Christian Cliches Title Slide

JANUARY: “Christian Clichés: Does the Bible Really Say That?” Sermon Series

  • January 12 “Everything Happens for a Reason” When something bad happens especially we tend to look for a particular reason or purpose or someone to which we can assign responsibility. Importantly, this informs our concept of God on the spectrum of His being the cause of everything, to allowing everything to happen. We can believe God is sovereign, gives freedom, and works through people.
  • January 19 “God Helps Those Who Help Themselves” God has endowed us with a number of abilities in life for us to help ourselves and others. We are to help ourselves by doing what we can and should do and we are to help others when they have the inability to do for themselves. We can believe in God’s grace for us and our extension of grace to others.
  • January 26 “God Won’t Give You More than You Can Handle” We have no immunity in life from trials, temptations, and hardship. God doesn’t cause everything and there is no promise that we can handle everything ourselves that life throws at us. We can believe the promises of God that He wants to be our help, guide and strength in whatever we experience.

 

We are all familiar with common clichés such as, “Actions speak louder than words,” “The grass is always greener on the other side,” “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” “Love is blind,” “Ignorance is bliss,” “There’s no time like the present,” “Better safe than sorry,” and “Play your cards right.” The deal with clichés though is that often the full meaning is lost in the shuffle and we end up with a hand of half-truths at the most.

The truth is that there are even what could be called “Christian clichés,” things we believe, and tell others, and even depend on for ourselves that we have not carefully examined. These can very well be half-truths that we are swallowing whole and feeding to others as well. Half-truths pose a danger in the way they can end up hurting people. They can lead people to conclusions about God or concepts of God that potentially drive people away from God instead of helping to draw them closer to God.

Some half-truths are used to avoid careful thinking about complex issues. Some are used to accommodate people in their desire for simple answers. Some are used to justify our own biases or prejudices. In all these uses there is the potential of bringing pain when half-truths are spoken to others. Most likely, all of us occasionally use Christian clichés or half-truths. On the surface they can sound good and helpful, but there is a deeper concern.

With these there is the need to be cautious about what the Bible does and doesn’t say since the Bible is our main source of truth. Even though the clichés are not actually found in the Bible, people can come up with Bible passages to support most of the common half-truths out there. This being true, interpretation of Scripture is incredibly important. Interpreting Scripture must be done in light of its context and “the whole counsel of God’s word” so that support of a particular view is not simply based on a verse or passage or two.

Our worship series beginning January 12 is “Christian Clichés,” in which we will examine several well-known clichés or half-truths. The intent is to gain a fuller understanding of what is true and what is not true in particular Christian clichés according to the Bible. Entering into a new year there’s no time like the present for this series.

Word Up,
Kirk

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