Repenting of Our E-Lapses

February 2, 2011

By Sam Collins

Every so often I will get an e-mail that someone has forwarded to me and about five thousand of their closest friends. In earnest, breathless prose I will be informed of some astounding bit of supposedly pro-Christian news that the godless media minions have suppressed because, if it were widely known, it would bolster the flagging spirits of believers and instantaneously turn atheists into church-going tithers.

One such missive purported to contain the words of a formerly irreverent late-night talk show host lamenting America’s religious cynicism and calling on his fellow citizens to join him in repenting, turning to God, and getting a glow-in-the-dark Ten Commandments tattoo. Another claimed that an aged, legendary evangelist (I won’t use his real name, but it rhymes with Chilly Spam) had tooled into the French Quarter of New Orleans on a mobility scooter and sparked a revival that had resulted in drunks pouring their liquor onto Bourbon Street and cross-dressers donating their slinky apparel to Goodwill. (Unfortunately, in both of these cases, I am exaggerating only a very little bit.)

As grand as it might be to picture amazing conversions and “Chilly Spam” popping a mobility scooter wheelie on Bourbon Street, there are at least two major problems with these amazing reports. The first problem is that these things never occurred. The second problem is that there are apparently a number of Christian people who are too quick to uncritically suppose that they, and other similarly described incidents, did.

In a letter to the early church, the writer of the epistle known as 1 John wrote, “Dear friends, don't believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God” (4:1 MSG).

What we sometimes fail to recognize is that trumped-up stories—or outsized, intentionally deceptive exaggerations—that are told or passed on for the supposed benefit of the kingdom can be just as damaging as fabrications baldly, clearly repeated to cripple the cause of Christ. When contemporary Christian or church-related reports with big wow factors are eventually shown to have no more credibility than Al Capone’s tax returns, it makes it even more difficult for non-Christians to consider the veracity of aspects of the gospel that are true but hard to wrap the human mind around, such as the resurrection.

It’s not just damaging to make up bogus stuff; it’s also irresponsible to pass on something that sounds too good to be true—no matter how much we wish it were—unless we have verified the facts and tested the spirits. For what if, in addition to holding us accountable for “every idle word” uttered (Matt 12:36 NLT), the Lord decided to make us answer for each and every careless, unsubstantiated e-mail sent?

The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Church of God Ministries or, at points, even the writer, but are written with tongue firmly planted in cheek to hopefully provoke a leavening bit of laughter and a smidgen of thought.