4 Red Flags to Filter What You Buy & Believe in Christian Circles
In a world where it is possible to profit from the Gospel, maintaining a healthy sense of awareness regarding the messages you receive is critical. Just because something is labeled Christian doesn’t mean it actually contains the values of Jesus and the kingdom he is building.
The four red flags below can help you filter the products, sermons and messages you encounter. This list is not exhaustive but can serve as a starting point to consider your own discernment process.
The problem is always you, and never the product, system or person.
If failure is only the result of your willpower or lack of self-discipline and never the product, something may be amiss. Self-discipline is an important factor in reaching your goals and in following Christ, but sometimes, a product, system or person can also create unrealistic standards that are impossible to sustain.
You see an ad for a miracle cure. It promises results. You try it, and your success doesn’t last. When you bought the product, you weren’t buying the item, you were investing money into the results it promised. You hoped it would bring about the results you need. Was it really you that failed or was the product or system just ineffective? Or did it set you up for an unsustainable routine? Be aware.
Hebrews 12:14 says, “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.” Jesus raised the standard for us when it comes to being holy, but he also established the way for us to be transformed. And he empowers us to live according to the fruit of the Spirit. When done in partnership with him, this transformation is sustainable over the long haul. And it is authentic and real. Japanese-American theologian, Kosuke Koyama, said:
“It goes on in the depth of our life, whether we notice or not, whether we are currently hit by storm or not, at three miles an hour. It is the speed we walk and therefore it is the speed the love of God walks.”
There may be products and people that convince you they can microwave your growth process. But God walks at a sustainable pace. He is not in a rush.
Someone says you need them (or a product, system, etc.) in order to get to Jesus or to experience God.
Jesus came so we would no longer need a mediator between us and God. As Hebrews 10:19–22 in the NLT says:
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
If someone is proposing that you need them to come to God—you don’t. Jesus made that clear when he came in embodied form and lived among humans, growing from infancy to 30 years old. He came to us, so we can also come to him freely. You don’t need anyone to mediate your relationship with Him. Jesus alone is your bridge. You can come directly to God with all of your concerns and cares, without any specific products, people, special prayers, etc. It is sometimes hard for us to accept that what Jesus did is truly enough for God to see us and hear us, and then respond. But it is true. It is enough.
It is based on a “secret” or “hidden knowledge” that only one person or a select few possess. You can’t reach it on your own.
Similarly, if someone is seeking to persuade you that only they have the knowledge you need to be healed, become free, grow closer to God, etc. be aware. Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:12–13:
“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.”
It is one thing to seek professional help. If you are sick, mentally or physically, there are things that only professionals know that can help you recover. If your marriage is crumbling, by all means, seek the assistance of a therapist. If you want to grow in your study skills for reading the Bible, find a class. If you want to grow in your boundaries, find someone mature to assist you. However, I doubt these professionals or individuals would consider their expertise “secret” or “hidden wisdom”.
As the verse above says, if you follow Christ, you have the help of the Holy Spirit, who is capable of guiding you in your walk with him. That doesn’t discount the need for teachers, universities, scholars and mentors, but as you grow in your relationship with God, you can trust him to guide you in understanding and applying his truth.
If someone is seeking to obtain your resources or energy by making themselves seem absolutely necessary for your growth, it’s not healthy. It can be appealing to be one of a few “enlightened” souls, but God is generous with wisdom, not stingy. Like James 1:5 says, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.” The people who seem to know God the most are simply the ones who dwell with him throughout the day-to-day happenings of their lives most consistently. Ultimately, God brings the grace to know him better. And God doesn’t have favorites.
You are guaranteed results — fast.
When it comes to a spirituality found in Jesus, you can never control the results. In his classic work on desert seasons, When the Well Runs Dry, Thomas H. Green notes:
[St. John of the Cross’] statement about God being absent when we want him and present when we don’t expect him seems frustratingly true…Places and situations which have been blessed by a deep encounter with him in the past now leave us empty, contrary to our expectations. Then on an ordinary day, in a most unexpected place, he suddenly returns. What is he doing? As Ignatius says, He is teaching us that He is Lord, and not we.
No one can control how God works. Thus, no one can guarantee spiritual results outside of God himself. If someone is telling you they can with certainty, bring healing or freedom with a specific formula or time table, stay alert. It is one thing to have faith, but another thing to say they have “enough faith” to control the outcome.
You may have experienced a season in which you continued seeking an answer or comfort from God without a clear response as the writer discusses above. And you may have received a response at a much later time in an unexpected way. This demonstrates that God operates on his own schedule.
The story of Lazarus's death in John 11 is a concrete example. Jesus heard his friend Lazarus was sick but “although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days,” (v. 5). He came only after Lazarus actually died. Even though Jesus knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, he responded with deep compassion and empathy upon his arrival:
When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept.
God responds on his own timetable, but his silence doesn’t equate to absence. He is a God of compassion and love, and also He doesn’t always respond when and how we hope. No one can guarantee spiritual results, and it is a red flag if they say they can.
