My 5 Biggest Misconceptions of Christianity
6 minute read
I share these to encourage, to give Satan less ground in sneaky snares, and to hold myself accountable. When we talk about our sins and struggles, they have less power! I realize sharing publicly is contrarian to an entire generation or three above me, but say what you will about Millenials* -- we have no problem talking about our messes, dangit.
*I do not classify as a Millennial. I classify as Xennial. We are the elders of the Millennial generation, aka the sweet spot of those born late 70s to early 80s who rode our bikes from sun up to sun down checking in on random landlines throughout the neighborhood our entire childhood. We knew life without the internet, and we remember sharing a cell phone with our mom. We value face-to-face convos, and we would never, ever welcome an argument over the internet. And all this to say, we are incredibly tech savvy.
Basically, we’re the best.
Did y’all know my word of the year is Humility? How’s that working out for me?
OOOKAY.
Back to regularly scheduled programming via yet another nonsensical transition by yours truly.
Misconception Numero Uno: Church v. church
I got super-duper hung up on being at the right church for a long time. I think this stems from growing up in a big church across town that none of my friends attended. We put your hands in the air when we sang, and some of the preaching was a little too intense for me at the time. In my naivety, I wanted to be at the socially acceptable church -- I wanted to be at the church where my friends were! I do not fault my dad for leading us there at all, for the record. I’m just voicing how I felt as a preteen/teen needing to be with my friends 24/7.
While I no longer feel the lure of equating the right church with the most socially acceptable church, I do find that I long to be a member of the church with the most “perfect” handle on the Bible, reading and preaching the right interpretation of scripture, singing the right hymns the right way, sending the most applicable message from the pulpit, and the one convicting and encouraging me to grow the most.
Newsflash: The perfect church doesn’t exist.
If you are (like I was – eek, and still can teeter into) hung up on comparing your church to other churches around town, you’re missing the point entirely, and Satan has your number. And you know what the number is called? PRIDE.
If your church believes John 3:16 through and through, follows solo scriptura (by scripture alone) theology, speaks on the realness of hell and Satan and follows it with the greater power of forgiveness through Jesus, and that you have full access to this forgiveness through prayer by God’s grace alone – you’re probably in a good spot. Ask around though. Don’t be afraid to see what they’re teaching/believing around important issues and whether these align with solo scriptura.
What I misunderstood was that everyone who believes Jesus is the (only) Way are all the Church - Big C. We are all called to spread the gospel of JESUS inside and outside our church walls. So let us encourage one another! We are all on the same team, and guess what? God wins! We are on the winning team!
Misconception #2: I can stop sinning.
This.
One of my bigger pitfalls as a believer is that I tend to angle toward law > grace and truth > love. I’m a big black and white thinker (things are right or they are wrong), and it’s an issue, but maybe that helps you understand what I’m saying.
Exhibit A: I have complete and total empathy for the Pharisees in the New Testament.
You mean to tell me I’ve been obeying all the rules, earning my keep, climbing the ranks of religious prowess, and now this Jesus guy says He came to save me from my sins and make me clean and worthy before God? All just out of God’s grace?
Yeah no. I’m good here. Sounds like that’s gotta catch and some fine print. I know the law, I know the commandments, and I know what to do if I break them. It’s all in this super-interesting (lol) book called Leviticus. Look it up – here better yet, sit down, and I’ll shove it down your throat.
Thank you Father I was born in 1984 because a) this makes me a Xennial (here, here!) and b) I would’ve been the worst, and I don’t even want to think about what could be of my salvation.
Bringing this to present day, my misconception of black and white thinking made me believe I had to be sinless before coming to God in prayer, church, etc. because if God was GOOD and I was bad, I couldn’t possibly be worthy of coming to His feet in supplication.
And that’s just the thing - I wasn’t. And I’m still not! But He meets us right where we are because HE is enough - not because I am (or ever will be).
To accompany this false belief, I actually believed (without realizing it) I could quit sinning. Just like one day I’d wake up and be sinless? Lol. I guess I truly thought deep down without realizing it that if I just studied hard enough, prayed enough, box-checked enough, I could somehow be above sin.
I distinctly remember standing in the kitchen talking to Crawford and beating myself up for a particular hang-up (can’t remember what it was, you know I’d tell you if I did ;), and he said so gently, “You know you can’t stop sinning, right?”
This stunned me.
It was so simple and obvious yet I’d morphed into thinking about my own sin and brokenness like those “if, then” equations in geometry… or was it algebra… or trig… ? Was it even in math? I digress…
Ex’s:
If I have my quiet time, then my day will go well for me. OR If I put on God’s armor, then I won’t be tempted. If I surrender our finances, then he will remove my desire for material things.
Ok, so these aren’t necessarily bad thoughts – but when they’re seen in the black and white if/then -- they def can be. He of course longs to bless my day, he wants me to spend time with Him, he gave us armor as a tool against Satan, and He is our provider – all true -- but just because I believe these things doesn’t mean I’ll suddenly stop succumbing to the sins to accompany them.
In our flesh, we cannot stop sinning. Yes, some days we will feel stronger than others, and we generally should be on the trajectory of sinning less, or at the very least being more aware of our sins, but we can’t just stop. That said, we can and should remove temptations to help us along the way. So like if I am feeling vulnerable, I prob shouldn’t go cruise Instagram unless I want to start pouting over my Joann’s fabric lusting for Schumacher.
