The church of fearful make-believe


One of the modern day perversions of Christianity, and one that is a stumbling block to unity among Christians, is the kind of church that revolves around imaginary fears. There are several sorts of fears invoked to stir up the congregation, but the common denominator is the belief that God will be angered by petty mistakes in your belief system. If you do not believe just so you will not be blessed, or will even be damned. But God is not like that. Therein we find the poison of such beliefs; they do not reflect who God is.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5)
That is a far cry from the petty, doctrinaire and trigger happy god of  the churches of fearful make-believe.

A principal hallmark of churches like that is scripture torture, forcing the text to say things it does not give forth willingly. All sorts of convoluted readings are concocted to support the churches' particular hobbyhorses, always with the result of keeping the parishioners scared. What happened to love, peace and joy?

Of course the problem this poses for unity among Christians is that the fearful churches are sure everyone else is doing things wrong, since they themselves need to do everything just right to be blessed. Obviously everyone else is going to look, to them, like irresponsible heretics, or maybe even unsaved hypocrites.

If you belong to such a church, pause and reflect on the goodness of God, his willingness, even eagerness, to show mercy instead of bringing judgment, and his promise to welcome all who come to him with sincerity. Why are you there? He is over here.

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