Lies You've Heard at Church
Many of us have sat in church for decades building our collage of beliefs. Some we picked up from pastors, some from Sunday school teachers, others from church friends or parents. But how much of what we believe actually comes directly from the word of God. You may be surprised. Read on to see just how misled some of us may have been in our "biblical education."
There are dozens, possibly hundreds of misconceptions and flat-out lies many churchgoers have come to believe over the years, so this article will scarcely darken the doorstep of the multitude of bad theology handed down to us. So, as you read, be aware that there are still plenty of teachers diligently, sincerely and passionately leading people in flawed doctrines and beliefs, and we should "test everything (1 Thessalonians 5:21)." The hope and purpose of this article is to make us aware and alert to the dangers of tradition and trust of anyone who holds a ministry position. If the word ever confronts you in a teaching, prepare yourself to let go of a previous belief. Let the word of God wreck you so that you might be more firm upon learning truth. We should never answer tough questions with bad theology. So, here we go. I have made a list of 5 lies I had heard in my years around a church community.
Lie #1 - Noah took two of each animal onto the Ark.
I know, you are convinced that I have mistyped. But this simple flaw in our teaching only reveals how indoctrination is dangerous. You may likely feel certain that Noah did in fact only take two of each animal onto the ark but stop and let the Scriptures direct your beliefs:
Genesis 7:1-3
Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals,[a] the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs[b] of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
Did you see that? He was told to take seven pairs of each clean animal! Take a minute to collect yourself as your childhood faith is destroyed. I'll wait...
Ok so, what does it matter? What difference does it make if Noah took two or seven of each animal?
The question I would ask is this: If you have been lied to about things that bear no weight, that don't matter, then what about the things in the Scriptures that do matter? Most of us just knew that Noah had taken two animals because that's what our Sunday school teachers and coloring books said. So if we can be so certain about this insignificant teaching, what else have we believed to be true that is actually in direct opposition to the word of God?
Lie #2 - God won't give you more than you can handle.
We've probably all said it. Our intentions in saying it are never malicious or hateful. We mean only to comfort and ease the pain or heartache of a dear friend or loved one. The problem is that the statement, "God won't give you more than you can handle" does very little in the way of true comfort because it has no foundation to support it. If you tell a grieving mother, who has just lost her son, that God won't give her more than she can handle, you may only make her bitter toward God and you as she realizes she cannot bear the pain and loss she is currently having to endure. She likely would come to the conclusion that God is a liar or that there is error in the Bible.
The solution is made clear as we look to the word of God; to the text that so often is misused and mis-quoted:
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. In no way does this say that trials will not come your way that are too great for you to handle. In fact, the only reason the drug addicts, alcoholics and homeless men and women come to the shelter/rehabilitation facility where I work is because they have finally had more than they could handle. Were they able to handle it, they wouldn't have come to someone else.
In Luke 15, the only reason the Prodigal Son came home was because He was "desperate and hungry." A famine had swept the land and put on him more than he could handle. Many times, the only way we can see our need for help is by having more than we can handle. Prison is rough for a reason. The military is rough for a reason. Once you have had more than you can handle, then you will be broken enough to listen and begin to learn lessons that might radically change and improve your life. Praise God for the "more than I can handle's!"
But we should know that we should never answer hard problems with bad theology, even to be nice.
Lie #3 - Satan rules Hell...and lives there.
I will admit, this lie you may not have heard in church as much as on the TV. Saturday morning cartoons gave us some really bad theology and understanding of the Bible.
Satan is so often pictured in his red body suit with a devilish grin and horned head. He is seen wielding his pitchfork throughout the flaming inferno making all the poor souls suffer (none of which is biblical btw).
The problem: the devil does not live in Hell!
Remember when he was kicked from heaven? To where did he and all of his legion fall? was it not here to earth? He came to Adam and Eve in the garden because he was here with them.
When Job was to be tried and tested, the devil came to God and tells Him that he has been roaming the earth...( Job 1:7, 2:2 and 1 Peter 5:8).
He has no rule over the souls in Hell. He is not the creator of Hell or the one who will punish all those who dwell there.
Hell was created by God and is ruled by Him. Hell is his wrath against wickedness (Romans 1:18).
Lie #4 - Believing in Jesus saves you.
Now, before you click back and dismiss me as a heretic, hear me out. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? If it is to simply trust that He was a real man who did amazing things, then Muslims will be in heaven with Christians. If believing in Jesus means to trust that He loves us so much that he would never send anyone to Hell, then everyone will be in heaven no matter how Hitler-like they may be.
No the truth is, believing in Jesus does not save you. Look at this verse in James:
James 2:19
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.
According to this verse, if you don't tremble upon your belief, your faith is not even on par with the demons!
Why else would Paul write that this is the faith you are saved by "if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain (Romans 15:2)."
There is a faith that is in vain. So what, then, is saving faith?
Faith that saves, Paul says, is a faith that you have held fast to. It is a faith that is placed in you from somewhere else. It is not a faith that you can muster yourself. Look at what Ezekiel 36 says about it in verses 26-27:
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
The Spirit of God, in these verses, changes the heart and causes you to obey. It is a faith we seek, not that we muster. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again in order to be saved (John 3). Tell me, what role did you play in your first, natural birth? Then what role would you play in your second birth? You have no control over birthing conditions. You are merely a participant. And if you have a faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ that leads to salvation, it is because God has placed it in you, as Ezekiel stated.
Therefore, merely believing in Jesus is not your salvation, rather, believing in the whole truth of His finished work; His death, burial and resurrection on our behalf leading to a life of devotion and service is where we will find salvation.
Lie #5 - We are all God's children
I hear this all the time: "We should love everyone because we are all God's children."
While it is true that we should love everyone, the reason we should do so is not because we are all God's children. We are not. But the reason we are to love everyone is because (1) God said to and (2) we don't know who is and who is not a child of God. There are many verses that could be included here, but John 1:12-13 is sufficient for this brief article:
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Only some were given the right to become children here. Only those who were born of God. Therefore, anyone who does not know and trust in Christ as Savior is not a child of God.
Conclusion
The purpose for pulling back the curtain, and letting these this be exposed as the lies they are, is to open our eyes and hearts to allow the word of God to reveal truth that our hearts have hidden. It doesn't matter what we think, feel or believe. We must always ask, "What does the word of God say?"
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