What They Think of Us: The Christian Neurosis

Pierre Solignac  (born 1929, France) is a French psychiatrist who claimed that Christianity uses guilt in order to maintain control of its followers. He spoke of the “Christian Neurosis,” which he said meant that a Christian had to carry around a huge weight of neurotic guilt in order to be properly “humble” before God. It is sad to say that many Christians down through the ages have bought into this anti-Christian, non-Christian attitude. Solignac said that Christians believe in a God of conditional love (if we are “good” enough and “humble enough” He will accept us) who uses law and rules to keep us under control.  “L'éducation chrétienne repose essentiellement sur l'
angoisse et la peur, le manque de confiance en la nature humaine, le mépris du 
corps, ...” (Christian education is based primarily on the anxiety and fear, lack of trust in human nature, contempt of body ...)

No! No! No! No! No!

Our salvation is not based on following rules or being humble doormats or being good enough or knowing some secret doctrine hidden from the world.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

Do you realize what the Bible says about Christians? It does not say that we become perfect at the moment of our salvation. What it says is that there is no condemnation for us.  “No condemnation” means “found innocent with no penalty imposed.” As John tells us in 1 John 3:14, “We have passed from death to life.”

We have been declared innocent because we are covered by the shed Blood of the Lamb of God. Through the process of sanctification we are becoming like Jesus and when God looks at us He sees the Blood, He sees Jesus. Our guilt has been washed away.

The Apostle Paul understood that Christian innocence could be misunderstood and he adds a coda at Romans 6:1-2 to oppose the heresy of antinomianism. Antinomianism taught that since we are saved and are no longer under the condemnation of the Law we can do whatever we want without any penalty.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Romans 6:1-2. (KJV)

I apologize that it has taken me so long to respond to all your comments.

I apologize that it has taken me so long to respond to all your comments. Someone flooded my Comments folder with hundreds of pieces of spam such as this: 

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I have responded to each comment on the post where it occurred.  Click on the links below to view the posts, the comments, and my responses. I thank you all for your interest in this blog.

A 1500 Year old Church

http://saintsontheloose.blogspot.com/2011/02/1500-year-old-church-is-uncovered-in.html?showComment=1408923149692#c7596946671044669323

Unusual Christian Places: The Bodhisattva Statue

http://saintsontheloose.blogspot.com/2014/01/unusual-christian-places-statue-of.html?showComment=1408925124629#c8887951374517224420

Fiction in the Bible?

http://saintsontheloose.blogspot.com/2014/03/fiction-in-bible.html?showComment=1395992973471#c5681829031389311263

Say Your Prayers

http://saintsontheloose.blogspot.com/2014/03/say-your-prayers.html?showComment=1395505454734#c9133998666477147723

An Atheist’s Definition of Christianity

http://saintsontheloose.blogspot.com/2012/12/an-atheists-definition-of-christianity.html?showComment=1408925982950#c4340690392061521681

A Country Music Version of Amazing Grace on the Steel Guitar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAlydSxj--s

Proud of a Job Well Done

I recently saw a waste management truck which had the following phrase proudly painted on each side of the truck in large letters, “We’re number one in the number two business!”

This waste management company specializes in emptying and cleaning septic tanks. For those who might not know, in some quarters of the United States, “number one” is a slang phrase for urination while “number two” is slang for defecation. In the phrase painted on the truck, the company is claiming to be “number one” at what they do.  (A different use of the phrase, “number one,” in this case meaning “the best.”)

What does this have to do with this Christian blog? Well, these people are very proud that they do an excellent job in this necessary occupation which is considered to be nasty and unpleasant by most people. Other people may not understand but they can be glad that someone does the job and does it well and proudly.

This is analogous to the Body of Christ. Not everyone is in a glamorous or respected position but everyone is necessary for the proper function of the Body of Christ.

“For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason [a]any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason [b]any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:14-20 (NASB: New American Standard Bible)

Not everyone is suited to be a medical missionary in a hot steamy mosquito-infested jungle. Those who are called are glad to do it.

Not everyone is suited to be a missionary among violent urban gang members. Those who are called are glad to do it.

Not everyone is suited to teach a kindergarten Sunday School class every Sunday morning for forty-three years. Those who are called are glad to do it.

The French Roman Catholic Nicholas Herman (1605-1691) is better known as Brother Lawrence. Though he shunned public life and lived as a lay brother in a monastery, he became known worldwide for his piety and his “practice of the presence of the Lord.” He cooked food and washed the monk’s dishes for God. When he became too feeble to run a kitchen, he repaired the monk’s shoes for God. Everything he did he did for “… God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.”

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

God's Ultimate Purpose for Our Creation

Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862), an American Transcendentalist philosopher and writer basically lived the life of a hermit on Walden Pond in the State of Masssachusetts (USA).  He rejected organized religion and political parties, was a committed abolitionist and pacifist, and spent his life dedicated to self-improvement.  He never married and never attended any church. The writer, Robert Louis Stevenson said of him, “He was not easy, not ample, not urbane, not even kind; his enjoyment was hardly smiling, or the smile was not broad enough to be convincing; he had no waste lands nor kitchen-midden in his nature, but was all improved and sharpened to a point.”  Thoreau was not a pleasant person, but he still had some important insights, one of which is, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” 

This statement is the essence of Jewish religious thought. As Huston Smith said in his classic work, The World’s Religions, “… Judaism is less an orthodoxy than an orthopraxis.” Orthodox Judaism sees obedience to God’s commands now as important, not for future reward, but for what it does to you. Observance of the Jewish rituals is seen as making all of normal life holy. (Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16). Orthodox Judaism believes that observance of the rituals is preparing the world for the appearance of the Messiah and the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Many modern Christians have lost sight of the fact that Christianity began as a movement within Judaism and that Christianity can only be understood in the light of the Hebrew Scriptures. The entirety of the Old Testament clearly points to one person, Jesus.

Just as the Jews see obedience to God’s commands as making all of life holy, our allegiance to Jesus is conforming us to the likeness of Christ. This is the process of sanctification. Jesus did not conform to the world. He expected the world to conform to Him. This is God’s ultimate purpose in our creation, that we become conformed to Christ for God’s glory. Romans 8:28-31