When Positivity Turns Toxic: How Bad Theology Hurts Christians
For more information about J. Warner’s books:Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective
Investigates the Claims of the Gospels (UPDATED AND REVISED): https://amzn.to/42XtJhu
God’s CrimeScene: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe:
http://amzn.to/2kAroVD
Forensic Faith: A Homicide Detective Makes the Case for a More Reasonable, Evidential Christian Faith: http://amzn.to/2Bvkyv4
So the Next Generation Will Know: Training Young Christians in a Challenging World: https://amzn.to/2CftJza
Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible: https://amzn.to/3nDriN2
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Yes!!! I was diagnosed with killer t cell lymphoma 10 years ago. Long story short I'm alive and well God is good. At the time though I was told I probably only had 6 months to a year to live at most. My children were one year and two years old. All the Christians around me came around and said "it's okay just trust God be at peace." And I remember thinking how useless they were that bad things do happen all the time and that I may very well not see my children grow up. It wasn't to say that I should have lost hope but this stupid positivity of making you feel guilty for recognizing the gravity of the situation was horrifying.
Way too many idols in Christianity today. Idols of ideology(doctrine-religious complexity) idols of some great spiritual guru/teachers. Idols of ministry. (My camp is better than your camp or my church is going to be the greatest….) Everything but knowing God thru his Spirit in His Word. To walk everyday w Him not by the strength of our own intellect.
Melissa Dougherty clearly is a proponent of Repentance (turning from one's sins) as a Necessary condition of entering His Kingdom .
Couldn't be a less plausible proposition this side of eternity .
Biblical Exegesis alone renders all works as utterly excluded as a Condition of receiving His Free and Never Deserving Gift: John 3:16 & Ephesians 2:8-9 .
Melissa's Soteriology is unhappily common among the "Apologists" that most have heard about : Frank Turek , William Lane Craig , Mike Winger , Ray Comfort & Kirk Cameron et al .
And yes , the late Charlie Kirk .
Contrary to popular belief, I'm a Christian Goth. The Goth subculture helped me understand some of the darker aspects of life. I used to be all about "peace & love" / "positive thinking" but then stumbled into the Goth subculture. However, God still had something to do with my peace, I'm just saying the Goth subculture definitely helped understand the "not so pleasant" aspects of life. And, no, I don't find being a Christian Goth a "contradiction". If anything, I feel like it fits in perfectly.
Modern day gnosticism: "we are part of the divine"
Everyone asks, "Why did God allow this bad thing to happen?'
Who ever asks "Why does God allow GOOD things to happen?"
Another mark of a true Christian is realizing that this world is not our home. And if the Lord takes us from it earlier than most people expect, it’s not a tragedy for us. It might well be a tragedy for our family or people left behind, but it’s definitely not for the Christian who dies no matter what the age. People will say,” she/he never got the chance to live life or do xyz. “ So what? The Christian is with the Lord at death and we should all be so fortunate to be in His presence one day. Spoiler alert- RCs need not respond with your heretical theological.
I really hate the “ I am enough” saying and culture. You aren’t. You never will be. None of us is enough. Of there would be no need for God, no need of the blood of Christ.
Toxic positivity is a negative thing.
Melissa's phrase "nopey nonsense" seems to have made it into my vocabulary. You both are two of my favorite Christian Apologists, putting complex topics into simple terms for us laypersons. :0)
Happiness and Joy can often be completely different things. We can be Joyful in our tribulation, as Scripture says. (Romans 5:3 and 12:12, as well as virtually all of the Psalms). Many blessings to you.
Or people who expect you to carry their sins. They isolate you and ignore you, they control when and what you can talk to them about. They treat you like you are less than them with demeaning comments while simultaneously refusing to talk about it.
If we tell people not to think negative, how are we going to realize that we sinned against God, first we have to think about that negative thought, but hopefully it will bring us to humble ourselves to Jesus. It's like telling a doctor not to tell you what's wrong with you but to just fix it, the doctor fixes it but you keep having the same sickness and ignoring it. Praise Jesus through your troubles, trust him that he will bring you through. Jesus sometimes doesn't take away the "valley of the shadow of death" but walks you through it, Jesus is with you, put your trust in him.
If you listen to positive thinking preachers, you'd think Jesus was a positivity guru! So important to expose this error!
This is really hard to deal with when someone is praying for you and they start talking like this. How do you correct this when they are in the middle of praying for you?
Most Christians do not have a realistic Biblical theology of suffering.
This world and it's toxicity and habitual denial is not our home.
I see too many people in churches who will only quote one verse out of the bible. When you read that verse within the entire chapter , it is in it does not say what they are talking about. This is what leads to the word of faith movement and positive confession. God does not promise a wonderful life. He promises to be with us and to think sanctify us on our path to heaven.
The only thinking you need is to trust and believe whatever trials or tribulations that may come your way , in the end God can makes everything work together for our good . God sees the end from the beginning, we don’t , but we can trust in the end he promises us he will not abandon us. In those times that other believers go through things we are to mourn with those that mourn . Which involves entering into the sorrows of fellow believers and sharing in their grief. Having said that, the scripture also says to encourage and build one another up. To me that’s to not deny what they’re going through, but to acknowledge it but also to remind them of Gods promises.
6:23 and following is so helpful. I have a few people in my life who are very prone to believing conspiracy rather than the mundane truth, and to know that distrust and pain is behind it helps me tread carefully in conversations with them.
What you are discussing is a weak or bad theodicy. Theology of suffering.
If God never intended on suffering then please explain Job and what was allowed to happen to him.
The Lord is definitely using many millennials (I see many gen z'ers too!) to help people understand the truth.
My God (Jesus) is AMAZING! I'm SO here for it! ❤️🐑✝️🩸🤍
Two of my favorites right here!
God does use suffering to strengthen us not only joy.
Comfort can never strengthen us the same way.
Too much comfort can actually make someone weaker.
“The Lord gives both death and life; he brings some down to the grave but raises others up. The Lord makes some poor and others rich; he brings some down and lifts others up. He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the Lord’s, and he has set the world in order.”
1 Samuel 2:6-8
Sola Scriptura got me out of my crazy charismatic/word of faith "church". Thanks be to God!!!