healthy diet and exercise. The suitable diet for all believers is being nourished in the words of faith or Scriptures (1 Tim 4:6), and rejecting, “profane and old wives' fables” (1 Tim 4:7a). “Reject” the unhealthy spiritual foods of “profane (worldly, unholy) and old wives’ (the uneducated and philosophically unsophisticated [John MacArthur]) fables (myths).”
Nourished in the Scriptures and good theology based on the Scriptures, “exercise yourself toward godliness” (1 Tim 4:7b). The priority is to be on God’s words, the eternal things, not man’s words, the temporal things as espoused by theology-lite.
The verb “exercise” is in the present active imperative – (You) continue to exercise yourself or keep on exercising yourself. “Exercise” (Gk, gumnazo, G1128) is where our English word gymnasium is derived from. Paul is referring to spiritual fitness or training in godliness. Spirituality doesn’t come from osmosis but through rigorous discipline in the pursuit of godliness. Spirituality requires sweat, not sugar.
Bodily exercise has a temporary value (1 Tim 4:8a), but exercising godliness [Christ-likeness] based on the Scriptures has a value that endures for all eternity (1 Tim 4:8b). Again, physical development and spiritual development share a similar diet plan: both involve a suitable diet, exercise, and effort. 1 Tim 4:9 refers back to verse 8. The assessment by Warren Wiersbe is right on; God expects us to exercise both physically and spiritually. “A healthy body can be used of God, but we must major on holiness” (Wiersbe Bible Commentary on 1 Tim 4:7-8), not candy.
In these perilous time, it might be best for us to number our days (Psa 90:12) rather than counting calories, partaking of the solid food of the Word (Heb 5:13-14) over the fluff-n-stuff of a sugar coated theology, and exercising holiness according to the Scriptures (1 Tim 4:7-8) rather than making demands for acceptance of who we are and our lifestyle. The last I heard, you still can’t fit a square peg in a round hole; this is precisely what a sweet tooth mentality attempts to do. Humanism is sweet to the flesh or sin nature because self is at the center of its doctrine; man is considered the measure of all things, the basic assumption of secular and religious humanism.
Expressions of Christ-likeness are always a healthy choice for it means we are holy and happy and growing for God’s glory. We are responsible in taking care of our bodies but more importantly in exercising right living in a very dark and sinful world. We owe it to God, our loved ones, and ourselves. We need to get in spiritual shape in order to bring glory to God and win others to Christ through our obedience to His Word.
A Biblical-based theology moves people from a superficial acknowledgement of the Word to a substantive submission to the authority of the Word of God. If you are a true believer, the only way to biblical happiness and gaining traction in Christ-likeness is in loving obedience to the Word of God, not from some sugar tooth theology that has a temporal shelf-life (wood, hay, and straw quality). That stuff tastes sweet to the buds but turns bitter in the end.
Perhaps the number one reason for people defecting to T-L churches is not what we might think after all; it may simply be an uncontrollable sweet tooth looking for a spiritual sugar source to get a synthetically spiritual sugar high! Should have known that there are people always looking for the “more” factor! If ever there was a time when we all need to learn the Word, love the Word, and live the Word is now! Too much sugar is not where the eternal stuff is. Now that is some heavy theology with a purpose – Christ-likeness! I’ve quoted this recently, but allow me to quote two of my heroes of the faith once again.
“Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts” ( Jer 15:16).
“How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” (Psa 119:103).
It doesn’t get any sweeter than this; imagine that! The real sugar rush is in the Word; “sweeter than honey,” it is. <><
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