The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying

[SYTFE]

McNugget posted this in another thread referencing Donald Trump:

We are really truly Blessed!

...and it reminded me of this article. Figured I'd start a new thread on it. Here's a snippet:

I’ve noticed a trend among Christians, myself included, and it troubles me. Our rote response to material windfalls is to call ourselves blessed. Like the “amen” at the end of a prayer.

“This new car is such a blessing.”

“Finally closed on the house. Feeling blessed.”

“Just got back from a mission trip. Realizing how blessed we are here in this country.”

On the surface, the phrase seems harmless. Faithful even. Why wouldn’t I want to give God the glory for everything I have? Isn’t that the right thing to do?

No.

As I reflected on my “feeling blessed” comment, two thoughts came to mind. I realize I’m splitting hairs here, creating an argument over semantics. But bear with me, because I believe it is critically important. It’s one of those things we can’t see because it’s so culturally engrained that it has become normal.

But it has to stop. And here’s why.

First, when I say that my material fortune is the result of God’s blessing, it reduces The Almighty to some sort of sky-bound, wish-granting fairy who spends his days randomly bestowing cars and cash upon his followers. I can’t help but draw parallels to how I handed out M&M’s to my own kids when they followed my directions and chose to poop in the toilet rather than in their pants. Sure, God wants us to continually seek His will, and it’s for our own good. But positive reinforcement?

God is not a behavioral psychologist.

Second, and more importantly, calling myself blessed because of material good fortune is just plain wrong. For starters, it can be offensive to the hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who live on less than $10 per day. You read that right. Hundreds of millions who receive a single-digit dollar “blessing” per day.

The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying | HuffPost
​

So, you obnoxious Christians, stop saying you're "blessed" for every goddam little thing in the world. And don't ever use it in referencing Donald Trump. You're making Jesus very angry when you do that.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

Stupid

 

[BlackFlag]

The blessed vs. the not blessed:

 

[Mac1958]

Their religion provides Christians with hope, answers, guidance and comfort.

And they're not committed to slaughtering anyone who chooses not to believe.

Good for them.
.

 

[SYTFE]

Their religion provides Christians with hope, answers, guidance and comfort.

And they're not committed to slaughtering anyone who chooses not to believe.

Good for them.
.

Has nothing to do with the topic. Absolutely nothing.

 

[Mac1958]

Their religion provides Christians with hope, answers, guidance and comfort. And they're not committed to slaughtering anyone who chooses not to believe. Good for them..

Has nothing to do with the topic. Absolutely nothing.

Of course it does. But, filled with hatred for them as you are, you don't see it.

That's okay.
.

 

[SYTFE]

The blessed vs. the not blessed:

Another major pet peeve of mine. As if God gives a shit if you hit a game winning home run, won the Super Bowl or won a Grammy. These self-centered narcissists have reduced God to their own personal servant of "good things" that happen to them. The only thing that matters is "me me me." Christianity has a knack for making people even more self-centered than they already are. Everything is about them.

 

[SYTFE]

Their religion provides Christians with hope, answers, guidance and comfort. And they're not committed to slaughtering anyone who chooses not to believe. Good for them..

Has nothing to do with the topic. Absolutely nothing.

Of course it does. But, filled with hatred for them as you are, you don't see it.

That's okay.
.

Yes, we know you can't keep your hatred for Islam to yourself and have to interject it into every conversation. No one cares.

PS: Christianity and Islam = 2 sides of the same coin.

 

[Mac1958]

Their religion provides Christians with hope, answers, guidance and comfort. And they're not committed to slaughtering anyone who chooses not to believe. Good for them..

Has nothing to do with the topic. Absolutely nothing.

Of course it does. But, filled with hatred for them as you are, you don't see it.

That's okay.
.

Yes, we know you can't keep your hatred for Islam to yourself and have to interject it into every conversation. No one cares.

PS: Christianity and Islam = 2 sides of the same coin.

And they always make it about ME.

I just made a positive observation about Christians, and you didn't like it.

Hate them all you want, doesn't matter to me.
.

 

[hadit]

Something tells me the OP wishes Christians would say nothing about anything.

