Series: Mythbusters
“Mythology 101”
John 8:31-32
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I have really good news this morning. We won’t have any financial concerns for quite some time to come! We’re going to have enough money to do anything we’ve ever dreamed of doing.
The good news came to me by an email at the end of this last week. The email is from a Christian widow in Nigeria. Her husband was a doctor and worked for a foreign embassy there. She told me in her email that she wanted to give several million dollars to a Christian cause because she is dying and has no children. She heard about us from an unnamed acquaintance.
I’m glad to hear that our church’s reputation has reached world-wide acclaim. And I’m trying to reach the lawyer she told me to contact. Now, this opportunity may cost us a few thousand dollars upfront, but we will certainly make up for it when we get the millions of dollars she is going to give us in the end.
Why do most of you have a look on your face that says, “You’re kidding, right? Didn’t your parents ever teach you that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is? Haven’t you heard about all the hoaxes just like the one you mentioned that are being passed around the Internet? ” Yes, I have.
Can you believe some of the things that people accept as true? There are a number of urban legends that have become part of our culture. Two of the most well-known ones are alligators in the sewer system of New York City and the mysterious, vanishing hitchhiker An urban legend is a story that appears mysteriously and spreads spontaneously in various forms and is usually false. It is basically contemporary mythology.
This morning, we start a sermon series called Mythbusters. A myth, for our purposes, is defined as a widely held but false belief or idea. Do you see the tie between myth and urban legend? It’s the word “false.”
The opposite of “false” is “true.” Jn. 8:31-32 – To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Human beings have always been gullible and quick to both believe and spread false stories that they have heard told by other people. Even when there are websites dedicated to debunking these false stories, they continue to flourish and spread. Even though conscientious people inform others concerning the difference between fact and fiction in these stories, people continue to pass them on to others.
There are beliefs that are true. They are trustworthy and accurate. There are beliefs, though, that are false. They are deceitful and untrustworthy.
I’m calling todays message “Mythology 101.” In college, introductory courses are marked by the designation number of 101. My goal today is to acquaint you with some introductory information that will help you navigate these spiritual myths.
Flawed Assumptions
It isn’t a breaking news story that smart people can do some pretty dumb things. But it’s also important for us to understand that smart people can also believe some pretty dumb things.
What would lead a military genius like Napoleon to believe his troops would not be severely affected by a harsh Russian winter? Yes, they were well-trained and well-equipped but there was a major flaw in Napoleon’s strategy. He assumed his troops would not be impacted in a major way by the Russian winter.
Why would an otherwise brilliant leadership team at IBM put all their eggs in one basket and focus on computer mainframes while practically giving away the PC – the personal computer – and its operating system to a young programmer named Bill Gates?
These mind-boggling decisions (and many more besides) were made by people far smarter than us. But in hindsight, they all look idiotic. So what happened? What caused smart people to make dumb decisions?
In each case, an otherwise intelligent person badly misinterpreted the facts, made an incorrect assumption, or relied upon information that we now know to be completely false. Their assumptions were flawed and the consequences were disastrous.
Sometimes they were confused by cultural bias (which at times can be so strong that it literally blinds us to the truth). In other cases, their underlying assumptions were so widely believed and accepted that no one thought to question those assumptions. Sometimes these people were done in by a bad case of wishful thinking. But whatever the cause, they weren’t alone.
History is full of examples of otherwise intelligent people who acted upon amazingly goofy assumptions. And they paid a high price for doing so. Flawed assumptions lead to wrong conclusions.
The warning for us is that as Christians, we aren’t immune to faulty assumptions. Even a highly moral, deeply sincere, smart Christian has no guarantee of protection from the consequences of a bad decision based on flawed assumptions.
If you were to put this idea into a mathematical formula, it would look something like this:
The wisdom of Solomon + inaccurate facts or faulty assumptions = a foolish decision. And that’s the reason for this sermon series.
Over my years in ministry, I’ve worked with countless people who made life-altering decisions based on what they perceived to be biblical principles. They discovered too late that what they thought was biblical didn’t come from the Bible at all.
