Don’t Believe Everything You Hear
It doesn’t really matter whether you're deceived about eating carrots or reading in dim light. It won't hurt you one bit to stay out of the pool after lunch or to avoid spicy food. But if you go through life believing these religious, the consequences can be eternal.
Introduction
How much of what you hear from people around you can you actually believe? Not enough to merit throwing caution to the wind, says author Alfie Kohn, in his book, "YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY." Kohn warns that there are hundreds of sayings and proverbs repeated every day that though they have the sound of wisdom about them - are dead wrong. For instance,
You shouldn’t swim for an hour after eating. Did your mother ever tell you that? According to Kohn, this saying became prevalent a half-century ago when the American Red Cross published a manual on lifesaving claiming that cramps and possible death awaited any swimmer who went straight from the dinner table to the pool. Though the myth was debunked by exercise physiologist Arthur Steinhaus in 1961, it persists, even today.
Kohn goes on to debunk other familiar myths in folklore including:
The more you cut your hair, the faster it grows. It’s just not true, according to Kohn’s book. It is the illusion created by shorter hair feeling stiffer to the touch. It fools people. Research reveals no difference in growth rate related to frequency of cutting.
Couples should beware of the seven-year itch. There was even a movie about this at one time. Again, not true if the divorce rate is any indicator. It seems that divorce is most prominent in the first several years, then it drops off sharply after year five.
Eating carrots is good for your eyes. This one has a ring of truth to it, and even some basis in the science of nutrition, if you come from a third world country where diet is severely limited. However says Kohn, since the liver stores adequate reserves of beta-carotene, the desired ingredient in carrots, eating lots of carrots won’t benefit your vision if your nutrition is reasonably balanced already.
I have heard (and perhaps this one is a myth, too) that you can eat too many carrots and change the color of your skin. If you have light colored skin, I'm told it will turn orange. (Maybe someone should check that one out.)
Reading in dim light will ruin your eyes. Not so, says the American Academy of Ophthalmology: "Reading in dim light can no more harm the eyes than taking a photograph in dim light can harm a camera."
Spicy food is bad for the stomach. Researchers used a video endoscope on healthy people to show that even munching enchiladas with Jalapeño peppers over an extended time for both lunch and dinner caused no noticeable damage to the subjects they tested. Kohn went on to show that even ulcer patients who ate three grams of chili power on their food every day were not adversely affected. The acids that we already have in our stomachs are far more powerful than anything we normally eat.
You can catch a cold from being chilled. While it is true that more people come down with colds in wintertime, temperature isn’t what gives you a cold. In order to catch a cold you must be exposed to the virus that causes it. The reason we catch more colds in the winter is that we spend more time indoors, crowded together with other people. Even the idea that perhaps our resistance is lowered when we’re chilled has been debunked by a careful study that compared the rate of infection of people in heavy coats with the rate of infection of people in their underwear.
The full moon makes people crazy. (In my line of work I’ve found myself wondering about this one, too!) While numerous attempts have been made to charge the moon with inciting things like murder and suicide, most research studies, especially recent ones, find no significant relationship between lunar phase and craziness. Studies of hospital emergency rooms, assassinations, railroad disasters, and even the number of penalties at hockey games failed to produce any significant correlation. People do crazy things because, well… they’re crazy!(1)
Just as there are many myths that seem to develop a life of their own as they circulate and re-circulate in the realm of folk wisdom, there are myths in the realm of the Christian faith. Many things are repeated every day that people believe about Christianity and never question even though, when you check them out with the Bible, they are dead wrong. Some of these myths have very serious consequences. Let me show you a few.
1. As Long as You’re Religious, You’re Acceptable to God.
In a country where there is freedom of religion and respect for the right of every individual to worship as he or she chooses – or not to worship, for that matter – this one has become the stock belief of many. "Attend the church of your choice" is such a tolerant and enlightened suggestion. "Be sure to worship this week in your local church, synagogue, masque, or temple" says the public service announcement. The idea behind these slogans is that it really doesn’t matter what or who or how you worship as long as you’re religious.
