The Wilderness State

One of the troubling trends of recent years has been the "deconstructing" of the Christian faith by some high-profile Christian leaders. Add to that the rise of "ex-vangelicals," the "nones," and the "dones" and it seems like a lot of people are moving away from Christianity. What they're moving toward, however, isn't the absence of faith, but rather faith in a different sort of secular religion where the overarching narrative of Scripture is replaced by the story of the self.

The people of God have always faced the temptation of rival religions and the "greener grass" of getting out from under the "repressive" rules and difficult way of cross-bearing discipleship. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, we've often faced the temptation to go back to Egypt and its delights--forgetting, of course, that Egypt also meant slavery! The big question is, "How do we avoid getting stuck in a spiritual wilderness and avoid the temptation to give in and go back to the self-focused life? That's the question with which John Wesley wrestles in "The Wilderness State."

Read The Wilderness State

Check out Carl Trueman's book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.

Send your questions and comments to host Bob Kaylor at pastorbk@tlumc.org and follow Bob on Twitter @revbkaylor.