He gives us free will. It’s up to us to use it wisely! He’s not just going to take all the temptation away because this world is so fallen and we are so broken, it’s IMPOSSIBLE. Oh, and it would be called Heaven if He did.
So. In sum, just because I am a believer does not mean I can stop sinning. It means I am forgiven, yes and amen, it means I have the power within me to resist and to change for Christ, yes and amen, but it also means I will fail, and I need Jesus. Every. Single. Day. Heck, every single breath!!!!
We cannot stop sinning because we are not God, but we can stop self-sabotaging. Ask him to help you understand where you’re stepping into the lion’s den… and yield.
Misconception Numero Tres: There is an end to suffering.
So best case scenario, we’re born, we hit developmental milestones, we go to pre-school, then elementary school, middle school, high school, college (or not), get a job, maybe pursue further education, get married, have kids, and then we start the cycle for them.
What’s wrong with this? Well, nothing, but for me, it began some patterned thinking to the tune of, There is a beginning and an end to each chapter of life. If I just get to the end of [insert life event], I’ll move on to the next thing, and it will all be good.
This thinking isn’t necessarily wrong, but it somehow warped into me equating any suffering or struggle with the same cycle of life events - It will end.
Yeah, that’s not true. Not this side of heaven. And the previous misconception is a huge reason why - we are broken sinners. Broken sin leads to suffering.
YES, we can overcome trials, and we can move past strongholds – all in His grace. My hang-up came when I just thought it would all end one day. Call me naïve, but I thought once I get married, my life would be so much easier. I mean yes it is in so many ways because I have a partner for life (an amazing one at that), but life is still friggin’ hard!
We have absolutely zero control over why and how long we will suffer.
Butbutbut, we do have a Father who knows every intricacy of our agony. He knows every thought before we think it, and He is working every.single.thing. for our good and His glory.
In James we are taught to count it all joy. JOY y’all! WHY? Because it makes us more like Christ. Suffering forces us to abide in Him, and it moves us toward Oneness in Christ.
Though we will have valleys and mountaintops, neither one is going anywhere, so we might as well walk in the valleys the way He instructs us to, right?
Misconception #4: Surrender and Rest mean giving up.
Our culture beats us DOWN with you can do it! Just try harder! Don’t quit! Get yours! If you’re not burning both ends of the candle, you’re not enough!
It’s exhausting.
Some of the biggest blessings have come from surrender in my life, but it was not without a fight. Just to name a few, Baby Cecca and this business both came from tough seasons of sur.ren.der. I kicked and screamed along the way though, trust me.
As far as rest goes, we are commanded to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Your Sabbath might not be a Sunday - preachers don’t keep Sunday as the Sabbath! They’re working! But pray through and make a day to set work aside and let Him recharge you. Ignore the nagging voice telling me to just do one more thing out of trust and obedience! And watch Him refresh you and carve out time.
Misconception #5: If I truly take up my cross and follow Jesus, He will strip me of all my earthly possessions and make me be a missionary in a 3rd world country.
You think I’m joking.
I truly thought if I really, reallyyyyy submitted to Christ, He would just morph me into my version of the “best Christian.”
Here’s the thing though, He knows my heart and my gifts better than I do, so wherever following Jesus takes me is where I’m supposed to be… He knows this seemingly laid back actual diva ain’t gonna make it in an Amazonian jungle, so He’s likely not sending me there.
Or maybe He is!
The main point is wherever He plants us to serve will maximize our gifts and likely feel easy and energizing. (This is not the church nursery for me, btw). And that’s ok! We just keep trying different places to serve, and He will make known the right place to be. It’s ok to feel uncomfortable, but if something is downright wrong, you’ll know. Changing dirty diapers for other kids felt downright wrong for me for the record.
Let’s flip these misconceptions into truths:
If you are in Christ, we are all part of the Church Body on a mission to build up Christ’s Church!
We are all sinners saved by sinless Jesus. Because of this and this alone, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence!
In this world we will have trouble, but take hope, Christ has overcome the world.
a) God rested creating the dang world. We can and should rest too!
b) It is all His to begin with, so surrendering is the most natural posture we should take even though it often feels incredibly uncomfortable.
You were made on purpose for a purpose, and God is able to do far more than we could ever think or imagine!
Daily Scripture Suggestions — don’t forget to consider committing one to memory.
Sunday/Monday: Romans 7:14-25
Tuesday: James 1:2-4
Wednesday: Romans 12:4-5
Thursday: Eph 2:8
Friday: John 16:33
Saturday: Ephesians 3:20
Father God, thank you for pursuing us. You chase after us! It’s too much for our little brains to comprehend, Lord. Your goodness knows no bounds! We fall so short, Father. Over and over again we fall, yet you never give up on us! You meet us right where are, broken and needy. For when we are weak, then you are strong. Let us never forget what you’ve already done for us, Abba Father! We are worthy of death 1000 times, yet you give us life eternal with you! This is a big deal, and we take it for granted. Forgive us! Jesus thank you for your sacrifice on the cross. Thank you that there’s nothing we can do to earn our way to you - you’ve already done it all on our behalf! Father bless the person reading this right now. If there are any plaguing misconceptions or misunderstandings of what it means to follow you, I pray you make them clear and you remove them! We submit therefore to YOUR will God. You alone are worthy of praise, and you are worthy of so very much of it! In Jesus’ perfect name we pray, Amen.