Dangerous Theologies: Theology of Moral Control

I’ve recently been reminded of how dangerous some theologies are to the lives of ordinary people. Theology is defined by my MacBook this way: 

theology |θēˈäləjē|

noun ( pl. -gies)

the study of the nature of God and religious belief.

religious beliefs and theory when systematically developed. 

Well, there you have it, a concise and 90% useless definition brought to you by the fine people of Apple. Theology, as the 10% useful section informs us, is the study of God. Theologies are a collection of religious beliefs, sometimes systematically written down into doctrinal statements and creeds, or, in the case of professors who have no lives, systematic theology textbooks, foisted upon unknowing Bible college students. Theologies, as a rule, aren’t necessarily detrimental; in fact, quite the opposite, really. They can be quite useful in communal settings to unite a believing community underneath a common system of belief. The Apostle’s Creed has for centuries served as a declaration of belief for the Body of Christ.

Theologies become dangerous when they serve purposes other than declaring a common faith. When they are used to ostracize and alienate and excommunicate those who see things differently; when they are used as weapons to destroy community and dismantle relationships and friendships; when they become a means of controlling (and thereby destroying) our freedom in Christ. 

So what I would like to do is take a couple weeks and unmask a few “theologies” that you would do well to avoid being around and buying into. 

Theology of Moral Control/Morality

This is perhaps the most prevalent and the most difficult theology to spot of them all, because it looks like real Christianity. Let’s consult the on-board dictionary again for a good definition of morality.

morality |məˈralətē; mô-|

noun ( pl. -ties)

principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.

• behavior as it is affected by the observation of these principles 

• a particular system of values and principles of conduct, esp. one held by a specified person or society

• the extent to which an action is right or wrong; behavior or qualities judged to be good 

It is the last of the definitions that interests me the most here. Morality is about good vs. bad behavior. It is about determining what is right and what is wrong. Now, on the surface this is not a bad thing. It is generally a good idea to determine right actions and wrong actions. It is right for me to love my wife and treat her with respect. It is wrong for me to kill her. See: one action is right, and one is wrong. And, by the way, I’ve never killed my wife. I digress…

The danger in moral control theology is that many of the actions deemed “wrong” by a particular church body have little, if any, basis in Scripture. Many times they are defended with out-of-context Scripture quotations that ignore the intent of the author and the context of the passage. Or, worse, they are based on old, worn-out, prejudices and traditions that have long since died away, and were themselves outgrowths of shaky interpretations of Scripture. Basically, moral control theology is based on what people have decided is wrong, not necessarily what is actually right or wrong in Scripture. These traditional thought patterns, many times passed down from one generation to the next with no explanation for the reason, are used to control the behaviors of the individual church members, mainly by pouring on large dosages of guilt and fear: guilt because you broke the rule and fear over what God will do to you if you break it again. 

Some popular rules that get thrown around that have no basis in Scripture, but are regarded as wrong because of perceived social stigma, preconceived ideas, or denominational tradition include, but are not limited to: dancing, watching secular movies, listening to secular music, drinking alcohol, smoking, “cussing” (or using a wildly-varying list of “bad words”), you must attend church on Sundays, no instruments in church (a cappella churches only), you must read, listen to, watch, or wear Christian products only, you must dress up for church, no running in church, don’t wear your hat in the sanctuary, and don’t, under any circumstances, watch Scooby-Doo or read Harry Potter. I’ve heard of a church in the tri-county area that actually tells their constituency what movies they can and can’t watch, what they can and can’t wear to church and what music they can and can’t listen to. It’s a matter of membership for them, too. There are other rules I’m sure in different churches, but these cover the basics. 

I said earlier that moral control theology is hard to discern because it looks like real Christianity. Churches that foist this type of theology on their members judge the maturity of the Christian based on their compliance with these dogmas. There is a complete lack of awareness, or at best a vague congizance, of the signs of true Christian maturity and discipleship: a desire for the disciplines, a hunger and need for Christian community, a God-centered and others-centered life, an awareness of God in the present moment, a desire to live the Way of Christ, to live in Ultimate Reality, to “seek first the Kingdom.” Moral control theology reduces discipleship down to compliance with church rules, usually determined by the authority figures at the top of the church hierarchy. 

And let me say this: I’m not opposed to living a right life. But when all we seek to do is obey rules we miss out on the life of Christ, a life of freedom and love. We fall into the trap of the Pharisees.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. __Jesus in Matthew 23__

We focus on the wrong things, put emPHASIS on the wrong syllABLE (so to speak), obey “rules” and neglect life. Jesus said, in John 8, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Why then would we return to bondage under man-made rules that have no bearing on our Christian discipleship? Why do we not trust the Spirit’s work in the lives of individual disciples? Why do we not allow God to work through the disciplines to move us to places of maturity in HIS time? Moral control theology betrays a distinct lack of trust in God to bring about maturity and growth, instead relying on man-made rules to bring about quasi-changes that rarely are permanent. At its worst, moral theology ignores grace, by not allowing for the freedom to make mistakes and the room for God to redeem and use those mistakes for our growth and maturity. 

May you find freedom in Christ, freedom to live life, love more fully and revel in the grace of Almighty God. 

shalom, matt