Not a “felt needs” Savior
There are no prayers or songs in the Bible that take their cues from the current therapeutic felt needs.
That mere fact should give serious pause to anyone drifting in the direction of a therapeutic understanding of how unexamined desires link up with Jesus’ gospel. Imagine, “My Father in heaven, help me feel that I’m OK just the way I am. Fill me with self-confidence. Protect me this day from having to do anything I find boring. Hallelujah, I’m indispensable, and what I’m doing is really having an impact on others, so I can feel good about my life.”
Have mercy upon us! Instead, in our Bible we hear a thousand cries of need and shouts of delight that orient us to our real needs and to our true Savior.
I’m loving these biblical counseling articles on Boundless by David Powlison. This excerpt was from The Therapeutic Gospel: Part 1. I love the list of “true, life-and-death needs” he has earlier in the article; for example:
I need mercy above all else: “Lord, have mercy on me.”
“For Your name’s sake, pardon my iniquity for it is very great.”…I want him to deliver me from my obsessive self-righteousness, to slay my lust for self-vindication, so that I feel my need for the mercies of Christ, so that I learn to treat others gently.
It’s revolutionary from a worldly perspective, but completely true that Jesus didn’t come to fulfill what we perceive as our greatest needs. He came to turn our worlds upside down and show us what our needs really are. Our hearts can’t be relied on: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
Anna, I really needed to hear this tonight. The recent influences around me have been combatting this biblical worldview, and I needed reconfirmation on what my needs really are… and that Jesus know those needs.
Thanks.
Very good Anna! That has become the American church today SO much! It grieves me terribly. People are being told that they are actually good and that Jesus is their Pal that will give them a hand when needed. But they NEED JESUS! They don’t understand that they are filthy, dirty sinners that need forgiveness. Great post.
In Reply to the comment. I am a huge fan of Desiring God. I just love them! And I am also a huge Piper lover!
Nice to meet you Anna! I hope to get to know you more.
Anna,
How true that we don’t even know what are needs are most of the time! I’ve been thinking a lot today about how much I often feel the need for vindication. Obviously grace instead of vindication is what Christ would want me to feel a need for!
I am loving that series! It has been good, and greatly needed to our generation I think. In answer to your question on my blog, The quotes are from the book Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. And those last quotes are from the book, where she is quoting Edwards.