Moralism is a terrible substitute for Christianity. We need gospel-fueled obedience, not a “grit your teeth and do it” obedience. We should actively pursue a moral life, but it should flow from the gospel. And really, this is the only way that we can sustain real Christian morality. We must run the race with endurance, “looking unto Jesus… seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).
We’ve recently gotten into tapes at my house. And yes, when I say tapes, I mean the things we used to fast-forward and rewind in order to listen to music. My wife and I both grew up on tapes, and we recently inherited a bunch of old nostalgic radio programs and albums from our parents. And my boys love it. They love that they can start and stop it at will. My wife and I love it because we can let them listen without worrying about weird commercial breaks or hidden agendas. But one thing that comes out in these old tapes from the 90’s is a weird amount of moralism. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all about teaching good morals to my kids, but a lot of the Christian kid’s programming from that era had a lot to say about what was right and wrong, but often lacked the gospel. As an adult, I’m realizing that those programs needed some more robust gospel underpinnings. But this type of moralism was not unique to the 90’s or unique to kid’s programming. Honestly, I’m seeing it now more than ever. And moralism is a poor substitute for Christianity.
Moralism Today
Today, we have replaced the moralistic tales of church kid’s programming with the intellectual, political commentaries of the modern Youtube influencer. People who hold to Judeo-Christian values are, rightly, calling foul on the culture. But so often, people begin to think that that is what Christianity is all about.