10 Things We Say in Church That Don’t Actually Make Sense

6. God won’t give you more than you can handle

Are we thinking of this verse? “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” (1 Corinthians 10:13). However, this verse is talking about sin and the fact we have a choice – say yes to sin or say no to sin. God gives us a way to turn from sin. This verse isn’t talking about trials and pain and suffering. In fact, right before his death, Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” He promises us trouble and he promises us joy. Relevant wrote a great piece on this here.

7. If you have enough faith, you’ll be healed

I’ve known people of great faith who have not been healed. If our healing is contingent on our faith, then our God isn’t big enough. Jesus did heal people because of their faith, but the healing comes from Him, not from our faith. “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

8. Let’s love on people

This sounds gross even to me. And I’ve used this phrase! Oh, the shame. Loving on people just means we want to be kind and loving. We’re not weird (mostly), I promise.

9. Doing life together

This means we’re fellowshipping together. Oh wait, let me try again. It means we have tight community and can break bread together. Oops, I did it again! It means we want to have friends we can grow with, share with, relate with and have fun with. It’s not as strange as it sounds.

10. I’ll pray about it

This is Christian code for “no.” We say this when we don’t know what to say and don’t really want to commit to your thing/event/ministry. We love what you’re doing, but don’t want to hurt your feelings. Let’s just be brave enough to tell people no. Okay? Just pray about it.

Even though we can be a wacky bunch with crazy phrases, God still loves us. Whether you’re a longtime follower of Jesus and you’ve overused these phrases, we’re with you. If you’re a brand new believer figuring it all out, welcome! Have a seat. We’re so glad you’re here. Let’s do life together! Scratch that. Let’s just grab coffee.

Tune in next time to hear about the season of life where God told me to ____ because the Bible says so and I know it’s God’s will for me. Kidding!