Humanistic/Evangelical
Pastor Noel Anderson, First Presbyterian Church of Upland 5/9/21
Humanistic Spirituality
There is the humanism of the renaissance and the humanism of our time—from the 18th century forward—and the two should not be confused. The first was a re-embracing of classical literature and philosophy, the latter a result of science and modern philosophies. We’ve become familiar with the term “secular humanism,” which is the result of humanism once it disregards God entirely, but our interest is in Christian humanism, which is a Christian spirituality grounded in Scripture and the life of Christ.
In a nutshell, humanism holds that “Man is the measure of all things.” The good of humankind is the sole barometer of our morality, faith, and practice. Ethics or theology which do not result in worldly good are seen as completely irrelevant.
In theological circles, the buzz-phrase has become “human flourishing.” Human flourishing becomes the chief factor by which the church and its theologies judged. If something seems good in promoting human flourishing, it is a good thing. If it bears no weight in the human sphere, it is irrelevant—even bad.
We see the humanistic spirituality in Christ as well. When the great multitude gathered on the grass by the lake [Matthew 14], the Disciples worried for their worldly care. “Send the crowds away so they can find some food.” But Jesus says, “YOU feed them.” Though they were poorly resourced, Jesus took what they had and miraculously fed the multitude. At one level, this is Jesus caring for the simplest of human needs—their hunger. He also heals the sick, casts out demons, and in other ways sets aright many of the worldly manifestations of inequality, inequity, decay, and death—all results of human sinfulness.
Humanistic spirituality maintains a laser beam, horizontal focus on the world. It tends to rely on the goodness of the image of God found in every person. Yes, we’ve sullied it, but it remains there waiting for good people to awaken it, encourage it, and groom it into full flourishing.
It believes in collective good. If people will set aside their differences and look to the concerns of all instead of self alone, then there is no end to what we may accomplish.
The song “Imagine” by John Lennon provides a poetic description of this vision. “I hope some day you’ll join us and the world can live as one.” Christian humanism graciously looks the other way over the “above us only sky” lines, though it expresses their value regarding human flourishing.
The goal is peace, a good and Godly aim.
You and I practice humanistic spirituality whenever we:
1. help others to pursue their full potential. Humanism believes in that inherent goodness God has created us to pursue.
2. coach, counsel, parent, and teach. I’ve had strict coaches in the past. I feared them, but they knew my potential better than I did. They pushed, challenged, and prodded me—which I hated—but did so in order that I may overcome personal limitations. For their work, I became a better basketball player, a more diligent student, and a more confident man. I remain deeply grateful to them all.
3. practice activism. Here humanistic and activistic spirituality overlap. In becoming active—even politically active—we seek justice, peace, and equity for all people in a way that can bear fruit and diminish human suffering. Despite the excesses of many kinds of activism—only too much in evidence today—there is at the core of any activist the desire to help improve someone else’s station in life or to otherwise enhance human flourishing. We may disagree on the means and methods of affecting such change, but Christians should all be in agreement that human suffering merits a helpful response from the church.
Where Humanistic Spirituality Goes Wrong
Humanism goes wrong precisely to the degree humankind is elevated to the place of God and God’s being and relevance is commensurately minimized. What happens to our ideas about God when humankind and its needs are placed at the center of the universe? It’s obvious: God becomes less than God—a distant observer or an otherwise irrelevant aspect of human thought and behavior.
The problem with humanism in general is that it fails to provide anything greater than humanity itself. Faith and belief are only relevant to the degree they assist the first cause of human flourishing.
Some years ago at a World Council of Churches meeting, a banner hung across the back of the stage:
“GOD IS OTHER PEOPLE.”
It is Matthew 25—“what you do for the least of these you’ve done for me”—on steroids. God’s spirit is imminently present within every person, so our service to Christ depends upon our service to humankind, right? What is “faith” but doing what is good for other people? So say some.
The failure of humanism—and the humanistic spirituality—is found as far back as Genesis 11 in the Tower of Babel story. The seeds of humanism flourished among those who decided it was time for humankind to build its way into the place of divinity.
“Come, let us make a name for ourselves,” they said, implying that they, too, could—with all their collective virtue—share a place with the gods in heaven. The ultimate end of this ambition was—and is—utter chaos.
Evangelicals / Evangelicalism
The word evangelical has become so problematic that in 2008, a group of Evangelical theologians produced a document called “An Evangelical Manifesto.” The purpose of this document was to address the less-than-well-informed media, which had collectively besmirched the term through increasing misuse. There are still many wrong ideas about evangelicals.
The word means “good news.” The original use of the word “evangelist” had nothing to do with Christianity. It was a Roman term. The role of an evangelist was to travel town to town in the ancient empire and announce the good news of one-Caesar-or-another’s military victories. This was news in antiquity. Yes, we Christianized it, so the word evangelist rightly refers to one who travels town to town announcing the good news of Christ’s utter triumph over sin, death, and Hell.