The trouble is, that’s not what the Bible teaches. Listen to Jesus on this issue in Matthew 7:21-23:
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
Notice that these are religious people whom God rejects. They even refer to Jesus as "Lord." Yet, according to Jesus Himself, they won't enter into the kingdom of heaven
What is the criterion, then? Jesus said, "He who does the will of My Father who is in heaven."
People who are unconcerned about their religious views and beliefs are probably in for a sudden and awful awakening at judgment.
Here's another often repeated myth:
2. God is Just a Prayer Away.
I saw this one on a billboard campaign recently, put on in a nearby city by a confederation of churches in the area. But you don’t have to drive around reading billboards to encounter it. It is very prominent in our culture. The idea is that God is standing by, anxious to hear the prayers of any and all people who come to Him, regardless of their position with Him. It matters not what they believe, whether they are saved or lost, or if they believe anything at all. According to this often repeated phrase, it matters not how they live, or how they approach Him. God hears and answers the prayers of all people – or so this idea goes.
Yet when we look in the Bible we find that God's hearing (so as to heed) man's prayers is something that is the privilege of those who are right with Him. Sin separates us from God. Proverbs 15:29 says, "The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous."
It doesn't sound to me like God is "only a prayer away" from the wicked.
To the leaders of ancient Israel who were abusing their power over the people they were charged to teach and protect, the prophet Micah said, "Then they will cry out to the Lord but He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time, because they have practiced evil deeds."(2)
It doesn't sound like God was "only a prayer away" from these wicked leaders.
Isaiah said this to disobedient Israel in Isaiah 59:1-2: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save; neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear."
Again, sin separates man from God. This clearly effects prayer.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad for anything that causes people to move toward God. And it is true that anyone can come to God, no matter what their race, background, or ethnic origin and that God desires all people to be saved. Peter said in Acts 10:34-35 that "…God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him."
But did you notice the qualifier in those verses? It’s the little phrase, "the man who fears Him does what is right." How can a person "fear God" if he or she doesn’t even know who He is or what He is like? I have met many people personally who have absolutely no fear of God, nor do they have any concern about doing what is right. They live lives that dishonor Him. But they've heard the saying, "God is only a prayer away," and have come to believe it.
Salvation is open to all who fear God and are willing to do what is right. Prayer, however, is a privilege open only to those who are right with God. In New Testament times (today) that means they must have Jesus Christ as their mediator between themselves and God.(3) Prayer is a privilege of the saved - those who are forgiven through the blood of Christ and who are striving to live their lives for Him. There is only one mediator: Christ. If you don't have Him you can't get through.
3. All You Need to Do is Believe.
This one is quite prominent in today’s religious climate and is espoused in many well-known places. The idea is that all you need in order to be right with God is acknowledge mental assent, that is, that you believe that God (and, in some cases, Jesus) exists. Nothing else is necessary. Live like you want to – live like the devil if you want to – it doesn’t matter just as long as you believe. Serving God, obedience to His will, concern for righteousness, are all options according to this way of thinking.
You’ll often hear this belief expressed at funerals. The point is made that the deceased "received Christ" or "professed faith in Christ" as a child and so all should expect to see him in heaven. Never mind that the person lived like a scoundrel. Never mind that there was never any spiritual fruit in his life. Never mind that repentance was an unknown. He made a one-time profession and that was it. He was saved and could never again be lost.
The Bible teaches otherwise. Perhaps James has made the clearest statement of it. We read in James 2:14-26
What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, "You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
Belief alone is dead and cannot save a person, according to James. If you life and actions don't back it up, its useless.
But didn't Jesus say in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life?"
Indeed, He did. But what of the other things said in John 3? For instance, John 3:5, just eleven verses before John 3:16 says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
I won't elaborate on in here but "born of water" is likely a reference to Christian baptism, which is also said elsewhere in the New Testament to be necessary for salvation.(4)
Many are also unaware of what was said in John 3 after verse 16 - particularly in verse 36, twenty verses after verse 16. There it says, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
This "only believe" idea flies in the face of what the Bible teaches.
