Love the Church. I have given my life to the
Church. I believe in the Church because I believe
the King reigns over everything. There is a lot to
be praised and celebrated when it comes to the
Church and Christian culture.

There is another side though. We have bought
some lies. These lies are hurting us, crippling us.
If we, as the Church, are going to become the
image of God in the world, there are lies we must
drop. Here are a few of the lies many Christians
have bought into that are crippling us.

1. Some Sins are Worse Than Others.

This is plaguing our church culture. Here’s why. It
creates only two types of people. Group one:
those that have not committed the “bad” sins.
They have avoided the worst of the worst, so
they tend to judge those that have not. Group
two: those that have committed the “bad” sins.
They’re made to believe that once their virginity
is gone or they drank too much, God is really
mad at them. The stares and judgment from
group one tends be more direct and apparent.
Eventually, most in group two come to the
realization they are just “not good enough.”

It’s true that some sins carry with them greater
consequences. Murder somebody and you get
jail time, gossip about your roommate and you
get nothing. Both are sins. One has greater
consequences. But this idea that avoiding a
particular group of sins makes you more
awesome than the group that has not is utterly
ridiculous. We are all sinners.

It is time for Christians to stop ranking sins. The
Cross is for every person. Let’s treat people this
way.

It is time for Christians to stop ranking sins. The
Cross is for every person. Let’s treat people this
way.

2. God is Not OK With Doubt and Anger.

In a way, the logic for this mindset makes sense.
It is disrespectful to yell at our earthly father and
doubt his ways, so it must be the same (and
more so) with God.

But this idea discounts most of Psalms, where
the psalmists write clearly of their doubt and
anger with God. Listen, God is all powerful. His
love for you is so deep He sent His son to give
you life. He can handle some doubt and anger.
He knows this life is hard. He knows we are
limited.

If you are reading this and have doubts about
God, welcome to the club. We’ve all struggled
with doubt, but doubt is an opportunity to draw
near to God, not run from Him.

3. God’s Love for Me is Determined by My
Behavior.

The problem here is that we think too highly of
ourselves. We think we can control our behavior
and be “good” and then God will love us.

But I suck at living up to God’s standard. Even on
my most awesome day, I still end up light years
short of God’s standard.

You are a child of God for one reason: What
Jesus did for you. It’s not about you. You can’t
earn God’s love. You can’t earn God’s favor. You
are driving down an exhausting road. Take the
next exit and get off!

You are awesome because of God. When you
really suck at life, praise God. His love for you
hasn’t changed. When you knock it out of the
park, praise God. His love for you hasn’t
changed.

4. We Should Never ‘Water Down’ the Message.

All right, some of you are ready to write me off.
Hear me out.

I am not interested in changing the message. The
message must stay the same. It is the message
of Jesus that transforms lives. It is of first
importance (I Cor. 15:1-3). I am interested in
changing the delivery of the message. This idea
that we should never alter the message so those
who do not know Jesus can comprehend it is
ridiculous.

I was talking recently with a guy who did not
grow up in church. He has been a Christian for
about 20 years now, but he told me, “I struggle to
understand the message most Sundays. I don’t
speak the language. So, most of the time I just
tune out when the sermon starts.”


Translation: Christians often speak a language
that is native to us, but foreign to those who have
no framework for God. Call it Christianese. Call it
whatever. But it is prideful to believe people
should constantly reach up to our level.

Yes, we have a standard. Yes, we are called to be
holy. But that isn’t the issue here. The issue is
making the Gospel clear to everyone. It is
equivalent to expecting a toddler to comprehend
high school concepts. Ridiculous.


Christians often speak a language that is native
to us, but foreign to those who have no
framework for God.

Churches that are bringing non Christians to
Jesus get this. The message is not watered down.
It is convicting, and it is powerful. But it is not
littered with big Christian words that only locals
understand.

5. God Wants Me to Be Happy.

The word “happy” appears six times in the Bible,
none of those in reference to God’s intention for
your life. This is not a bad thing, though.
Happiness is more fleeting than a relationship on
The Bachelor.

Right now, I am in a great mood. How quickly
can that change? Happiness is almost always tied
to the present. If we constantly lived for our
current happiness, what a miserable life most of
us would have. How many times has something
awesome birthed from something not so
awesome?

The good news for you and me is that God is
much more concerned with lasting qualities such
as joy and peace. Those qualities are unaffected
by the fragility of life.

source: relevantmagazine.com