I just finished Larry Osborne’s book, “10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe.” This is a follow-up to his book “Spirituality for the Rest of Us” (which I read under the title “A Contrarian’s Guide to Knowing God”). “Spirituality for the Rest of Us” was better, but this sequel is well worth the cost. Anything to make you think about what you believe.
Both books take things we long-time Christians have grown-up believing, and asks, “Is that really true?” And then explain why it’s not true. We’re not talking about basic doctrines, such as the virgin birth, miracles, authority of the Bible, etc. Rather, here are the chapters in “10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe.” I asterisked my favorites.
1. Faith Can Fix Anything *
2. Forgiving Means Forgetting
3. A Godly Home Guarantees Godly Kids *
4. God has a Blueprint for My Life
5. Christians Shouldn’t Judge
6. Everything Happens for a Reason
7. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide
8. God Brings Good Luck
9. A Valley Means a Wrong Turn *
10. Dead People go to a Better Place *
Osborne describes these as spiritual urban legends. “They become almost impossible to refute because ‘everyone’ knows they’re true. Anyone who dares to question their veracity gets written off as spiritually dull, lacking in faith, or liberal.” My favorite chapters were: 3, 6, 8, and 9.
I consider myself an independent thinker, a person who typically questions what he hears. But as I read this book, I was kicking myself over the things I’ve NOT questioned, but just accepted because other Christians spout them. Accepted, because it’s ingrained into our Western Christian culture. This book won’t make you abandon your Christian beliefs. Rather, it’ll help bring you into closer alignment with what the Bible actually means. We should never be afraid of truth.
The Bereans didn’t just take Paul’s words as Gospel. They tested them, to see if they lined up with Scripture. Osborne’s books do the same for 21st Century Christians. He takes the glib sayings we throw around and investigates whether or not that’s what the Bible actually says.