Matt 3:10 says, "…Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
Jesus said in Luke 13:3, "…Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
Matthew 7:26-27 says, "And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."
This idea that "all you need to do is believe" is widely held today, but it is false and, like the myths we started with, it needs to be exposed.
4. God Helps those who Help Themselves.
This one is often repeated, even by churchgoers, with good intentions. But it, too, is false. I say it is false because it isn't in the Bible.
Yes, we do have a responsibility to do what we are commanded in Scripture, and often the outcome of many things will depend upon it. For instance if you follow Paul's admonition to "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another," your life is going to run a lot smoother than that of a person who runs up a bunch of debt. Even salvation is something we must respond to and do something about.
But the phrase "God helps those who help themselves" is not true in all things in the Bible. For instance, in Romans 5:6-8, Paul wrote, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
The operative word there in describing us before we were saved is "helpless." Helpless means you can't help yourself. So in some cases it is true that God helps those who can't help themselves.
5. As Long as You’re Sincere, You’re OK with God.
This one appeals to the heart of all of us who feel compassion. We want to believe that God will honor sincerity - and He does. However, sincerity alone will not help us because it is quite possible to be sincere about things that are wrong. Consider Paul's words about his Jewish brethren in Romans 9. They were some of the most religious people on earth, but most of them rejected Christ. Their sincerity didn't save them.
He begins the chapter with these words in verses 1-5:
"I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever."
Then just a little later, in the 10th chapter, in the same context, Paul wrote this in verses 1-3:
"Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge."
The Jews who rejected Jesus were sincere but they were wrong. They didn't have proper knowledge. As a result they were lost.
If you want to be right with God, you must be sincere, but you must also have knowledge of what He has said about how to do it.
Here's another widely held myth:
6. God is a God of Love. He would Never Punish Someone in Hell Forever.
And perhaps there is another myth we can deal with right along with this one that is sort of an opposite. It goes this way:
"God is a hateful God. He can’t wait to punish people in hell forever."
People who hold either of these views have surely never read and understood God's word. Yes, the Bible does declare that God is a God of love. John said in 1 John 4:16, "God is love…"
But it also declares that He is a God of wrath.
Paul wrote in Romans 1:18: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…."
A God of love, a God of wrath - how can these seemingly opposite statements be harmonized?
That's the message of the gospel.
This is the same God whom Jesus revealed in the well-known John 3:16 passage: "For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Being also a God of justice, God simply must punish those who do what is evil. But He does not want to punish them, so He has made another way that they can be saved, if they really want to be, even though they have done wrong.
Paul put it this way in Romans 5:8: "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
God's love is seen in the fact that Jesus willingly paid the death penalty - the hell penalty - God's wrath penalty - for those who are willing to surrender their lives to Him and live for Him. Initially this includes their public profession of faith in Him, their repentance, and their baptism. But it also includes their devotion to living for Him after that.
Make no mistake about it. The wrath of God still exists and it is still aimed at those who reject Him. Ultimately, if they refuse Him, they will suffer eternally apart from Him.
Jesus said of those who are in the great judgment in Matthew 25 that they would be like sheep on His right and goats on His left. He was referring to those who chose to serve Him and those who did not. In the conclusion of His words, in Matthew 25:46, He said, "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
A God of love, a God of wrath. Perhaps Paul has brought the two concepts together in a way we can grasp: He wrote in Romans 11:22 with these words: "Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off."
Conclusion
It doesn’t really matter whether you're deceived about eating carrots or reading in dim light. It won't hurt you one bit to stay out of the pool after lunch or to avoid spicy food. But if you go through life believing these religious myths, the consequences could be eternal.
It is best that you and I don't believe everything we hear. It's best that we check them out with the Bible.
Footnotes: Please use your back button to return to your place.
1. From "Don’t Believe Everything You Hear,"
Reader’s Digest, July 1992, pp. 158-160 (Condensed from "YOU KNOW WHAT THEY
SAY," by Alfie Kohn, Harper-Collins Publishers, New York, NY.)
2. Micah 3:4
3. 1 Timothy 2:5
4. Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21
Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.
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All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.