n the spirit of that great theologian, Jeff Foxworthy, I present to you some rambling thoughts in my head, all completed by the phrase “you might be misrepresenting God”…

• If your message is not filled with hope, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you tell people that they need to come to you to understand the message of scripture, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that “being real” means talking more about the wind and waves in your life than about the One who calms the storm, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that people who don’t attend a Sunday morning meeting are outside of God’s covering and protection, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that sickness, financial problems, hurricanes, broken bones, auto accidents, and terrorist attacks are all tools of God “to teach you something”, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that a person can’t live above their circumstances and walk in peace and victory, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that someone is not being real unless they tell you they’re struggling with some huge temptation, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that the only legitimate types of prayer for a Christian are prayers of lament, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you tell someone who is experiencing the peace and joy of the Lord to “hang on, your turn is coming”, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you believe that only “properly authorized leaders” are capable of serving communion or baptizing others, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you believe that Christianity is best represented by a set of propositional statements and/or a systematic theology, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If your message does not lead to freedom, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that the Father doesn’t speak to his children in various ways, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that America is “God’s chosen country” and that everything America’s foreign policy represents is ordained by God, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that the Republican party is “God’s party, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that religion and Christianity are compatible, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that you can only “cooperate” in ministry and missions with people who have been baptized by a pastor in your same denomination, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that true Christianity is only represented by a particular denomination or systematic theology, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If your belief in Christ does not manifest itself in living the life that Christ commanded us to live, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that you are more capable of articulating what someone else believes than that very person is capable of doing, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you believe that sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, freedom to the captives, and walking to the lame were only for first-century “verification of the message”, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that the only legitimate way to articulate one’s belief in God is found in a 4th-century statement, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that our main responsibility in relationship to God is to study the Bible, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that “everyone needs to have a pastor”, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you believe that leaving the institutional church is what the writer of Hebrews meant when he wrote, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together”, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that a relationship with God means that you will accept or reject certain styles of music, certain hairstyles, certain beverages, or hanging out with certain people, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you think that Jesus turned water into mere grape juice, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you believe that a particular translation of the bible is the only inspired version, you might be misrepresenting God.
• If you believe that one’s beliefs about baptism, bible translation, rapture timing, tongues, or a particular interpretation of Genesis 1-2 are absolute essentials to salvation and/or fellowship, you might be misrepresenting God.