What I distrust in the church

Talking to hubby the other day about things in church that set off the little red warning lights. Talking universal church here, or the local ones within, not necessarily my church although it has not been immune to the flashing signals. It's usually a case of overemphasis on some area, and that in turn seems to underemphasize something else. I was thinking about it so much I neeeded to form a list just to get it out of my head.

1. Over emphasis on miraculous, under emphasis on mundane.
I distrust a need for miracles, a constant searching for them. Yes, miracles are in the Bible, but there seem to have been pretty darn few of them since those days. Is it really because we need to push more into God until they start pouring out again, or do we need to look for God's working in other, more everyday, ways? I suspect that constantly searching and yearning for miracles causes us to miss out on where God is working right here, right now, or where we could be bringing his kingdom to earth in very real and practical ways.

2. Over emphasis on what God will do for us, under emphasis on what we can do as God’s followers.
Definitely goes along with the miraculous. "More love, more power, more of you in my life." How about "More of me being willing to give up my own selfishness"? There's a sense that we're just waiting for God to do some kind of magic before we'll actually do something of worth for him. Until then, we'll worship and pray for miracles.

3. Over emphasis on the future, under emphasis on the present.
Revival's coming. God's going to really pour out himself on the next generation. Jesus will come and set everything right. There may be some truth in all of these. But an overemphasis on what is to come can lead to missing out on what is here and now, how God's kingdom can more fully come in the next 2 minutes, not just when something big happens (after we wait and pray) or when Jesus returns (if?).

4. Over emphasis on the unseen/spiritual, under emphasis on what is plainly before us/practical
Again, related to all of the above. There seem to be a lot of people who are more worried about "principalities" that they cannot see (and have really questionable theology around, IMO) than they have concern over the very real widows and orphans around us.

5. Disconnect with reality
I have heard and read teaching on healing, for example, where believers are supposed to claim to be healed because they really are healed once they pray for it but our physical reality has to come into line with the spiritual (see #4). I hope I don't need to point out how screwed up that has made a lot of people. Denial of what is plainly evident doesn't bring us closer to God, for he is a God of truth (reality).

6. Lack of critical thinking
I heard a pastor once talk about how his daughter refused to say hi to a hairdresser and told her dad she was shy. He spanked her, made her say hello, and then formed this all into a great spiritual lesson of how the devil speaks lies to us (because where does a 4 year old get the idea that she is shy?) and how we need to come against them. he didn't seem able to come up with any explanation other than "It's the devil." On another ocassion his wife dismissed knowledge of children's development by saying, "I don't pay any attention to that stuff, I just do what the Bible says." 'Nuf said.

7. An inappropriate certainty
Certainty about demons and other unseen things, certainty about when Christ is coming back (soon), certainty about what God is speaking (and yet seems to say totally contradictory things to different people). Certainty about what is not blatantly evident seems to reveal more of #6.