Home Pastors Articles for Pastors Are These 3 Phrases Spiritual or SELFISH?

Are These 3 Phrases Spiritual or SELFISH?

2. What they say: “We need to encourage one another as Christians.”

What they actually mean: “I will encourage those that agree with me … I’ll bash all those with an opinion different than mine.”

In Hebrews 10, it tells us to not neglect one another, but rather to encourage each other (verse 25). We need encouragement.

Some Christians can confuse encouragement with “tough love.” They think that bashing other churches, pastors, or mentalities is all right. Maybe they even think this buys them “brownie points” with others in their circle.

In reality, however, if you only encourage those you agree 100 percent with, you will spend the rest of your Christian life only encouraging yourself. And sadly, that’s what some Christians do. I don’t think Jesus wanted His church to go around bashing others just because they didn’t see eye to eye.

3. What they say: “I don’t believe it should be done that way.”

What they actually mean: “It’s never been done that way before.”

Just because it’s never been done a certain way before doesn’t mean it should never be done that way. Remember, there was a time when a piano in church was unheard of. There was a time when everyone wore robes to church, not suits and dresses. There was a time when hymn books were the norm and projectors were frowned upon.

Times change, and the way we reach people today is different than it was 10 years ago, and how it will be 10 years from now. Like Dean William Inge said, “The church who marries the spirit of an age becomes a widow in the next generation.”

What’s your opinion about these three phrases? What other phrases do we make selfishly?