 

[SYTFE]

Their religion provides Christians with hope, answers, guidance and comfort. And they're not committed to slaughtering anyone who chooses not to believe. Good for them..

Has nothing to do with the topic. Absolutely nothing.

Of course it does. But, filled with hatred for them as you are, you don't see it.

That's okay.
.

Yes, we know you can't keep your hatred for Islam to yourself and have to interject it into every conversation. No one cares.

PS: Christianity and Islam = 2 sides of the same coin.

And they always make it about ME.

I just made a positive observation about Christians, and you didn't like it.

Hate them all you want, doesn't matter to me.
.

Your "positive observation" is rich when taken into historical context. But, whatever helps you sleep at night.

 

[SYTFE]

Something tells me the OP wishes Christians would say nothing about anything.

Actually I would prefer that Christians act a little more like Christ. Too much to ask, I know.

 

[Pogo]

Their religion provides Christians with hope, answers, guidance and comfort.

And they're not committed to slaughtering anyone who chooses not to believe.

Good for them.

Some are. Just like every other organized religion.

Absolute statements are always dicey.

 

[Mac1958]

Their religion provides Christians with hope, answers, guidance and comfort.

And they're not committed to slaughtering anyone who chooses not to believe.

Good for them.

Some are. Just like every other organized religion.

Absolute statements are always dicey.

Sure, there are exceptions to every rule. There are certainly a lot of cafeteria Christians out there, no doubt.

But for many, it fills a real need. Me, I use single malt scotch & microbrew. Whatever works.
.

 

[Pogo]

McNugget posted this in another thread referencing Donald Trump:

We are really truly Blessed!

...and it reminded me of this article. Figured I'd start a new thread on it. Here's a snippet:

I’ve noticed a trend among Christians, myself included, and it troubles me. Our rote response to material windfalls is to call ourselves blessed. Like the “amen” at the end of a prayer.

“This new car is such a blessing.”

“Finally closed on the house. Feeling blessed.”

“Just got back from a mission trip. Realizing how blessed we are here in this country.”

On the surface, the phrase seems harmless. Faithful even. Why wouldn’t I want to give God the glory for everything I have? Isn’t that the right thing to do?

No.

As I reflected on my “feeling blessed” comment, two thoughts came to mind. I realize I’m splitting hairs here, creating an argument over semantics. But bear with me, because I believe it is critically important. It’s one of those things we can’t see because it’s so culturally engrained that it has become normal.

But it has to stop. And here’s why.

First, when I say that my material fortune is the result of God’s blessing, it reduces The Almighty to some sort of sky-bound, wish-granting fairy who spends his days randomly bestowing cars and cash upon his followers. I can’t help but draw parallels to how I handed out M&M’s to my own kids when they followed my directions and chose to poop in the toilet rather than in their pants. Sure, God wants us to continually seek His will, and it’s for our own good. But positive reinforcement?

God is not a behavioral psychologist.

Second, and more importantly, calling myself blessed because of material good fortune is just plain wrong. For starters, it can be offensive to the hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who live on less than $10 per day. You read that right. Hundreds of millions who receive a single-digit dollar “blessing” per day.

The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying | HuffPost
​

So, you obnoxious Christians, stop saying you're "blessed" for every goddam little thing in the world. And don't ever use it in referencing Donald Trump. You're making Jesus very angry when you do that.

It's also (or can be -- "blessed" isn't that specific) part of a mentality of shirking individual responsibility. Another current meme is "God is in control". Which is the same as saying "I'm not responsible for what I'm about to do".

 

[hadit]

Something tells me the OP wishes Christians would say nothing about anything.

Actually I would prefer that Christians act a little more like Christ. Too much to ask, I know.

I do too. Saying that you realize how greatly you are blessed, however, is not a problem. To assume that you somehow deserved or earned the right to be born in the developed world is.

 

[BULLDOG]

McNugget posted this in another thread referencing Donald Trump:

We are really truly Blessed!

...and it reminded me of this article. Figured I'd start a new thread on it. Here's a snippet:

I’ve noticed a trend among Christians, myself included, and it troubles me. Our rote response to material windfalls is to call ourselves blessed. Like the “amen” at the end of a prayer.

