Religious Experience

One of the best devotionals available today is "Tabletalk," published by Ligonier Ministries. In the February issue of Tabletalk, Dr. Scott Clark of Westminster Seminary California writes an excellent piece on the contrast between Reformed theology, piety, and practice and American evangelical theology, piety, and practice. One of the points that he makes is that the theology, piety, and practice of American evangelicals is shaped by religious experience, rather than by the objective work of Christ. You can read the article in its entirety here.

To show you what is meant by this, notice the following statement from a large, broadly evangelical church in southern California, sent to me today by a colleague: "Our relationship to God as believers provides us with the privilege of moment-by-moment communion with God. It is this silent communion of our spirit with the Spirit of God that is essential to our continued walk with Him." Now I'm not exactly sure what is meant by "this silent communion of our spirit with the Spirit of God," but it certainly goes hand-in-hand with what Scott writes about the religious experience that is so central in many churches today. And the sad thing is that this mentality is creeping into many churches that call themselves "Reformed." May the Lord give us the courage and the conviction to pursue the theology, piety, and practice of our Reformed heritage and confessions!