I hate Christian fads. Christian fads are things like Women of Faith seminars and Joel Osteen-like mega-churches. They only serve to make the presenters rich. They offer pablum for the believer in the form of spiritual junk food and offer nothing more than The Power of Postive thinking, You-are-Special-to-God type of stuff. It’s spiritual masturbation of the worst sort and I can’t seem to get that Robert Shuller taste out of my mouth. Oh, and don’t forget that follow-the-bible-diet! If you eat like an Israelite, you can look like Heidi Klum. Christians seem to have more formulas than the baby food aisle in the grocery store.
I’ve fallen for these fads myself including ye olde re-packaging-the-bible fad. Let’s wrap the bible in a new cover with new notes and keep selling the same book over and over and over and then tell others how this book is the best selling book of all time! Zondervan’s made a killing doing this. Another fad is the reworking of Hal Lindsey‘s end-time scenarios by Tim LaHaye and that Jenkins fellow. The world’s been coming to an end soon! for these guys since the late 60s. Please enough already. Why can’t we just wait quietly for it like the rest of the world? One particular book fad called The Purpose Driven Life franchise is keeping Rick Warren in some pretty comfy digs and is making fools of some churches and their pastors. To hear pastors tell it, THIS will finally be the answer to all their prayers about church growth and church relationships. You see, church growth is the only thing pastors seem to hope for nowadays. If your church isn’t growing you’re doing something wrong! Or so they believe. This business market mentality has the church scrambling for the latest quick fix and The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life is just the fix they want. The same folks who bought The Prayer of Jabez and made it’s formulaic contents popular are the same folks touting Warren’s book. Bleck. I read the book a while ago and threw it away. There’s nothing new here. In fact, it’s so bland and full of spiritual junk food, you’re liable to get sick more than anything. Is this what passes for thinking nowadays? I’m just jealous I didn’t write it first and become rich!
Fortunately there’s a solution. The Reason Driven Life is a book that I’m putting on my Amazon wishlist. Julia Sweeney describes it best here. Robert Price’s book offers an alternative for those who feel that following bible formulas to their logical conclusion has gotten you nowhere and in some cases, into a heap of trouble, namely doubt and depression. I’m sure God gave us reasoning ability so that we are intelligent enough not to fall for such tripe and if we can’t use this ability, and must follow the latest piper leading the rats toward the sewer, then there’s no hope for the evangelical world.
Mystery of Iniquity 
Hello, just a visitor who stumbled upon this blog by accident, but wow, you rock! It’s sad how America has replaced regular exercising and eating healthy with fast food and brief entertainments, not just in physical sense but also in spiritual realm. Awesomely said. God bless your day!
Dream,
Good analogy! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
I thought I was the only Christian who hated The Prayer of Jabez. The book is about ME, ME, ME. Expand MY horizons, Lord, GimME more money, Lord. Gimme more influence, Lord. If I do this for you, you’ll make me RICH, Lord.
Prime example of taking one passage from the bible and building a whole theology around it. Then, Wilkinson’s WIFE comes out with “Prayer of Jabez for Women,” the same claptrap reworded… as if the passage only applied to men in the first place. Of course Mrs. Bruce Wilkinson expanded the horizons of their bank account with that one, thanks to the shallow fools who bought it.
Leslie,
Nope, count me in as a Jabez hater! 🙂 It is such a crass “name it-claim it” theology. But like you said, Wilkinson named it and now reaps the rewards! Thanks for the comment!