Thanks for returning to the blog this week as we examine the lies of Rachel Hollis and the modern American Church. I hope I’m being somewhat cohesive in these thoughts–maybe if I split this up into a few posts it won’t land with such a thud!
Go here to read the first post.
Clearly I’m late to this discussion, as many Christian writers pulled out their pens to slay Rachel Hollis as soon as her first bestseller book dropped a year or two ago.
I don’t mean to rip apart the poor woman, only to expose the lies her lifestyle writing and business model have in common with the modern day church. In fact, Rachel Hollis has written several great things that are spot on and I regularly preach to myself: forgive, show grace, don’t talk about people behind their backs, be kind, love your neighbor. These are also the most common themes and lessons we hear inside our modern American churches, things most well-behaved humans would agree on.
However, we have a big problem. The success Ms. Hollis has achieved made her opinion and lifestyle all the more persuasive, and success itself tends to tarnish even our purest intentions. The more influence we carry, the more we think it has something to do with us–we aren’t naturally compelled to point to Jesus. We are also not naturally inclined to repent and feel broken over our sin. It is very unpopular and uncomfortable to point out where we’ve missed the mark or even to speak honestly with one another. This mindset is remarkably similar to our church culture today, and it is something that ought to put us on guard.
As I approach writing about the sneaky ways we are tricked into stamping our approval on ourselves, I must look at lies from a different angle. I am reminded of one of my favorite books by C.S. Lewis. In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis depicts the fictional relationship between a demon and his nephew as they try to influence their charges. It is a series of letters that humorously exposes the faulty reasoning of humans in their struggle with temptation and sin. Usually we think we know what we are battling, fleshly speaking, but Lewis cleverly uncovers the more hidden, undetectable sins. For instance, there is a letter that describes a woman who is insufferable and picky with regards to eating. Whereas we think of gluttony, the over-indulgence of food, as something particularly sinful (at least it rings true in proud Colorado where only 20% of the population is obese as opposed to 40% in the rest of the nation), Lewis, writing as the demon Uncle Screwtape, points out this woman’s incessent drive to get exactly what she wants also as a type of gluttony.
She would be astonished – one day, I hope, will be – to learn that her whole life is enslaved to this kind of sensuality, which is quite concealed from her by the fact that the quantities involved are small. But what do quantities matter, provided we can use a human belly and palate to produce querulousness, impatience, uncharitableness, and self-concern? Glubose has this old woman well in hand. She is a positive terror to hostesses and servants. She is always turning from what has been offered her to say with a demure little sign and a smile “Oh please, please . . .all I want is a cup of tea, weak but not too weak, and the teeniest weeniest bit of really crisp toast”. You see? Because what she wants is smaller and less costly than what has been set before her, she never recognises as gluttony her determination to get what she wants, however troublesome it may be to others. At the very moment of indulging her appetite she believes that she is practising temperance. In a crowded restaurant she gives a little scream at the plate which some overworked waitress has set before her and says, “Oh, that’s far, far too much! Take it away and bring me about a quarter of it”. If challenged, she would say she was doing this to avoid waste; in reality she does it because the particular shade of delicacy to which we have enslaved her is offended by the sight of more food than she happens to want.
The real value of the quiet, unobtrusive work which Glubose has been doing for years on this old woman can be gauged by the way in which her belly now dominates her whole life. The woman is in what may be called the “All-I-want” state of mind. All she wants is a cup of tea properly made, or an egg properly boiled, or a slice of bread properly toasted. But she never finds any servant or any friend who can do these simple things “properly” – because her “properly” conceals an insatiable demand for the exact, and almost impossible, palatal pleasures which she imagines she remembers from the past; a past described by her as “the days when you could get good servants” but known to us as the days when her senses were more easily pleased and she had pleasures of other kinds which made her less dependent on those of the table. Meanwhile, the daily disappointment produces daily ill temper: cooks give notice and friendships are cooled.
(The Screwtape Letters)
I suppose I write this to make the point that this book, published in 1942, is no less relevant, if not more so relevant, today. The sins and misunderstandings of temptation that trap the modern American Christian are the same, and we are still as apt to get hanged up on the more obvious ones while ignoring how insufferable we are becoming even as we think our increasing “all is grace” mentality makes us look more like Jesus.
In our age of equality, feminism, prosperity, saving-the-earth responsibility–we actually think ourselves quite righteous and thoughtful. We crow loudly about our generosity, the bridges we are building, and the souls we are saving, but we buy bigger homes and nicer cars and stay inside to take pictures and pretend we live real lives on the internet.
We all are mostly in the habit of overindulging so that when there is no dessert after dinner or if we are confronted by an air conditioner-less abode on a hot summer day, we think we are practically being abused. We feel so mistreated we will pull our phones from our pockets to let the whole world know how hard life is.
I think old C.S. Lewis might have a satirical piece or two to say about our devotion to Facebook, our incessant, obligatory offerings of photos on the altar of Instagram, our haughty insistence that we aren’t complaining but rather “just being honest”.
I got sidetracked, I guess–further proof of how easy it is to keep the spotlight on ourselves, never reaching the real point! May we humbly recognize the areas in our life where we are fooled by the words of fools, or where sin has a stronghold that isn’t as obvious as we thought. May we find where we stepped off the treasure path, and may we eagerly hop back on it, resolute in our desire to follow Jesus and only Jesus.
