Myths: A Result of Being Normal

Being No-Longer-Common 101 Part 2

Myths: A Result of Being Normal

Now that we understand why we’re not calling this message “Christianity 101” or “Church 101” . Let’s dig a little deeper into Being No-Longer-Common 101. We need to start by showing you the myths. Then you will be able to understand the distinction we need to make.

Everyone knows what a myth is…right? A widely held but false belief or idea. We have all been influenced by myths–a commonly held belief that’s not true. That means we have beliefs that are handed to us that are the opposite of what’s true–lies. Here are a couple of questions I’d ask myself now that I know myths exist.

• Who is someone that may help form beliefs that are untrue? The answer is common, ordinary, normal, average people who we’ve come to trust. It could possibly be the person who last week you wrote down as the person you’re following.
• Why would someone I know and trust lead me down a path of believing what’s not true? Unfortunately, mostly it’s not intentional; it’s just what “normal” people do.

Let’s stop and take a breath for a minute. Remember we’re in class together taking our first course, Being No-Longer-Common 101. In order to demonstrate the need for this course, I need to show you how we’ve all been a victim of believing what’s just not true.

We need to eliminate the myths. Not knowing the truth opens us up to believing lies. Before we begin giving you examples, I don’t want to lose myself in the myth. I simply want to expose that what we’ve been taught may be a myth and therefore not true.
Here are 5 of my 10 examples of myths:

1. How many commandments are there? The mythical response is 10. Our 1st responses without thinking about it is ‘10’. However, some studies show that there are more than 600 recorded in the Bible. The 10 we know as the 10 commandments are the most popular–the ones Moses received directly from God, Himself. By the way, this all is without counting the more than 1000 commandments recorded in the New Testament. Some studies say that Jesus spoke 50 Himself. Remember, it’s not my goal to define or true-up the number of commandments, but rather expose the existence of myths we all fall prey to.
2. Are the 10 commandments the only sins? The mythical response is ‘yes’. As a society and even in our courts we make references to the 10 Commandments as the 10 rules that God judges us by. We had this concept passed down from generation to generation as the sins to stay clear of in order to be right with God and others. But are the 10 commandments the only sins? Of course not.
3. What was the 1st sin recorded and who sinned? The mythical response is Eve who sinned by eating an apple off the forbidden tree in the garden of Eden. What you might not have considered was this. Eating an apple from the tree of life isn’t listed as one of God’s commandments. Is eating such a fruit a sin today? Because Adam and Eve did this, why would this one act not be listed as the #1 and most detrimental commandment? Then, there’s the question of sin. What is sin and is not adhering to the commandments the same? If you would like more on this matter, you’ll have to leave a comment. See how at the end of today’s article.
4. How many children did Adam and Eve have? The mythical answer is 2, Cain and Abel. The Bible however gives an indication that they had a minimum of seven children. Three of the seven were specifically named.
5. How many disciples did Jesus have? Thank goodness we’re not asking the questions in person. When we delivered this message to a group just a few weeks ago, they stopped answering. I guess I would too, if the major principles of the Bible that I’d been taught were all false. The number of disciples? The mythical response Is 12. In Luke chapter 10, the script reveals that Jesus appointed at least another 70 disciples. Some manuscripts say 72. Myth? While counting the number of disciples Jesus had isn’t a matter of life or death or Heaven or Earth, it does make one wonder how many other myths exist for the topics that aren’t explicitly spelled out.

A lot of information to take in so let’s pause here. Next week, we will give the remaining of my five myths. Remember, we want you to see that being “common” has more of an impact on our lives than we ever realized. Fortunately for you, you’ve stopped the bleeding and have stepped out of common by following NoLongerCommon.com and living extraordinary lives.

The No-Longer-Common Action: Name a myth you’ve discovered and how it impacted you. Leave your response and comments on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

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