She felt her church did not encourage Christians to ask tough questions. This church hadn' t intended to be dishonest, but by not talking about real issues of life, it gave an inaccurate impression. By what is said . In my early years as a believer, I felt many Christian testimonies gave an inflated view of Christian experience. I discovered the people giving testimonies often felt pressure to shore up what was, in many cases, a lackluster encounter with God.
Inflated testimonies encourage others to subtly lie, and they promote a dishonest church.
By what is promised . Churches can fall into promising too much. For example, some paint an idealistic view of the first-century church. When we talk about the glories of the early church, we fail to realize that the Epistles were written to churches that were not living out biblical principles. Not long ago a Christian musician gave a concert in our church.