Pastor: 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe - Worthy Christian Forums

Pastor: 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe
By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, May. 14 2009 08:53 AM EDT

Many Christians, new and seasoned alike, tend to bank on promises that God never made, says one pastor.

So when God doesn't come through on those "promises," some are likely to become angry at God.

. . .

One of the partial truths many Christians fall victim to is the belief that living God's way will bring good fortune.

"The Bible makes no such promise," Osborne writes in 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe.

. . .

Osborne also warns that those who introduce Christ to others and testify of only the "abundant Christian life" while downplaying the "harder teachings of Jesus" set the stage for disillusionment when things go awry.

Following Christ can be tough and having faith isn't always going to fix everything.

It's another spiritual urban legend – that faith can fix anything – and another one that can lead to an angry outburst or a spiritual meltdown.

. . .

Many Christians believe ridding themselves of doubts and having clear positive thinking – which is how many define "faith" – will lead to their desired outcome such as physical healing. But having faith doesn't always lead to victory, at least not in the earthly sense.

While the Bible famously "tells of kingdoms won, lions muzzled, flames quenched, weaknesses turned to strength, enemies routed, [and] the dead raised," it also speaks of people of faith who were "tortured, jeered, flogged, imprisoned, stoned, sawed in two, and put to death by the sword."

They all lived by faith "yet their faith didn't fix anything," Osborne points out.

What faith does promise, however, is forgiveness and the gift of eternal life.

"Faith is ... not an impenetrable shield that protects us from life's hardships and trials. It's not a magic potion that removes every mess," Osborne writes in his book. "It's designed to guide us on a path called righteousness."

Faith, Osborne says, is trusting enough to obey.

. . .

The other eight spiritual urban legends he lists are:

forgiving means forgetting,

a godly home guarantees godly kids,

God has a blueprint for my life,

Christians shouldn't judge,

everything happens for a reason,

let your conscience be your guide,

a valley means a wrong turn,

and dead people go to a better place.


The common thread through all of them, Osborne said, is the "disillusionment that comes when we bank of promises that God actually never made."

They're "partial truths that we shouldn’t be building the whole house on," said Osborne...

. . .

"Sometimes we treat the Bible as if it's a series of sound bites and little sayings that we can put on t-shirts, coffee cups and posters," Osborne pointed out. "But it's a big book."

"We need to look at what the Bible says about any subject in all of its passages. And when we do that we'll avoid these urban legends."

Full article here

I read through your post and almost said a hearty amen when something caught my eye..
wait a minute..

can you expand on this one for me because I agree with the other ones..



What am I missing here??? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/noidea.gif)

and one more I may find issue with but not clearly ...



comments?

All the other ones I find quite untrue ...

One of my favorite Scriptures is when Jesus tells the disciples to get in a boat and go to the other side and a storm came up and scared them silly..
They were obedient to the Lord and ended up in the middle of trouble...Matt. 14
obedience does not always mean smooth sailing...

These three threw me off. Anyone have an explanation?

Tah, I think "dead people go to a better place", is probably right and wrong, depending on how you view the statement.

What I think the good pastor meant was that saved people go to heaven, and dead people who are not saved are just... well dead? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/noidea.gif) How often have you heard people at an unsaved persons funeral say well he/she is in a better place? i think that is a cop out and is said to placate the grieving family or friends?

I'm shooting in the dark here, given that the statement is a bit cryptic.

i agreed with most of them also. but this statement caught my eye:


i'm thinking that everything might have been a better word than anything. saying that faith doesn't fix anything just sounds so hopeless, i think. and faith does fix things inside of me!

i'd also like to know more about the "everything happens for a reason" myth. i believe there are reasons for everything in our lives. we may never know the reason for some things, but if God is in control, and His eye is always upon me, and everything works for good, there must needs be a reason for the things that happen in my life.

good stuff, nebula.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif)

Only those who have trusted in the Lord go to a better place.




I think he's saying that a lot of people spend too much time wanting God to make a specific life-plan for them to follow as if we have no responsibility to decide for ourselves.





yeah, that's just baloney. Of all people on the Earth, we should be able to judge. The Word only says that we will be judged by the same judgement we've employed for others.

For example: If we aren't able to forgive, then we aren't forgiven. That should cause us some fear for the holiness of God

Instead the lukewarm seem to think we should just let things happen as they happen and not saying anything which could be interpreted as confrontational or critical







There are lots of inconsequential decisions we make every day. Does it matter to God if we have eggs for breakfast? Or should we pray about the cereal?











He might have used a different wording but I understand exactly what he's talking about. This one is prevalent in American christianity.

We think that good times is a sign of God's favor and also the reverse is a sign of God's displeasure. We seem to think that a large wealthy church is doing something right while the small church with few people is not really being favored with blessing. I can't tell you how many times I've heard christians give the devil credit for a time of testing that the Lord is putting them through. As if anything uncomfortable or challenging is the enemy coming against you?

Nothing could be further from the truth than that lie.


The most amazing churches I've seen were all under 300 people. Some of the worst were huge....

K... that spains it for me... somewhat..

you mean that some folks so obsess on figuring out Gods right or wrong plan they never get to walking any plan ... ?
Ummm... I understand... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I once had a neighbor who thought she had to hear from God over what color clothes to wear every day. That was typical of her indecision being blamed on God.

I find that quite often the Lord is silent even on major things in my life in order to test me so I've adopted a new strategy for life.




Proverbs 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.





And then there is the ever-popular "Man makes His plans and God laughs"


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Yes, there were a couple I would have liked to have seen his explanation for as well.

Yod did a good cover, though!

Thanks for posting this Neb.
Last week this was discussed on the radio while I was driving to work and I think there's a book out as well called "10 dumb things Christians believe"??? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/emot-questioned.gif)

Anyways thank you and yes Yod's explanations helped a lot, espcially the one "Everything happens for a reason".

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif)