I was reading Yahoo's front page when I saw a headline about the new hit self-help book and DVD The Secret coming under attack from critics within the medical community and other walks of life. Here is the article.
For people who have not heard about the book The Secret what it is is a self-help book and DVD as well as a lifestyle that claims if you think positive thoughts about something you want to happen to you or something you want to have then that thing will happen to you or you will receive whatever you have been thinking about. The author of the book, Rhonda Byrne, says that the "law of attraction" is what governs our universe and this is what gives people what they want if they think about it enough. She states that the law of attraction is:
"The law of attraction says that like attracts like, and when you think and feel what you want to attract on the inside, the law will use people, circumstances and events to magnetize what you want to you, and magnetize you to it."
Although the are some pretty comical things about The Secret such as its "law of attraction" claim and one of its main proponents and advocates in the DVD being 5 hours short of a behavioral science degree (you would think you would want someone with a degree in the field advocating for the concept), the whole Secret phenomenon is very sad and troubling.
While I would hope that most people would find the claim that our universe is governed by a "law of attraction" to be ludicrous, judging by the sales figures, coming from the "Oprah (cult) effect", this unfortunately does not seem to be the case. Furthermore, The Secret represents the love of materialism and our desire to place creations before the Creator as well as people's desperate attempts to find happiness, worth, and joy in their lives.
Sadly though, even those within the Church, who are supposed to be the beacon of hope for people, are buying into the Secret's philosophy. The prosperity gospel is preached from the pulpits every Sunday in America. Many popular pastors teach and write almost the exact same concepts that can be found in The Secret except they use Jesus as the giver of prosperity instead of this mythical "law of attraction". In doing so they take the focus on God in the gospel and shift it to be what can He give to man. In doing so they take away hope for people and replace it with temporary material items that become the idols in people's lives. In doing so they avoid necessary topics such as man's sin because they are afraid that people will not like them and that they believe the gospel will be more attractive to outside people. What good is a false gospel to sinners? The glorious gospel of Christ taking on man's sin when He had no sin, satisfying God's wrath, defeating the devil and death and then imputing His righteousness to His people so that they would become the righteousness of God in Him is watered down into nothing more than a get-rich quick formula. The prosperity gospel is no gospel at all.
I pray that we as Christians would re-focus our lives and messages as to what the gospel is and preach nothing else.
"For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."- 1st Corinthians 2:2
For people who have not heard about the book The Secret what it is is a self-help book and DVD as well as a lifestyle that claims if you think positive thoughts about something you want to happen to you or something you want to have then that thing will happen to you or you will receive whatever you have been thinking about. The author of the book, Rhonda Byrne, says that the "law of attraction" is what governs our universe and this is what gives people what they want if they think about it enough. She states that the law of attraction is:
"The law of attraction says that like attracts like, and when you think and feel what you want to attract on the inside, the law will use people, circumstances and events to magnetize what you want to you, and magnetize you to it."
Although the are some pretty comical things about The Secret such as its "law of attraction" claim and one of its main proponents and advocates in the DVD being 5 hours short of a behavioral science degree (you would think you would want someone with a degree in the field advocating for the concept), the whole Secret phenomenon is very sad and troubling.
While I would hope that most people would find the claim that our universe is governed by a "law of attraction" to be ludicrous, judging by the sales figures, coming from the "Oprah (cult) effect", this unfortunately does not seem to be the case. Furthermore, The Secret represents the love of materialism and our desire to place creations before the Creator as well as people's desperate attempts to find happiness, worth, and joy in their lives.
Sadly though, even those within the Church, who are supposed to be the beacon of hope for people, are buying into the Secret's philosophy. The prosperity gospel is preached from the pulpits every Sunday in America. Many popular pastors teach and write almost the exact same concepts that can be found in The Secret except they use Jesus as the giver of prosperity instead of this mythical "law of attraction". In doing so they take the focus on God in the gospel and shift it to be what can He give to man. In doing so they take away hope for people and replace it with temporary material items that become the idols in people's lives. In doing so they avoid necessary topics such as man's sin because they are afraid that people will not like them and that they believe the gospel will be more attractive to outside people. What good is a false gospel to sinners? The glorious gospel of Christ taking on man's sin when He had no sin, satisfying God's wrath, defeating the devil and death and then imputing His righteousness to His people so that they would become the righteousness of God in Him is watered down into nothing more than a get-rich quick formula. The prosperity gospel is no gospel at all.
I pray that we as Christians would re-focus our lives and messages as to what the gospel is and preach nothing else.
"For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."- 1st Corinthians 2:2
No comments:
Post a Comment