Mark Atteberry - The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do

R ight now, theres every reason to believe that several people in your church are working daily to frustrate God and hinder the progress of His kingdom. Whats more, its a pretty safe bet youre one of them.

But wait!

Before you sling this book across the room, let me explain.

Im not suggesting that you or your friends are doing this intentionally. In fact, I suspect youre not even aware of it. In all likelihood, your love for the Lord is real, and youre living out your Christian life the best way you know how. The very idea that youre frustrating God probably horrifies you. But theres a good chance youre doing it anyway, just like me and millions of other Christians.

How?

With some really dumb moves.

But not the ones we make because of our humanity. Im not about to criticize anybody for occasionally reaffirming his membership in the human race by doing something less than brilliant. Ask anybody whos ever worked with me, and theyll tell you that Ive messed up enough times to qualify for membership in the Knucklehead Hall of Fame. I suspect you have, too.

No, the blunders Im referring to are the ones we tend to make again and again simply because we dont recognize them as blunders. Why dont we? I can think of three reasons. First, in some cases theres no book, chapter, and verse that condemns them. As a result, theyre very rarely discussed, let alone denounced, from the pulpit or in print. Second, they often involve some sort of religious activity or behavior that makes it easy for us to blindly accept them. And third, they tend to be things weve done for years without anyone ever shrieking in horror, calling the cops, or telling us we can no longer serve on the deacon board. On the contrary, some of the dumb things we do actually earn us respect and hearty congratulations from other believers who are just as blind to them as we are. But dumb moves are still dumb moves whether we recognize them or not, and we desperately need to stop making them.

The reason why is illustrated by my friend Cassie.

Shes a clown. Not just a witty person who livens up a party, but a real, honest-to-goodness clown. Shes been to clown school, has a custom-made clown suit, a pink fuzzy wig, face paint, and hilarious clown shoes. Imagine her little size-five feet laced up inside shoes that are eighteen inches long. Those babies flip and flop when she walks, adding the perfect finishing touch to her outfit.

But when our coed softball team takes the field on Sunday afternoons and Cassie trots out to third base, shes never wearing her clown shoes. Instead, shes strapped into a spiffy pair of Nike cleats. Thats not to say she couldnt play in her clown shoes. But if she did, she obviously wouldnt be very effective. They would slow her down at the very least, and probably have her tripping over herself and falling flat on her face in crucial situations.

As I see it, the blunders Im going to be addressing in this book are the churchs clown shoes. Theyre the reasons why our efforts to serve God are often woefully ineffective. They explain, at least in part, why the world has a hard time taking us seriously. And worst of all, they provide Satan with sidesplitting entertainment. Yes, I know hes whipped. I know his fate was sealed when Jesus came out of the tomb. But I still have to believe he roars with laughter, high-fives his demons, and thumbs his nose at God when he sees some of the dumb things we do again and again.

Im sure hes hoping we never figure out what were doing wrong. Hes hoping it never dawns on us why our valiant efforts to serve God often bear so little fruit. Hes hoping we never realize that we could be bouncing around in a sleek pair of Nikes instead of bumbling and stumbling in our clown shoes. He knows that if we ever wake up, the laughs will stop and his work will instantly become a lot more difficult. Hell have to start digging for ammunition to use against us instead of having us serve it to him on a silver platter.