…But I’m Okay With MY Clichés

Recently I’ve heard several podcasts in which former Christians talk about why they left the faith. In some of them, the host and/or guest have laughed about Christian clichés and how shallow they are. Not as the main reason they left, but certainly as a contributing factor. But instead of going deeper, they’ve often traded clichés like "let go and let God" and "please pray for traveling mercies" for platitudes like "the universe wants you to be happy" and "not all who wander are lost." Several times I found myself hitting the pause button, staring at my phone and muttering something like “why would anyone leave shallow expressions of truth for shallow expressions of falsehood? Or even for shallow expressions of lesser truths?”

July 19, 2017

by Karl Vaters

There’s been a blog post circulating recently from someone claiming he left the Christian faith because he found the lyrics of one particular worship song to be trite.

Okay, fine. We do that. I’ve heard my share of Christian clichés and trite song lyrics, too. Both old and new.

But instead of going deeper, they’ve often traded clichés like “let go and let God” and “please pray for traveling mercies” for platitudes like “the universe wants you to be happy” and “not all who wander are lost.”

Several times I found myself hitting the pause button, staring at my phone and muttering something like “why would anyone leave shallow expressions of truth for shallow expressions of falsehood? Or even for shallow expressions of lesser truths?”

Author

Karl Vaters

Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.
He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.
Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast,The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context.
Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience. He and his wife, Shelley have three children and two grandkids.

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