Andrew Fountain - Seven Myths about Christianity

Full sermon notes - Seven Myths about Christianity

• Person who has a basic idea that there is a God
  • All they have seen is a ritualistic religion
  • Believe that if there is a God, they have nothing to fear because on the whole they have been pretty good
  • They have an inner emptiness and lack of meaning

1. You have to take part in rituals

• rituals were part of the way God taught the nation of Israel to worship him 3,000 years ago
• however, the rituals were like acted out pictorial lessons
  • we do that kind of thing now, e.g. at weddings it is traditional for them to arrive separately but leave together
  • What if after the wedding the bride wanted to continue to do this? —when ever they went anywhere they should arrive separately...
  • You have the reality now—you don’t need to stick with a picture of being married
• for example, the ritual of burning sweet incense was a picture prayer and how God enjoyed it when they talked to him
  • But not designed to be permanent, but to be replaced by the reality

• Just like a “Tim Horton’s Coming Soon”
  • But it would be totally inappropriate to keep the sign up
  • Many of the rituals were to teach them about what God would do for them in the future, when he sent Jesus
    • E.g. the picture of their guilt being transferred to a lamb prepared them for Jesus who would take away our guilt
  • When Jesus came, he specifically said that he fulfilled all the rituals

2. God only accepts people who are “good”

• We might not like tax collectors, but we probably don’t regard them as intrinsically evil
  • But in those days
• Jesus said “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Luke 5)
  • explain
• So actually the opposite is true: God is not interested in those who are self-righteous, but those who need him
• Nobody has done too much wrong for God to love them
  • It actually seems to be the people who are most flawed because God is most interested in

• Repentance means change, but God is on their side to help them change
  • It’s like a rebuild

3. I need a priest

• Just like there were rituals 3,000 years ago, there were priests
• People couldn’t come to God directly because
  • God is so pure
  • God is so amazingly perfect
• They needed an intermediary who was on the one hand pure enough for God’s presence,
  • and on the other was human so as to relate to us
• The priests of course were not really pure, it was another picture
  • So this was symbolized by extreme washing—as a symbol of purity inside
• So if the priest was just a picture, how could someone really fulfil that role?
  • To be pure enough to stand in the brightness of God’s presence
  • To be one of us
• The reality that the priests pointed to was the ultimate priest
  • God himself in the form of Jesus, who actually took on human form
• He fulfilled the requirement of an intermediary: pure as God, yet human as us
  • He can have sympathy with us because he has experience the hardships of being a human
• So we can simply pray to God directly, through the help of Jesus
  • “For there is one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human” 1Tim 2:5
  • Nowadays it wrong to have priests and Jesus forbade them among his followers
• What that means is that you can now simply talk directly to God
  • The myth is that you need someone else

4. Some places are “holy”

• Some people think that if they want to pray, it is better to go into a church building
• Never in the Bible was a place special in and of itself
• Places were only ever special if God showed his presence there, and only for as long as his presence was there
  • “portable temple”
• God has said that right now he is present every time we gather together
  • It makes absolutely no difference if it is gym, a cave or out of doors
• but even if we were meeting in a church building, the moment we leave it is just another building
• There was a woman that Jesus met who raised the controversy about where to worship God
  • Jesus answered that it is not about the place—God’s presence can be anywhere

• In your bed, in the gym, on the bus, walking, running, sitting

5. It’s about giving money

• throughout history there have been people who have thought they can buy their way into God’s favour
  • But in the Bible it is the opposite: Jesus and his followers were deeply offended when people tried to gain God’s favour with money
• God makes it clear that he owns everything and needs nothing
  • However, when people want to freely and willingly give to God’s work, he is pleased
  • God loves people to be generous, because he himself is generous, and will give back more than is given
  • Example of the widow

6. Christians are Hypocrites

• This is a very cynical book!
  • unfortunately there is some truth behind it
• Many people have had a bad experience with someone who claimed to be a Christian
  • Maybe a parent or authority figure
• Some point to TV preachers who are always asking for money are accurate representatives of Christianity
• Jesus said to his followers “Freely you have received, freely give”
  • but if they give you food & accommodation, accept it!
  • Yet since the beginning there have been people who have tried to turn Christianity into a business
• Not everyone who asks for money is wrong—there is nothing wrong with donations to cover expenses
  • But very very wrong to become rich from taking money in this way
  • but unfortunately many times it has obscured the message
• the term “Christian” has been badly abused
  • If you ask “was that person following the teachings of Jesus Christ?”
  • The answer is usually “NO!”
  • So if we are talking about genuine “Christ-followers” and not those who merely call themselves “Christians” then there is not a problem with hypocrisy
• There were hypocrites in the time of Jesus (explain what this means)
  • Jesus was very tough on them
• But just because there is hypocrisy, doesn’t mean there is no reality
  • in fact there probably is!

7. There are so many brands of Christianity. No one agrees on anything.

• Sadly there have been many who have turned Christianity into a political tool
  • or as a way of making a name for themselves
• Do most of us think that democracy is a good thing?
  • (maybe a few anarchist here)
  • Do most governments around the world claim to be democratic?
    • Are they in fact?
  • So let’s throw out the whole idea—it’s worthless ??
• But what about all the “brands”?
  • As I just said, the problem is the word “Christianity”
  • Better to say Christ-follower
  • This is not what Jesus taught
  • Among those who try to carefully follow the teachings of Jesus and his disciples, there is not nearly as much disagreement
• Some places it is just tribalism
  • two groups of people who both call themselves Christians: fighting
• But if you look at “Christ-followers”, who go by Jesus’ words in the Bible
  • There are not that many different groups
  • And 90% of what they say is in agreement with one another
  • Diversity is not a bad thing if it is not antagonistic
  • Is diversity in music a bad thing?

• I trust you with my life
  • Please take away all the bad stuff and wash me clean
  • Give me a new power to live life like you did

Updated on 2015-04-12 by Andrew Fountain