Breaking Free from Toxic Theology

WERE YOU TAUGHT YOU WILL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH?

I’m sure not everyone experienced this, but I did. And I know many of you have too.

not good enough but better cartoon by nakedpastor david hayward

Description: A woman is being stretched by ropes between the church saying she’ll never be good enough and the other church saying that she’s better than people outside the church.

We were taught that we would never be good enough. Ever! We were told that we were helpless sinners, depraved, and that our hearts were wicked, and that would never change.

But on the other hand we were taught that we were better than unbelievers and people outside the church.

Do you know why?

Because they prioritized belief over everything else.

It really didn’t matter how good you actually were. What mattered is that you had to believe the right things exactly.

And one of those right things to believe is that you are a depraved sinner… forever. But if you believed this at least you were better than people who didn’t…

“I’m the worst of sinners, but by believing this I’m better than you!”

I know a lot of people, including myself, who’ve gone through therapy to wrestle with horribly unhealthy self-image problems rooted in bad theology. 

Because I was taught to hate myself. 

Weren’t you?

But hating myself made me better than proud unbelievers.

Do you know what I’m talking about?

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