Religiously Transmitted Diseases

When a person crosses the threshold of faith, it is always wonderful. There is a truckload of freedom, energy and hope for the future. But we humans have a way of messing up whatever God gives us. He gave us Eden; we got thrown out. He gives us grace and forgiveness; we flip it into crushing legalism. I remember the hour I first believed. It was sweet. It was innocent. It was charged with life and hope. I don’t think God ever intended that to change. Yet for many it has.

Religiously Transmitted Diseases talks about why I think that is true. It talks about why people get tired in their faith. Why they lose energy. Why they lose their sense of purpose and get jammed with a sense of dread. At one time or another, every one of us has been infected with an RTD—a religiously transmitted disease. Debilitating beliefs and unchecked motives become like viruses to the human soul. These viral maladies always cause rich, vibrant faith to be replaced by a weak anemic kind more fit for the hospital than the church.
These diseases turn what God intended to be innocent and surprising into something sullied and tedious. The good news is RTDs can be cured.

There is always a way back to a healthy spirituality where we recapture the joy, passion, and hope of the hour we first believed.