There are three dangerous phrases that I often hear Christians say. These phrases are not innately harmful, but like a crack in the wall of a house, they often indicate a deeper problem.

“I like to think…”

This phrase almost always precedes an unsubstantiated theological claim. There are two things wrong with it. The first is that it is noncommittal, using “like to” rather than “do”, and “think” rather than “believe”. The second is that it is individual, carrying the implication that it’s personal, a theological equivalent of comfort food. Together, these two characteristics result in a proposition that can’t be corrected, even if it’s clearly wrong.

“It’s my guilty pleasure.”

This one depends heavily on context: usually people will say this jokingly, as in “Duran Duran is sort of a guilty pleasure of mine”. But Christians will often use this line to justify their enjoyment of things like R-rated sex comedies or profane music. I won’t say these types of things are inherently sinful for all people, but if it makes you feel guilty and you do it anyway, it is sin.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that each of us is allowed a limited number of free sinful habits as long as they aren’t too bad. How is this conforming to the image of Christ? We are supposed to kill all of that, not keep it as a pet.

“I can’t believe in a God who…”

This is the one I hear the most, and it’s also the most dangerous. Mark Driscoll, whom I respect and admire, had this to say about Jesus:

There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. In Revelation, Jesus is a prize fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up. (”7 Big Questions”, Relevant Magazine, issue 24)

This prompts the question: What if Jesus is not like that? What if he is a short, skinny guy with no athletic skills, and any one of us could beat him up? Would he be less worthy of our worship?

The problem with this is that it implies that I am the final authority on who God is. If he does not fit the image of who I want him to be, I will stop believing in him, and he will disappear to make way for a new God who is slightly different and much more favorable. But God is self-existent! He does not need my belief, and no matter what I believe about him, he remains the same. To choose to believe in God is to surrender myself to who he is, and to abandon any notion that I can decide who I want him to be.