Most of the time, these folks were victims of a spiritual myth – a spiritual urban legend. You see, a spiritual urban legend is just like a secular urban legend. It’s a story, assumption, or saying that gets passed around as fact. Most of the time the source of the erroneous information is a friend or a Sunday-school class or a Bible study, a book, and sometimes even a sermon.
Because these spiritual myths, these spiritual urban legends, sound so plausible and come from what seems to be a reputable source, they are often accepted without question and then quickly passed on to others. Once they are widely disseminated, they tend to take on a life of their own. And once they do, they almost become impossible to refute because “everyone” knows they’re true. And if you dare to question these spiritual myths, these spiritual urban legends, you get treated like you’re spiritually dull or lacking in faith.
There are some spiritual misconceptions that are not particularly devastating. For instance, if someone mistakenly believes that the Bible says that “God helps those who help themselves” or that “A penny saved is a penny earned” is scriptural instruction, it’s going to throw them off track a little bit but it will hardly destroy their faith.
But spiritual myths, spiritual urban legends aren’t just harmless misunderstandings. They are dangerous errors that will eventually bring heartache and disillusionment to anyone who trusts in them. The consequences are spiritually devastating.
Think about the disillusionment that sets in when someone writes off God for failing to keep a promise that He never made. Or the despair that follows someone who believes they’re making a step of faith but it turns out to be a leap onto thin ice. That’s why we need to do an exposé of some widely held but blatantly false spiritual myths.
How should we deal with these flawed assumptions? How do we counteract these spiritual myths? The answer is that we must evaluate everything according to what the Bible says.
Biblical Assertions
God’s Word is dependable. 2 Tim 3:16 – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
There is an old carpenter’s adage: “Measure twice, cut once.” It’s based on the observation that once you cut a board too short, it doesn’t matter how many more times you cut it because it will still be too short. And the same thing holds true for the spiritual principles upon which we base our life. Once we’ve made a decision or set a course of action, it’s usually too late to go back and start checking out the accuracy of our assumptions.
The Bible teaches us that we are not to just accept what sounds good, feels good, or looks good. The apostle John warns us in 1 Jn. 4:11 – Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
If flawed assumptions lead to wrong decisions that means those assumptions are false. The opposite of false is true. What the Bible teaches is true. Jesus, in his prayer to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, prayed for all of his followers in Jn. 17:17 – Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
What guidelines should we use to measure the accuracy of anything that we hear or read? Very clearly, we should measure everything according to what the Bible teaches.
A good example of this practice is found in Acts 17:10-12 – As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see
if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
The people in the synagogue at Berea were described as being “noble” in their character and behavior. Notice that they were eager to hear what Paul had to say. They were hungry for solid spiritual food. But they carefully investigated what they were taught. On a daily basis, they took time to thoroughly search through the scriptures and they did it to verify that what Paul was telling them squared with what was taught in the Bible.
Paul was an apostle – a divinely appointed missionary of Jesus Christ. In his lifetime, God would use him to write 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament. Was he offended at what these Bereans were doing with his teaching? Oh, no. Paul wasn’t upset that these people would dare compare his teaching with what the Bible said. In fact, we find that they are praised for their due diligence and used for an example for us to follow.
My encouragement for you today is to follow their example as we look at these spiritual myths, these spiritual urban legends, over the next several weeks. I think you’ll discover that they are not only false but also that each one flatly contradicts what the whole of the Bible teaches. And in many cases, you’ll find that these spiritual myths contradict what their so-called supporting verses or “proof texts” actually say.
Many of us have avoided the work of spending time in our Bibles. It takes some work to understand and apply Biblical truth. Sometimes it’s hard work to understand what the Bible has to say. That’s because we live in an age when information is spoon-fed to us. Critical reading has become passé – old-fashioned and out of date. We think that we have more important and interesting things to do.
