10 Beliefs of an Unhealthy Faith
1. God's love and favor depends on my behavior.
2. All ministers are people of God and can be trusted.
3. Material blessings are a sign of spiritual strength.
4. I can work my way to heaven.
5. Problems in my life are a result of some kind of sin.
6. If it's not in the Bible it isn't relevant.
7. A strong enough faith will protect me from problems and pain.
8. God hates sinners, is angry with me, and wants to punish me.
9. Having true faith means waiting for God to help me; doing nothing until He does.
10. More than anything else God wants me to be happy.
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I wonder how many Christian churches would claim to teach these teachings?
ReplyDeleteI grew up believing numbers 1, 4, 6, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 and 8 *grin*
Did my church - denomination or congregation - proclaim these beliefs? Quite the opposite. However, I was a young child in a congregation where the adults most certainly modeled these beliefs. God "loved" us but hated sin more than God loved us. Our salvation was dependent on "confessing before God that we were sinners" - which we did repeatedly week after week. Any deviation from the church's interpretation of the bible was "willful rebellion against the word of God".
I realise that many other people will have different experiences of church. My point is simply that what matters most is how a congregation acts. You can preach the opposite of the way you act; your kids and other people will believe the way you act.
I would suggest an 11th, "anything anyone says that disagrees with my faith is a personal attack."
ReplyDeleteBut, the list is great as it is.
Oh wow, I'm a total 1, 3, 5...5...5...5...5........(ad infinitum), and 6 head-case. Great post!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, and Meghan, I totally agree with you (so you can't perceive me as attacking you), lol :)