Man-Centered Theology

I am noticing more and more strands of bad theology throughout our Christian culture. Many times they are innocent, seemingly harmless phrases that fit right in with how we speak about our God. How we speak about our God is important. I think this is part of how we do theology, and is a part of theology itself. Theology is how we try to grasp who God is on the basis of His revelation. So, when it comes to everday life we must be careful how we speak about God. Why? Because, in the end, we always end up "doing" theology in some way.



This is on my mind because of certain songs I have heard on the radio. They are Christian songs by artists who are Christians. What I have noticed in some songs, though not all, is the man-centered theology within. Ultimately, we as fallen creatures are inherently theologians of ourselves--we, through our sin, make ourselves god. This has been the case ever since the garden of Eden. So, as we are still depraved creatures (yet regenerated), it is clear how easy it is to focus on ourselves, even in theology.

One specific phrase I heard recently in a Christian song was basically this: because of Christ, "I'm free to be me." At first thought, this seems relatively harmless. Freedom is good. God loves me. He wants me to be free. What I would argue is that yes, you are free to be you because you already are. In fact, we are free to be who we are from birth, because we were born as sinners. All we are free to do is sin. So, you are already free to be who you are before accepting and trusting Christ. Christ does not make us free to be who we are.

What this "innocent" and seemingly benign phrase leads to is a disfigured identity in Christ. We are only righteous before God because of the righteouness of Christ imputed to us. Our identity in Christ refers directly to our salvation. However, when we imply that the work of Christ has the effect of allowing us to be who we are, or a fuller identity of ourselves, we make our identity in Christ something less than salvation. We fall into a man-centered theology that makes ourselves the goal of Christ's work applied to us.

Now, I am not saying that this artist or those who listen to this certain song would affirm this misguided theology. Probably, many people would agree that keeping Christ central is all important. What I am noticing, however, is the danger of what is largely overlooked. What is overlooked is the destination of the trajectory we find ourselves on when we tease out the theology of the phrase "I'm free to be me." Some may say I am nitpicky, but I think it's important.

Thoughts?