“This new car is such a blessing.”

“Finally closed on the house. Feeling blessed.”

“Just got back from a mission trip. Realizing how blessed we are here in this country.”

On the surface, the phrase seems harmless. Faithful even. Why wouldn’t I want to give God the glory for everything I have? Isn’t that the right thing to do?

No.

As I reflected on my “feeling blessed” comment, two thoughts came to mind. I realize I’m splitting hairs here, creating an argument over semantics. But bear with me, because I believe it is critically important. It’s one of those things we can’t see because it’s so culturally engrained that it has become normal.

But it has to stop. And here’s why.

First, when I say that my material fortune is the result of God’s blessing, it reduces The Almighty to some sort of sky-bound, wish-granting fairy who spends his days randomly bestowing cars and cash upon his followers. I can’t help but draw parallels to how I handed out M&M’s to my own kids when they followed my directions and chose to poop in the toilet rather than in their pants. Sure, God wants us to continually seek His will, and it’s for our own good. But positive reinforcement?

God is not a behavioral psychologist.

Second, and more importantly, calling myself blessed because of material good fortune is just plain wrong. For starters, it can be offensive to the hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who live on less than $10 per day. You read that right. Hundreds of millions who receive a single-digit dollar “blessing” per day.

The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying | HuffPost
​

So, you obnoxious Christians, stop saying you're "blessed" for every goddam little thing in the world. And don't ever use it in referencing Donald Trump. You're making Jesus very angry when you do that.

They just like the idea of having their own personal Jesus

 

[JoeMoma]

Don't you love it (sarcastically) when nonchristians tell Christians how to beleive and act as Christians.

 

[SYTFE]

McNugget posted this in another thread referencing Donald Trump:

We are really truly Blessed!

...and it reminded me of this article. Figured I'd start a new thread on it. Here's a snippet:

I’ve noticed a trend among Christians, myself included, and it troubles me. Our rote response to material windfalls is to call ourselves blessed. Like the “amen” at the end of a prayer.

“This new car is such a blessing.”

“Finally closed on the house. Feeling blessed.”

“Just got back from a mission trip. Realizing how blessed we are here in this country.”

On the surface, the phrase seems harmless. Faithful even. Why wouldn’t I want to give God the glory for everything I have? Isn’t that the right thing to do?

No.

As I reflected on my “feeling blessed” comment, two thoughts came to mind. I realize I’m splitting hairs here, creating an argument over semantics. But bear with me, because I believe it is critically important. It’s one of those things we can’t see because it’s so culturally engrained that it has become normal.

But it has to stop. And here’s why.

First, when I say that my material fortune is the result of God’s blessing, it reduces The Almighty to some sort of sky-bound, wish-granting fairy who spends his days randomly bestowing cars and cash upon his followers. I can’t help but draw parallels to how I handed out M&M’s to my own kids when they followed my directions and chose to poop in the toilet rather than in their pants. Sure, God wants us to continually seek His will, and it’s for our own good. But positive reinforcement?

God is not a behavioral psychologist.

Second, and more importantly, calling myself blessed because of material good fortune is just plain wrong. For starters, it can be offensive to the hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who live on less than $10 per day. You read that right. Hundreds of millions who receive a single-digit dollar “blessing” per day.

The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying | HuffPost
​

So, you obnoxious Christians, stop saying you're "blessed" for every goddam little thing in the world. And don't ever use it in referencing Donald Trump. You're making Jesus very angry when you do that.

It's also (or can be -- "blessed" isn't that specific) part of a mentality of shirking individual responsibility. Another current meme is "God is in control". Which is the same as saying "I'm not responsible for what I'm about to do".

Exactly. But it also reinforces this idea that God cares about an individuals petty needs and desires, their selfish desire for a new car, or attaining wealth.

 

[SYTFE]

Don't you love it (sarcastically) when nonchristians tell Christians how to beleive and act as Christians.

I am uniquely qualified as not only has my third eye been thoroughly squeegeed from consuming copious amounts of psychedelics, I also grew up Catholic.

But the author of the article in the OP is a Christian. One who sees the problem with the overused "I'm so blessed" phrase as it illustrates a bigger problem.