I have been using the term ‘theological correctness’ now for some years, and when I am asked what it means, I say I just made it up, but it refers to the theological equivalent of political correctness. I just googled the term and notice that it is far from unique to me, but it is a handy term, so I will keep running with it.
PC, or political correctness, is now being escorted by TC, or theological correctness. Just as one can be politically incorrect, so too now one can be theologically incorrect. PC has to do with never daring to offend any group in the political or social arenas (except Christians of course).
Thus it is politically incorrect to dare to say anything critical or disparaging of the militant homosexual lobby, or the radical feminists, and so on. It is a form of censorship wherein certain topics are now simply off limits, and we are expected never to open our mouths about them.
To do so means one is politically incorrect. Of course I and many others wear our political incorrectness as a badge of honour. I will keep on speaking truth in the public until the forces of PC finally shut me down altogether.
But the sad thing is, in the religious world, and even in evangelical Christian circles, a new form of censorship is breaking out. Now we have theological correctness. There are now certain theological subjects which we are just expected not to discuss.
There are certain biblical themes and doctrines which those in the TC camp will not dare to touch. It is easy to give examples of this, and I have written a number of pieces recently on this. For example, in many Christian circles – even in Bible-believing ones – many topics will seldom if ever be heard.
Solidly biblical sermons on sin, the wrath of God, judgment, hell, the exclusive truth claims of Christ, the dangers of non-Christian religions, the perils of idolatry, the need for holiness, and the need to get back to being God-centred instead of man-centred, are just some of the topics which are now becoming taboo.
All you have to do is ask yourself when is the last time you heard a sermon on hell in your church, or a sermon on the need to carry your cross, deny yourself, and follow Christ in radical obedience. When is the last time you heard about the danger of apostasy, or the menace of religious syncretism?
The truth is, in many churches today we are hearing just the opposite. We are hearing a lot of TC baloney in other words in many of our churches. We are hearing about the value of interfaith and multifaith dialogue. We are hearing about all kinds of me-centred therapies and techniques.
We are hearing all about why believers should never judge anything or anyone. We are hearing all about how wrong it is for Christians to think they have the truth and other religions don’t. We are hearing all about how our understanding of homosexuality is all wrong, and we need to have a new way of thinking about all this.
Our churches are awash in theological correctness. Of course not too long ago we identified this rot by other names, such as theological liberalism or false teaching or heterodoxy or even heresy. But in today’s wishy washy theological climate, Christians can say and believe almost anything and not fear being corrected or challenged.
Thus we have best-selling authors going on about how hell is not a biblical doctrine, or how in the end everyone will be saved anyway. We have all kinds of basic biblical doctrines now openly being challenged and millions of Christians are soaking it up.
They either lack all biblical discernment, or they just no longer care about the very things the Bible says we should care about. Indeed, we are warned repeatedly in Scripture that what we believe and what we do matters a great deal. If we believe false things or do wrong things, that is a mega-no-no in the minds of the biblical writers. But we simply think it is being intolerant, unloving and narrow-minded.
The hundreds of passages which speak to the need of believing right doctrine and living holy lives seem to be completely ignored by so many believers today. Worse yet, many believers today seem to think that it is their prerogative to actually sit in judgment over the Word of God.
They are quite eager to ditch basic biblical doctrines in favour of the latest theological fads and trends, or worse still, in favour of the latest humanistic nonsense. They will put more weight on what some self-help guru says than the Apostle Paul said.
But things are even worse than that in these TC days. Many believers are now putting God in the dock, and sitting in judgment on him as well. They seem to think they are actually wiser, or more compassionate, or more loving, or more merciful than God is himself.
We see that time and time again as Christians claim that God would be unloving or unjust to allow anyone to go to hell, or to actually condemn a particular sinful lifestyle. They actually think they are smarter and kinder than even Jesus.
So when you next see me using the term theological correctness, or the acronym TC, you now know where I am coming from. And believe me, you can expect me to be using it a whole lot more often in days to come. I suspect things will be getting a lot worse here before they start getting better.
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