Okay, call me grumpy, but someone just said to me (about the 5,684th time I've heard this in my life), "Remember, God will never give you more than you can handle." Aaaaaarggghhhhh! I just had to write this down somewhere. THESE THINGS ARE NOT IN THE BIBLE
1. The one above, also rendered, "The Lord will never give you more than you can bear."
Here is what RevDrKate said to someone recently,
"I get really gnarly about that 'God never sends you more than you can handle' one....I say GOD doesn't SEND anything...God's part in it all is being with you in it! " (and I echo, RIGHT ON, SISTAH!)
2. Train up a child to know about Jesus, and that child will always return to the faith in the end.
I'm all for teaching our kids about Jesus and for praying for them, especially the prodigals. But have you heard of something called "free will?" Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he shall not depart from it" is not a guarantee of having a church-going child, even when that child become a senior citizen.
3. The husband is the priest of the home.
Puh-leeze stop saying that unless you can show me at least one chapter and verse.
4. Submission is a godly wife's highest goal.
See above. A Christan woman's highest goal should be the same as her husband's, to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
And last but not least.
5. Everything happens for a reason.
As Dr. Platypus once said, "Yeah. The devil hates you and has a horrible plan for your life." Such fatalism has no place in the thinking of a believer.
Do you have some additional stuff to share that "aint necessarily so?" (Apologies to Irving Berlin.) And for now I'll stop grumping and go work on Sunday's sermon.
12 comments:
Great post, S.O.!
I'm about to emerge from my no-show non-blogging, but I wanted to add something here first:
"God helps those who help themselves." That's usually said as a self-excuse for not helping those who need help.
Oh, I think in their bibles, it must be the verse after "men are initiators and women are receivers."
;-P
And one more, usually said to a bereaved family of a young person (or occasionally BY the bereaved):
"Oh, God must have needed him in heaven."
(Well, yeah! But THAT'S why a child or young adult died, because God "needed" him in heaven???) (shudder)
Singing Owl,
Great post! Sometimes I fee like you do. You asked: “Do you have some additional stuff to share that ‘aint necessarily so?’” You should read my post on Hezekiah 3:16. I have several “additional stuff” there that could be included in your list.
I came to your blog through Dr. Platypus.
Claude Mariottini
Thank you for #5! Blechety, blec, blech!
I agree with you on #2, but sometimes I want parents to remember that THEY are the ones who are primarily responsible for their child's spiritual nurture while growing up, not teh Sunday School teacher or youth leader, etc. But you're right, none of it is a guarantee that the child will respond.
Preach it, sister!
I guess I can both prove and disprove #2 :)
What about "Money is the root of all evil." Or my least favorite, "The Lord helps those who help themselves." Ugh!
I really hate the "You have to be part of a church to be a *true* Christian". I'll grant that Paul says that we should "gather together" but does that mean I need to be part of an unhealthy spiritual community that doesn't give a rip about me? I don't think so. I find my "gather together" community in divergent places, generally not in a church building. It's used too often as an excuse to guilt people into attending a service in a building where they need more money and more robotic hands. That's not me.
I always think there was a mis-translation some time ago with the "Train up a child..." To make sense to me, it would say "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old IT shall not depart from Him." The "stuff" we learn early tends to stay with us, what we do with it (free will you mentioned) is something else.
It irks me that parents of children who struggle with choices are kicked with this verse when they are already hurting. And young parents are pressured to immerse their children into church culture beyond their developmental stage/attention span to ensure that they don't become one of those "bad parents" too.
I was going to point out: "God helps those who help themselves." but someone else did. I know many people, including some of my own family members, who use that phrase believing it is a quote from the Bible. I have reached the point that I cannot keep silent...God has given us the blessing of helping them.
Everything does NOT happen for a reason, but everything can be used to the glory of God if you allow it.
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