Manuscript Introduction

Lies Christians Believe
and the Truths that Transform Them

Because it is so unbelievable, the Truth often escapes being known. — Heraclitus

We’re slowly being poisoned and most of us don’t know it.

I’m not talking about a physical toxicity, though that’s happening too. No, I’m talking about toxic lies: deceptions, half-truths, distortions, confusions and ‘spins.’ What may appear to be innocent information, could turn out to destroy us.

This book started out as a collection of lies in my journal. I was unemployed so had some extra time. I had just heard a message at our church on Revelation chapter 18. The speaker claimed that we were being poisoned, but didn’t actually say how. That was my cue: I started to pursue how that could be. When I had finished my list, the one-phrase lies took up three pages; lies like: ‘God is mean,’ ‘God doesn’t care,’ ‘I can become more worthy of God’s love,’ and ‘I’m in control of my life.’ I couldn’t believe all of the junk sold as ‘truth.’ Many of those lies ended up in this book and I’m still discovering new ones.

But lies come in different packages. Sometimes they scream to intimidate us, but more often they have an everyday voice that make them seem perfectly normal. Many of the lies in this book are never ‘heard’ at all, but we encounter them subliminally because they’re too painful or too scary to face directly. Perhaps the most subliminal, scary lie that Satan throws at us is the lie, ‘God doesn’t care.’ As good evangelical Christians we know that’s not true, yet when things go wrong, as they inevitably do, we become vulnerable. We start entertaining those doubts, and if we don’t face them squarely with God’s truth, we slowly get poisoned, weakened and consequently become vulnerable to more lies: ‘God is not good,’ ‘God is mean,’ ‘God is irrelevant.’

When the lies start cascading upon us we do one of two things: we either slowly turn away from God and harden ourselves, or we break under the pain and cry out to him for help. What is often overlooked in the building of our faith are the layers upon layers of deceptions, half-truths, confusions and false ideas that we passively accept. We underestimate how numerous they are and how insidiously they affect us.

Truth, on the other hand, has an integrity all its own that can’t be counterfeited. Truth effortlessly fits and coheres because it originates in the integrity of God. Lies, on the other hand, may have an appearance of truth, but fall apart when their veneer is exposed. It’s my hope that this book peals off some of that veneer.

To state it simply, we all have two worldviews:

1  the one that we say we believe,

2  the one we actually believe.

And it’s the one that we actually believe that we end up living by. This book is about discovering the gap between those two worldviews and how to close it.

Do you want to be free? Then look squarely at the deceptions that you harbor. Ask yourself why you believe what you believe. Understand the particular lie and deception that tends to control you and meditate and marinate in the particular truths that expose those lies. Once lies are replaced with truth and we see the stupidity and silliness to persist in them, we’ll gladly abandon them. We believe lies, but we cannot simply disbelieve or ‘un-believe’ them. We must believe something else that effectively replaces it. We cannot fake it. We cannot by brute-force generate believing and disbelieving.

Lies are cumulative and interwoven and it takes time to disentangle ourselves. Actually only our God can do this by his Spirit working in us.

But the most valuable truth to see in greater and greater clarity is this: The true nature, place and power of Jesus Christ and his love and provision for us. Seeing him in his glory, authority and power liberates us from the power of all lies.

So either read this book straight through or scan the list of lies on the contents page and find the lie that you wrestle with. Some lies you may never have heard or thought of; some you may believe wholeheartedly and have never considered that they could be wrong.

Obviously a whole book could be written about each lie so I don’t claim comprehensiveness, but I do want to get you thinking and searching. I hope that each meditation encourages you to seek Christ, the Good Shepherd who promised to lead us to the still waters and restore our soul. As you read, ask him for guidance and wisdom. If I do nothing else, your seeking him will be worth everything.