Three Lies People Tell About God
Excerpt from Chapter 6 of Beyond Blind Faith, copyright 2017, 2019
People lie to us all the time. Advertisers tell you their product will make you happy, popular, successful, or attractive to the opposite sex. [i] Politicians announce the wonderful things they have no intention of doing if they are elected. Many people tell little white lies to make you feel better. A few lie to try to take advantage of you. We even lie to ourselves, especially about the inevitability of growing old and dying. But the most destructive lies people tell are about God, because they have eternal implications. Let’s look at three of them.
Lie #1: God wants to make you wealthy. Preachers who just want your money will assure you that if you give to God, He will make you wealthy—or at least comfortably well off. They often quote what Jesus says in Matthew 19:29 to show that God has promised to bestow riches on those who make sacrifices for His church:
“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.” [ii]
These prosperity preachers may even tell you that you will receive good health and an easy life in the bargain. But they are wrong.
First of all, history refutes their claim. Jesus and His followers did not live lives of wealth and ease. Instead, they lived simple lives and traveled extensively to spread the Gospel. The Christians in Jerusalem—where the Christian church was born—were so poor that the apostle Paul raised money in Asia Minor and Greece to help them. [iii]
Nor did the early Christians have an easy life. Jesus was crucified, and many of His followers were also martyred because of their preaching about Jesus. For three centuries after Christ’s death, many Christians lost their property, their freedom, and even their lives for the crime of being a Christian.
Nowhere is this suffering better illustrated than in the life of the apostle Paul. . . .
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[i] My favorite “lies” that advertisers tell:
- “Free” – Actually, it’s almost always just included in the price.
- “You deserve. . . .” – If I truly deserve it, why do I have to pay for it? Of course, we deserve very little of what we get.
- “Everybody knows. . . .” – If everyone knows, then you don’t need to tell us.
- “Everybody is talking about. . . .” – Similarly, if everyone is talking about it, there is no need to tell us.
- “No one is better” – Doesn’t that just mean that you are about the same as your competitors?
- “Today only” – Yet it always seems to be available tomorrow, too.
- “Just pay shipping and handling” – Of course, that more than covers the product’s cost, too.
- “Free shipping” – Like “free,” it’s simply included in the price.
- “Save” – How do I save money by spending it?
- “Wholesale prices” – Wholesalers don’t sell to the public. If you do, you are not a wholesaler.
- “We treat you like family” – That is, like family members with money to spend.
- “You need. . . .” – Although we may want what they are selling, we probably don’t really need it.
[ii] See also Mark 10:29-30 and Luke 18:29-30.
[iii] See 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8:1-15; and Romans 15:25-26. See also Acts 19:21.