We’re all capable of doing really stupid things. Often times, amidst doing something dumb, we fail to recognize the dumbness of our actions.
I’ve done some of the things below before and I’m sure you have before as well.
The point with this article is to identify some dumb things Christians do in hopes of getting us back to our hope – Christ. Within each of these things below there are some underlying beliefs that cause us to do these things and, more than anything else, that is what I will be speaking to.
You may find that you want to share this article on Facebook, Twitter, or by email, but let me share a word of caution – if you tag the people you think do these dumb things, you can rest assured that doing so is a dumb thing to do. See what I did there? That would be the seventh thing if we were trying to be all biblical with the number seven.
Anyway, let’s jump in!
6 Dumb Things Christians Do
1. Saying, “I don’t need the Bible, I just need Jesus.”
Many well meaning Christians have uttered a form of this statement. In hopes to be really noble and spiritual, they claim that all they need is Jesus and the Bible is just a bonus. These people typically will only read the red letters of the Bible. The words of Jesus, after all, are more important than the rest of the Bible.
Allow me to mess with your thinking for a moment – it’ll be fun! The Bible, being God’s word and all, is why we know what we know about Jesus. We’re 2,000 years separated from the life and ministry of Jesus and God inspired the authors found in the Bible to put pen to paper (so to speak) and record what He wanted recorded for us to have.
Jesus is identified as the logos – the WORD. Without going into a ton of depth on this, all the words you have in your Bible are, in fact, Jesus’ words. He is the WORD and the Holy Spirit does what Jesus gives Him to do. For Jesus said:
John 16:13-15 (ESV)
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
The Bible is the testimony, the revelation, of the redemption that is found through the person and work of Jesus. You can’t have one without the other, for if you do not know about the redemption, it is meaningless for you. [shareable]The Bible is the testimony, the revelation, of the redemption that is found through the person and work of Jesus.[/shareable]
2. Insulting the bride of Christ.
The Church, the grouping of all Christ followers, are identified as the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 21:2). It is, then, a tragedy when those of us who make up the Church throw tomatoes at it.
This comes from a lack of understanding regarding the purpose of the Church. The Church is plan A for spreading the good news of God. We are to lift up and honor the bride of our Lord.
Imagine going up to a King and declaring that his wife, the queen, is pitiful, ridiculous, pathetic, etc…
Sure, there may be some local church bodies that are not honoring God and it’s not a wrong thing to speak to that, but don’t insult the Church, the bride of Christ. And while this is a highly communal thing, I believe it goes to the individual as well. If you are insulting a brother or sister in Christ (or anyone for that matter), you are making a grave mistake and need to stop.
Stop it!
3. Sharing “bless me” memes on social media.
Need I say more?
4. Blaming others for your own sins.
But the devil made me do it! Stop giving the devil so much credit. You did it because you did it.
Sure, we are highly influenced by our environment, by our upbringing, and so on, but at the end of the day you were the one who committed the sin. God holds you accountable for your actions, stop brushing them under the rug of someone else’s responsibility.[shareable]Stop giving the devil so much credit. You did it because you did it.[/shareable]
5. Complaining about change within the Church.
“Church people are crazy.” One of my professors from undergrad based an entire class on that statement. The class was titled, Problems in Leadership, and the many stories that were shared further illustrated the truth of that statement. But in reality, all people are crazy, so I don’t want to give church people any extra credit.
But it is quite a thing to witness a Christian, who says they love Jesus and wants to lift up their Lord and Savior with their lives, complain about the church doing things that are different so that the mission of God is furthered.
Change is inevitable. The methods of ministry change because the ways to communicate change. Technology changes rapidly which allows the church to leverage new tools for the sake of the Gospel. Tastes in music change over time and people really connect with music.
Why is your church changing? Probably so that it can better reach people for Jesus.
When churches make methodological changes, the Christians are the ones who are complaining. In hopes of reaching more people, the church decides to take on a new technology to use as a tool and they change their music to connect with younger people (because they realize that if they keep playing the same music for 30 years eventually the people who like that music will be dead). [shareable]When churches make methodological changes, the Christians are the ones who are complaining. [/shareable]
When Christians complain about the church changing, they are elevating themselves above the mission of God. All followers of Jesus need to be aware that we are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow. We are also called to make disciples. These two things need to be our priority, not serving our own desires on a Sunday morning. [shareable]When Christians complain about the church changing, they are elevating themselves above the mission of God.[/shareable]
6. Making a point before serving the person.
Spend anytime on social media or in social circles and you’ll quickly realize that people, Christian or not, like to make points. (I acknowledge the irony as I make 6 points in this article (: …) What we see in the example of Jesus is that whenever he had an opportunity to make a point, he ministered first and then corrected. He was tougher on the hypocritical religious leaders, but for the common folks, Jesus led with ministry and followed that up with a point of truth.
The Church would do infinite good by leading with serving the person before making a point. Show that you care for the person before you try to spit the truth at them.[shareable]The Church would do infinite good by leading with serving the person before making a point.[/shareable]
What other dumb things Christians do would you add?