Lies of Rachel Hollis and the modern American church:
LIE #4. All that counts is hustle.
Here we have another half truth from the lips of one hardworking, determined woman. Rachel Hollis is not the first or last lady to break her back in pursuit of a better life. Work is good. Hustle is good. Breaking a sweat, committing to a goal, and seeing it through is excellent. It develops commitment, perseverance, endurance.
Rachel Hollis, a self-proclaimed workaholic, wrote of a time in her life where Bell’s palsy and vertigo were brought on by self-inflicted stress. Having a checklist a mile long and not being a person who could relax, she found herself seeking therapy and ways to force relaxation. Fast-forward to her next book, Girl, Stop Apologizing, and she details, step by step, how she meets her goals with pure hustle.
You see, the malady isn’t one that is easily healed.
This is not unlike the church today that never rests in its pursuit of checking all the boxes. In the modern American church there is often a voice of a leader, whose ideas on ministry, outreach, teaching, fellowship, music are more heavily favored. Their words are weighted, and the church usually ends up doing what is high on the pastor’s list: the Purpose Driven Life, the Daniel Diet, some Enneagram team building concept, or maybe there needs to be a membership class or a music retreat for the worship leaders. These are all fine and good, but they have completely departed from God’s word and life lived by the Spirit, which is to be primary and unadulterated in our lives as Christians. Our emphasis on the extracurriculars de-emphasizes our need to be saturated by the Word. It diminishes our reliance on the Spirit.
Actually, no real knowledge comes apart from God’s word (Romans 10:17), and no real spirit work can be done apart from the Spirit. It’s all works of the flesh, trying to earn or buy something we cannot–popularity, satisfaction, belonging, fulfillment. Being busy only distracts from the emptiness, and more must continually be done to avoid landing in the void.
But Jesus, our example, was led even from his baptism by the Spirit into his ministry, beginning with a time of tempting in the wilderness. He followed one step at a time, his eyes on the cross set before him. (In that way, Rachel Hollis and Jesus have something in common, I suppose–a goal!) However, no self talk, positive thinking, drinking water, exercise, therapy, psychology, or focused writing was necessary for Jesus to stay the path. He simply trusted His Father could do all the heavy lifting. And the same is true for us who trust Him.
Jesus told his disciples, “The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work…I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12
This is absolutely mind-blowing. Hustling might work up a pile of dust, but letting God do his work through you is earth-shaking. Our work is meaningless in light of eternity. His work is eternal. It is actually much easier, simpler, and more profitable to live by the Spirit, to rest in His promises and find fulfillment than to follow a list of healthy, well-meaning suggestions.
LIE #5. I am the hero of my story.
Rachel Hollis has built a dream career around her. Because of her upbringing, because of her brother’s suicide, because she never went to college but still built a million dollar company from the ground up–every arrow pointed her to what she was made for here on this earth. At least, this is the story we are fed. It sounds almost redemptive, all the difficult things that eventually, with faith, worked out for her good. But placing oneself in the center of the redemption story is dangerous.
This is also fleshed out in our modern churches, the idea that we have the opportunity to be our own heroes. It is becoming worse as we invite psychology to teach us and remind us of every little thing in our rocky past that has damaged us. We are trained to say we are overcomers by our own grit and determination rather than by finding forgiveness or offering forgiveness to others. I heard a Christian counselor recently say, “every person needs a spiritual advisor and a therapist.” In other words, we each need support staff. I hope you are able to read my sarcasm. Tell me–what of hope is there for the first-world believer if there is no hope in our simple Gospel message? Why must we add extras to the package to entice new church-goers? What of Jesus–forgiveness, love, a life laid down–is not attractive enough to get their attention?
These are questions the modern American church is taking seriously, but I think God in Heaven boils with anger when He hears them. He sent His Son to take the punishment for the world’s sin and we are attempting to replace Jesus with an enlightened version of ourselves. Jesus invited people to drink Him as living water. Living water is enough to quench a man’s thirst, yet we add our flavor pouches to make such the weakest person can choke it down. We tell God He needs us.
God does not need Rachel Hollis. He doesn’t need the church. God doesn’t need you or me. He doesn’t need us, and we’d better stop pretending we’ve got something better up our sleeves than Jesus.
His voice boomed from Heaven as Jesus was up on the mountain with Peter, James, and John. “This is my Son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
There’s no room for any other heroes in this story.
Repentance is the place we can begin. In the Old Testament, the story of God’s people, the Israelites again and again went after false gods. They pursued idols and prosperity and self-worship even while claiming they were still God’s people. God hated it. (Crack open your Bible anywhere in between Psalms and Matthew.) God sent prophets to warn the people and to sing His love song over them to lure them back. All He asks is that we open our eyes and run back into His arms.
He still loves you, even if you’ve strayed. Turn back to Him.
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Thanks for making it to the end of the second post of Lies of Rachel Hollis and the modern American church. Come again tomorrow for the last installation. And thanks for your texts, emails, and comments. I am confident we are pressing on to know Him, and this is my greatest joy.
Love,
Pearl
