Harmony Community Church
Pastor Larry Spargimino, Ph.D.
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TOXIC FAITH
HCC-3
Guthrie, OK
When toxic waste is allowed to seep into a river, that river is poisoned. Fish die, the
water smells bad and right-minded people stay away. Unfortunately, toxic ideas often are
allowed to seep into the River of Life with pretty much the same disastrous results.
Toxic Faith – What is it? It is faith that brings self-righteousness and pride, restlessness and
despair. Not all faith saves and not all faith pleases God. Even the demons believe and tremble
(Jas. 2:19). Some “faith” is not that at all; it is mere head knowledge. Some have believed “in
vain,” i.e., “without fruit” (1Cor. 15:2). Some faith is even “dead faith” (Jas. 2:17).
The Four P’s of Toxic Faith –
Profit – The charlatan evangelist who gets rich by his preaching.
Power – The abusive religious figure who dominates others. This is the spirit of
antichrist.
Pleasure – The carnal religious figure, who justifies carnality on the basis of authority
and takes advantage of women and children.
Prestige – “I am the anointed one…My miracles are more miraculous than yours.”
Tragic Headlines Based on True Stories
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Bristol, TN: Baptist pastor and wife convicted in 2000 of abuse of a girl
they received from an orphanage.
Vinton, LA: Nude Pentecostals crash into a tree while fleeing Satan. They
pulled into a KOA campground in August of 1993 and claimed that the
contents of a large camper belonged to them. The owner strongly
protested.
Carlos Catalan, 49-year-old faith healer threatens children with hellfire if
they don’t have carnal relations.
These examples are extreme. Most do not practice their toxic faith in this way. That’s
why these stories make the headlines. It is the very nature of reporting that sells papers
to find the extremes. Yet these extremes highlight the four P’s of toxic faith and help us
to discern toxic faith. The extremes in seed form are everywhere.
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Manifestations of Toxic Faith
1. Compulsive religious activity. Those suffering from toxic faith have to impress God with
their religious sincerity. They also have to impress themselves, and others. Some
individuals are compulsive hand-washers. If they don’t wash repeatedly (even after just
washing their hands!) they are certain some horrible affliction will overtake them.
Compulsive religious activity is similar.
2. Impatience with others. “Why don’t you see how great I am?”
3. A following committed to a powerful leader – David Koresh, Jim Jones.
4. “Bulletproof faith,” the belief that if I have enough faith I will be protected from “bad
things” happening to me and my family.”
Why this message? Some of the teaching to which Christians are exposed produces toxic faith.
There can be healing from spiritual abuse created by the purveyors of falsehood in the name of
God. Quite often “religion” leads to unbelievable abuse.
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The manipulative religious leader: When life doesn’t work out as promised by some
evangelist, the believer blames himself or herself. Sometimes God is blamed and the
individual concludes: “God has let me down.”
False guilt: “If you were a better Christian your kids wouldn’t be in trouble with the law.”
Spiritual arrogance: “Look at those poor slobs; if they only obeyed God like I do they
would be better off.”
Losing God in the Scramble – Religious addiction leads to the creation of artificial rules and
standards. Though the addict claims their standards are rooted in Scripture, such an argument
can be made only on the basis of “twisted hermeneutics.” In place of God’s rules they
substitute rules that only promote the empire of religious addiction. Young believers are
strengthened in the rules rather than in a relationship with God. This is the substitution of
human wisdom for God’s truth. Colossians 2:22-23: “Such rules are mere human teaching
about things that are gone as soon as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they
require strong devotion, humility and severe bodily discipline. But they have no effect when it
comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts and desires” (NLT).
Characteristics of Biblical Faith
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Christ the Focus – Nothing in the Bible ever teaches us to pray, “Lord, make me more
like the Heavenly Father,” or “Lord, make me more like the Holy Spirit.” But there is
much in the Bible that tells us that Christ is our example. “For even hereunto were ye
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called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should
follow his steps” (1Pet. 2:21). We should love as He loved (Jn. 13:35), think as he thinks
(Phil. 2:5), and walk as he walked (1 Jn. 2:6). WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) is a good
question to ask when challenged by people and/or circumstances.
An Active Attitude of Servanthood – It’s the pagans who exercise “lordship” and
“authority,” but Jesus said, “I am among you as he that serveth” (Lk. 22:25, 27). It was
this spirit of domination that was causing problems in the churches of Galatia, so Paul
counseled, “by love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).
Respectful and Relational – Religious addicts abandon relationships claiming that God is
all that matters. The “I don’t need you” attitude can often be a clear indicator of pride.
But the more we love and honor God, the more we will love and honor others. A toxicfaith system sees everything in terms of “them” and “us.” Devotees of this system see
two groups. There is no middle ground. A toxic organization fosters the mentality that
everyone who is in the “them” group is a threat to Christianity. The “Us’s” usually flock
around a ritual or pet doctrine around which they cluster like moths around a bulb.
Religious addicts strive for conformity with the elite leader and the elite crowd formed by other
religious addicts. They often talk alike, dress alike, comb their hair alike, and express the same
likes and dislikes. God has created each of us in his own image. He does not want us to waste
our uniqueness in any way, or to depreciate that uniqueness. Those in the grip of toxic faith see
themselves as members of the group, not as individuals loved and cherished by God. Toxic-faith
thinking is marked by the absence of personal convictions and the acceptance of someone
else’s definition of what is right.
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God-reliant, rather than Self-Reliant – “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me (Phil. 4:13). Paul was not self-confident, but Christ-confident.
Growing – None of us has arrived yet, but we are getting closer. Christian maturity
doesn’t mean that we no longer have to grow.
Non-defensive – Those in the grips of toxic faith see their system as sacred. Every threat
to the system and their way of life is an attack on God (so they think), and such threats
must be stamped out. Those in a healthy faith walk with God refrain from defining all
aspects of truth, including personal minutia, for others. Satan knows he can’t destroy
the message of the cross so he tries to pervert it. To avoid sin’s tragedy, learn Satan’s
strategy.