In a recent episode of Takeaways with Kirk Cameron on TBN, author and Next Gen evangelism director Shane Pruitt sat down to expose a problem that has quietly crept into the modern church: Christian-sounding clichés that aren’t actually biblical.
“There’s a lot of, for a lack of a better term, cultural clichés that the church has really adopted into its faith, baptized them, made it a part of our vernacular—but they’re not biblically true,” Pruitt said.
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Pruitt pointed to well-known phrases like “follow your heart,” “believe in yourself” and “God won’t give you more than you can handle” as examples of feel-good advice that falls flat when life gets hard. “At first we’re like, ‘Oh, this is sweet, this is helpful, this makes me feel good.’ But after a while, you’re like, ‘That’s not really helpful at all.’ What I really need is the meat of God’s Word—that’s what’s going to sustain me,” he said.
Perhaps the most powerful moment came when Pruitt emphasized the danger of using self as a guide. “Often the biggest problem with self is self. If self is the problem, self can’t be the solution—we need someone outside of self. His name is Jesus,” he told Cameron.
For believers wondering how to tell the difference between their own desires and the leading of the Holy Spirit, Pruitt gave a clear answer: “The Word of God is the litmus test for everything.”
This conversation is a wake-up call to re-center our faith on Scripture, not sound bites. To hear the full interview and explore how to replace cultural lies with God’s truth, watch the full episode of Takeaways with Kirk Cameron featuring Shane Pruitt on TBN below.
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James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
