Vol. 39, No. 3 ✞       March 2008

     Roger Olson defines “folk Christianity” as a “badly distorted version of Christianity that thrives on cliches and slogans and resists reflection and examination” (Roger Olson, Questions to All Your Answers, Zondervan, 2007, 12). In Olson’s definition, “folk Christianity” is simply Christian belief that is poorly informed, marked by “sloppy Christian thinking,” and little, if any, solid biblical theology.

      Olson’s examples of this kind of uninformed theological and doctrinal belief include the popular idea God helps those who help themselves, that all sins are equal, and the idea God has a specific, “perfect” plan or blueprint for every person’s life. Many beliefs that could be classified under the heading of folk Christianity are quite popular, and often heard in otherwise evangelical churches

Infant Death and Angels

      For example, when an infant or young child dies, at the funeral a remark often heard is “God needed a new angel in heaven,” the implication being that God is responsible and young, innocent children become angels in heaven. The idea that human beings can become angels appears in many Hollywood movies, such as It’s a Wonderful Life, in which we are introduced to Clarence (played by Henry Travers), who had been a human being in this world, but who is in the process of “earning his wings” as an angel in the next life in heaven, based on his ‘success’ in handling George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart).

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      Although there is much to appreciate about It’s a Wonderful Life, especially the central motif of the difference one person can have in this world, there is much that could be debated about the underlying theology. For example, it is well known that director Frank Capra was concerned about the heaven scene, believing they should show as little as possible, because, Capra said, “my heaven wouldn’t be your heaven” (see It’s a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book by Stephen Cox, Cumberland House, 2003, 49). But concerning angels and humans, the fact is, angels are angels and humans are humans. They are two, distinct, separate orders of beings or creatures, both created by God. Humans do not become angels, although angels, on occasion, do take on human form to carry out their work for the Lord. Further, Jesus’ death on the cross is only applicable to fallen humans, not fallen angels. For such beings there is no hope of redemption.

      The text often cited for this folk belief is Luke 20:36, where Jesus said that in the resurrection believers will neither marry nor die, for we shall be “like the angels.” Notice, however, Jesus did not say we would be angels, only like the angels in the sense of not marrying and dying. The kingdom of heaven is also like a mustard seed, but it is not literally a mustard seed (Matt. 13:31).

      Also, in the context of a young child dying, it is sometimes said “God took him/her,” sometimes with the addition of the phrase above, “God needed a new angel, so He took him/her.” Angels and humans aside, the idea that God would do such a thing - take an innocent or young life - teaches a concept of God that is difficult for anyone to embrace, although some are comforted by the idea that such a death is God’s will. Many evangelical authors have worked to correct this thinking. For example, Robert Wise writes:

At the worst times, people tend to assure each other God wanted it all to happen. By Divine design and fore-thought, the pieces of the fatal puzzle were arranged to come together in a final tragedy. While we grieve, these words of counsel are supposed to reassure us. If we accept this explanation, everything is okay, because God designed the disaster. Now we should feel good about the problem. This standard easy answer floats in and out of many a funeral home. God gets all the credit...or blame (Robert Wise, When There Is No Miracle, Hearthstone, 1997, 129).

Wise says this easy answer trivializes God’s will. Parents and pastors explaining death to children often use Carolyn Nystrom’s What Happens When We Die? (Moody, 1999, 2003). Wise’s guidance is that we need to be honest and biblical in the answers and counsel we provide to others. “Dishonesty, particularly in God’s name, is a dead-end street” (Wise, 130).

Tithing = 10%

      Another very popular folk belief is the idea that Christians should tithe 10% of their household income. This issue, as well as other myths about money and stewardship, are addressed by Stephen McSwain in his book, The Giving Myths (Smyth & Helwys, 2007) under the heading “The Standard for Giving is the Tithe.” He begins the chapter by stating it is often said of the tithe that it is for believers “who are involved in a religious community” where the tithe (giving 10%) “is held up as the Scriptural standard for giving” (McSwain, 143). He continues:

Don’t believe it. It might have been a good standard, given that it appears to have served well the saints of old. Tithing is mentioned dozens of times in the Old Testament alone. It might even be a good goal to challenge people of faith to aspire to today, given the decline in annual revenues in many churches the last few years. But to teach that tithing is the standard to follow today rests on a faulty reading of the New Testament (McSwain, 143-144).

      Many readers will, no doubt, strongly disagree with McSwain’s assertion. McSwain goes on to observe that in the New Testament tithing is mentioned only twice: Luke 18:12 and Hebrews 7:5-9. The Luke 18 passage is the story of the rich young ruler, who tells Jesus he has tithed all his life. But Jesus is not impressed. Rather, the Lord tells the rich young ruler to give away everything he has, not just tithe. The passage in Hebrews 7 illustrates the Old Testament practice of tithing, in this case, related to Abraham, the Levites, and Melchizedek. But, as McSwain points out, here the writer is not developing a case for the practice of tithing, but for the priesthood of Jesus.

      So what does the New Testament actually teach about tithing? McSwain rightly observes:

No specific amount or percentage is outlined anywhere in the New Testament. What is taught is that we simply give in response to and in gratitude for the experience of God’s grace and God’s gifts to us.

...Paul said, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give...” (2 Cor. 9:7a). It is a decision of the heart. Nothing more, nothing less. And that makes it a personal, practical decision. No one is to dictate to any other what that amount should be. That keeps the whole matter squarely where it should be kept - between you, the receiver, and God, the giver (McSwain, 153).