I’ve been in church all my life. I’ve also always been active in my community. I’ve leaerned there are many myths people have about the church…some from people inside the church…some from the people on the outside of the church.
Here are 10 myths I’ve observed frequently:
Some think the pastor only works on Sunday…
Some feel the pastors prayers are always more powerful than their prayers…
Some think their favorite song is everyone else’s favorite song…
Some believe the church doesn’t need money to operate…
Some think missions should only be local…or only overseas…
Some believe the pastor (or his wife and kids) no longer struggle with sin or temptation…
Some think the style of music determines the spiritual depth of music…
Some feel the pastor’s wife (or the pastor) should be everywhere…
Some believe church is only for people like them…or not like them…
Some think the model of doing church never needs changing…
Which of these myths have you seen or believed?
What would you add to my list?
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Please advice me of the Biblcal interpritation of ” Once Saved is always Saved” because many hold the view Salvation could be lost.
I like John Piper’s response here. http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-purpose-a…
Christians should be boring, conservative and judgemental and homophobic are ones I keep hearing. Christians can’t be human, we can’t have a cheeky sense of humour, we can’t have a drink at the pub, we have to be doormats with no self respect, we basically have to be boring Ned Flanders types. We can’t be sexy, we can’t have fun, we have to be conservative and boring. Sigh. I defy stereotypes. We are unique but one.
This is the worldly feeling in flesh common in absence of spirituality
Some work so voraciously within their church to the neglect of their family the it seems the church becomes a mistress. Jesus is the husband and lover of the family unit as well as the family of God
Being a PK I have seen and heard all of those and probably more. None of them show what we should be like in Jesus.
Thanks.
The really important people in the church are the young people because they are the future of the church. I am so tired of this one that I could vomit. The elderly people in the church are being marginalized. I am incredibly tired of it.
Both are important. The multi-generational church is my desire also.
Twitter: richjolliff
says:
If we keep the pastor poor, God will keep him humble.
Yep
Twitter: bryankr
says:
Some think all you need to do to straighten your life is start going to Church; then it all just irons right out!
If you have a rebellious teen, as soon as they cross the threshold into the Youth room, they are instantly well behaved!
Yes!
Just visited a church where the pastor challenged the congregation to never allow anyone outside the church to question he or his teachings, nor to criticize him to the members in any way. He preached against women ever wearing anything but dresses.
Wow, that's tough for me too…
yikes! Bit hard for me to be a massage therapist in a dress….glad my minister is more sensible than that!
Some believe that you have to be "grey" to serve on major boards of the church (elder, deacon, church chair persons and other leadership roles), and equate age with spiritual maturity.
That's good. I agree.
But number one is true – well, at least sort of. One vicar I knew and worked with always wrote his sermons on Sunday mornings in a hurry, and it showed.
Because of that I swore that as a Reader I would never do it, and with one partial exception (where I performed a fairly sizeable tweak on what I had) I never have.
So you can add to your myths:
– Some think that doing any real preparation is unspiritual and therefore to be avoided at all costs
Interesting. Yea, that would make me change always living under that too.
Some believe that the church should know their individual needs AND respond, regardless of whether they are communicated or not. Been there done that, I was too proud to let anyone know our budget was so tight we were eating on $10-20/week. Of course we made it, and things are always getting better thanks to God's faithfulness, but for a long time I just assumed that the accountant would notice our tithe dropped and get the message. I guess I neglected the fact that many times tithe drops because people don't want to tithe
Some believe that funds for their pet-project are more important than funds for someone else's pet-project. (IE: the youth program needs more funds, just take them from the apartment ministry funds!)
Some believe that their work in their ministry is so much more important that they don't even need to be aware of other ministry opportunities or the work being done elsewhere in the church.
Some believe that the pastor/elders/leadership are in charge of fixing their disputes, regardless of whether they have walked through the first two steps of Matthew 18:15-17 or not.
Face it, this list could be a LOT longer.
My personal list:
We, as a church, could be doing more — both locally and abroad.
We, as a church, are often too confined within our own walls.
We, as a church, are often too proud to be real with each other for fear of being excommunicated with shame rather than welcomed with forgiveness.
We, as a church, are often more interested in drawing in Christians from other churches than reclaiming lost brothers and sisters for our Lord. (As if Christians will be more saved at our church with our preacher and band than at their other church!)
We, as a church, are prone to write-off people by saying "we'll have to just keep praying for them…" We neglect the aspect of shining into their lives *while* praying for them!
Great list.
Thanks for posting. It's a good reminder for me when writing. I don't intend to exclude females or singles. I know great people of both in the ministry
as the wife of a youth director – some people think that youth ministry is easy and organic when it really takes a lot of planning, adult support and the real, dedicated involvement of parents!
great post!
Yes, I agree.
Amen!
Some people (including everyone who has posted thus far) assume that the pastor is a man and that he has a wife and family. Why can't the pastor be a woman? Or single?
My pastor is a woman and single!
Some think the pastor and his family have taken a vow of poverty.
My former pastor came from a wealthy family. It helped when we needed to raise money for the church, they bought the manse.
Having experience with elder boards in the church I am always surprised that these leaders in business and community think – in the church you have to always be nice, not have strong opinions, and just pray about it. Don't get me wrong, we should pray about it, but….
I agree completely.
Totally agree, we need to voice our opinions and be active. Praying is important but God expects us to take the inative. How would anything ever happen if we just sat around praying?
Nice list. I would add that some think pastors are only men.
Thanks Aaron
Yay for Aaron!
That is so true. Thank you
Some believe that the responsibility of parents towards children’s spiritual knowledge ends with dropping them at Sunday School every week.
Some feel that youth are always prone to faults and mistakes while elders are always blameless and correct.
Twitter: jonathanpearson
says:
Some people believe that church is for them. For what they can get and what they can enjoy. That the church should give them all their spiritual "food."
Thanks Jonathan….so true.
Twitter: Patrickcmoore
says:
How about this one Ron? The busier the people in the church are with church programs, the more spiritual they are.
Great post!
Yes, Patrick, I've lived that one…