Since the Reformation, the world evangelical has served as the preferred synonym for “Protestant,” as the word protestant was originally derogatory—used by the Roman Catholic writers against the Reformers. Early Protestants never called themselves Protestants; they called themselves Evangelicals.
In truth, evangelicalism is diverse and broad. There is no particular political allegiance rightly associated with the word. We can say that it is every bit as diverse as the word Protestant.
What Evangelicals hold in common includes their reliance on the authority of Scripture, and their close alliance with the Great Commission—to make Disciples of all nations. Evangelicals take the Great Commission most seriously.
Evangelical Spirituality
Evangelical spirituality, while sharing a great deal of horizontal focus with Humanistic Spirituality, operates with different values and ends.
Unlike the humanists, who say man is the measure of all things, Evangelicals hold that God is the measure of all things. God is above all, over all, and even Lord of those who deny Him. As ChristianHumanists have said, “God is other people,” Evangelicals add an all-important comma to the phrase:
“GOD IS OTHER, PEOPLE.”
For Evangelicals, human flourishing is not the most relevant measure, but rather God’s glory. The glorification of God is infinitely more important than human flourishing. In a choice between God being glorified and humankind being happy, God’s glory comes first.
If God’s glory were served by the end of all life on Earth, then that would be the higher good. Should God’s glory be served by there being no cosmos instead of one, then that is the higher good. We can be thankful that God is indeed glorified in human flourishing, but it isn’t necessarily so. When humanity lives in peace and wholeness, The Lord is glorified because we approximate his will and design.
Assisting human flourishing is a worthy piece of our witness. It is part of seeking justice and faithful stewardship of God’s creation, but to be clear, human flourishing is no end in and of itself.
The humanist side of evangelicalism is outreach. The Evangelical’s chief concern for humankind is in the knowledge that every human being is more than a mere animal, but rather a soul on a trajectory either toward or away from God. Once this biological life is ended, the soul remains accountable to God. Evangelicals are concerned for more than a person’s temporary well-being; Evangelicals put first priority on each person’s eternal destiny. That is human flourishing indeed.
At its best, Evangelical Spirituality remains intent upon the mission of the Church as given by Christ. We glorify God when we obey his commands: to love God, love neighbor, and make disciples of every people group in the world.
Where Evangelical Spirituality Goes Wrong
Evangelical Spirituality can go wrong in several ways. It can become an exclusive club, a collection of insiders celebrating their own, Evangelical identity. This is self-serving and is reflected when their collective interests become ingrown, “about us Evangelicals” in spirit.
When Evangelicalism focuses on its “ism” rather than its charge to serve, it abandons its charge to serve and can become a community in worship of itself, just as with any common religion or identity movement.
It also goes off when it becomes privatized—when being an Evangelical is something that lives only between one’s own ears. God has created this world as the theater for our spiritual development. We are meant to engage the world, not to climb into a bubble and avoid it.
You and I practice Evangelical Spirituality whenever we:
1. serve Christ’s glory, will, and purposes. To love and value God above all else—the world and collective humankind—is the earmark of evangelicalism.
2. pursue mission, evangelism, education, and nurture. Like the humanists, Evangelicals devote themselves to the encouragement of all that they may develop their God-given gifts and share in the ongoing mission of Christ. The goal is growth, both internal growth and depth of the faith as well as growth in fellowship through outreach.
3. serve God’s will, not human comforts. Human flourishing is the cart to be kept well-behind the horse. We are not here for our own gain and comfort, but as servants of God tending to his creation.
As we read in our text from Ephesians:
10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Christlikeness is Our Calling
We see Christlikeness in both Humanistic and Evangelical spiritualities. There are areas they overlap, areas they differ, and areas where they mutually exclude one another.
It is right and good that we should acknowledge the best in every form of spirituality, find a way to embrace it and grow into it, and by doing so grow a little more into the image and likeness of our Lord and Savior Jesus. That is our mission statement here at First Pres. We are growing in Christ—that is, growing into Christ—and making him known. †
Following Up:
- What are the core values of Humanistic Spirituality? What are the signs of success?
- Where does Christian Humanism depart from worldly humanism?
- How do we see the humanistic spirituality exemplified by Christ? Where do we hear him charge us to such spirituality?
- How and where does humanism go wrong?
- Consider sharing personally how you might challenge yourself and grow in your humanistic spirituality.
- What has gone wrong with the word evangelical? How is it rightly understood?
- What is the foundation for Evangelical outreach? Why do we do it?
- How do the ideas about God differ between these two spiritualities?
- Where is the common ground between them?
- Where does evangelicalism go wrong?
- What is the danger of any group celebrating its own identity?
- Consider sharing personally how you might challenge yourself and grow in your Evangelical spirituality.