Another problem is that the less we study the Bible, the harder it is to understand. Do some things that will help you as you study. Get a translation that you can understand. Invest in some Bible study and reference guides to help you along the way. Most importantly, spend time with other people in Bible study. Find a reputable teacher and sit under their guidance. Find some spiritually mature and doctrinally sound people with whom you can study. Prov. 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
False Appearances
When people search for gold, they usually come across its counterfeit – iron pyrite, better known as “fool’s gold.” Iron pyrite looks like gold and is easier to find. It glitters like gold and is usually found in the same area where there are gold deposits. People often confuse it with the real thing but are disappointed when they discover what they thought was real was actually fake.
Spiritual myths present false appearances. They seem to be accurate, they seem to be true, but they’re not. If they’re not true then they’re lies. Lies come from the devil. Jesus tells us about the devil in Jn. 8:44 – “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
False appearances lead to misplaced trust. Misplaced trust leads to wrong decisions. Wrong decisions lead to embarrassment. Embarrassment leads to a lack of faith. A lack of faith leads to spiritual death. Prov. 14:12 – There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
Some of you listening this morning are probably a little nervous about this series of messages concerning spiritual myths. A number of you are worried that I’m going to attack a belief to which you already subscribe; one that you may hold dear. And it could be that I will address some assumption that you think is correct but you will hear evidence to the contrary. Please be like the noble Bereans and eagerly listen to what is taught and then seriously search your Bible for what is really true.
Others are a little upset that I’ve used words like dumb and stupid. I know they are strong words. Whenever I’ve used these words before, I’ve been confronted either by hand-written notes and even face-to-face encounters about my use of these words. A lot of times, it’s a frazzled mom trying to get her children to stop using those very words because they use them to hurt or offend or rebel. They want me to use words that are kinder and gentler and more acceptable within the parameters of a play group.
But the simple fact is that those very words are necessary. They’re necessary in this context because these beliefs based on spiritual myths are not just false. They’re not just unfortunate. They’re not just a few degrees off. Beliefs based on spiritual myths are dangerous.
The Bible speaks about dumb or stupid behavior. It usually uses the word “fool” or “foolish.” In the book of Proverbs, foolish behavior is contrasted to wise behavior. Jesus tells a parable about two house-builders: one wise and the other foolish. In the New Testament, the words usually translated as “fool” or “foolish” have to do with lacking wisdom, knowledge and understanding, being dull or witless, or refusing to look at things in the right way.
But I want to make something very clear. Nothing in this series of messages is an attack on the people who believe these spiritual myths. Those who believe these things are not dumb but their assumptions and beliefs are. As I said earlier, sometimes smart people believe dumb things. Each one of the spiritual myths we will talk about is a bit like fool’s gold. It looks great at first glance, but once it is tested, it proves to be worthless. It has no real value.
My goal with this series of messages is to get you to evaluate the assumptions and principles on which you build your life. We need to throw away the clichés, the happy talk, and our cultural assumptions that just don’t fit with what the Bible actually says or with the way life really works. We need to spend serious time in our Bibles and live life according to that ultimate source of spiritual truth. My prayer is that this series of messages will help you to question everything you hear and test everything you believe against the actual teaching of the Bible.
Close
You are probably familiar with a purple dinosaur named Barney. Barney is loved by millions of small children. A number of years ago, Barney was in a dangerous situation. It happened while filming an episode of the Barney & Friends television show.
It seems that a cooling fan inside the 60-pound dinosaur suit short-circuited and started to smoke. The actor playing Barney quickly got out of the suit but suffered from smoke inhalation. He was taken to the hospital, treated, and released.
The story of the incident received wide play on news broadcasts. Many children were upset. Lots of parents called their local television stations to say that their children were afraid that Barney was burned, or worse, that he was a fake. A spokeswoman for the producers of the show said, “It can be really devastating to a 3-year-old. They love Barney and they think that something terrible has happened to him, or that he’s not real.”
Fantasies like Barney can bring a person good feelings. Fantasies found in spiritual myths can, too. But a fantasy is a fantasy, and sooner or later the truth comes out. Be sure that your trust is in the One who was the living embodiment of Truth – Jesus Christ. He said in Jn. 14:6 – “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
(This series freely adapted from Larry Osborne’s book:
Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe)
