“History demonstrates how easily human “minds may be corrupted” (2 Corinthians 11:3) by cunning half-truths and distortions of the faith… people will continue looking for substitutes for God. Some look to other religions, the latest self-help craze or their own distorted concept of what they want God to be.” (Dynamis 12/4/2021, NIV Men's Devotional Bible)
“This happens when from an early age you form an idea of God as vengeful, and if you don’t fulfill His will then He’ll punish you. If you sin then He can punish you, He can send you a disease, maybe kill you on the highway, maybe set fire to your tires, maybe let your child get cancer, and so on…there are also clerics who cultivate such thinking in people. So if you’re brought up with ideas like this, you’ll form a distorted concept of God. How will you encounter the living and true God if He isn’t the way you imagine Him to be? It’s like you have the wrong address and phone number. You’ll never come to God, because you believe in a “God” who is quite unlike the real, living, and true God, Who loves you…Do you know how many people are tormented by such thoughts? Many people. These are very deep layers that aren’t so easily removed. It requires much work from the spiritual father for the soul to regain its balance.” (Fr. Charalampos Papadopoulos)
“I was nurtured on stories as a child that contrasted Christ’s “non-judging” (“Jesus, meek and mild”) with Christ the coming Judge (at His dread Second Coming). I was told that His second coming would be very unlike His first. There was a sense that Jesus, meek and mild, was something of a pretender, revealing His true and eternal character only later as the avenging Judge. This, of course, is both distortion and heresy. The judgment of God is revealed in Holy Week. The crucified Christ is the fullness of the revelation of God. There is no further revelation to be made known, no unveiling of a wrath to come. The crucified Christ is what the wrath of God looks like.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“…so many “distortions and caricatures” of genuine Christianity are obscuring the real thing. How can we expect our “younger generation” to be even slightly attracted to the current politicized, moralizing and, frankly, judgmental Christianity that is loudly proclaiming itself? Christianity is being used to support one’s political party or platform in order to bolster this or that party or platform with a kind of divine mandate or blessing, without taking into account the relative truths mingled with dubious truths in any party or platform today. There is a good deal of talk about God and Jesus, but there is no real theological depth or Christ-centered spirituality that lifts our minds and hearts above the mundane concerns of what essentially becomes an ideology.” (Fr. Steven Kostoff )
“People think of religion in many different ways today, but usually not in a way that requires our hearts to be broken. We typically want to avoid anything that keeps us from fulfilling our self-centered desires or even suggests that life is about anything greater than defining and serving ourselves however we please. Distortions of the way of Christ that attempt to make Him the servant of our preferences and agendas make people blind to the stark reality that taking up our crosses will inevitably break our hearts as we learn that the healing of our souls does not come through getting what we want or think we deserve.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
“Jesus realized the legal experts of His day had distorted the meaning of God’s Law. They had forgotten God’s mercy and grace toward human beings when He made provision for the Sabbath. For the sake of ultra-piety, they had become insensitive to the purpose of God and to the sufferings of humanity. I can identify with the legalists of Jesus’ day. I am comfortable with rules, and I am very capable of using them—either for my own benefit or as a club against others. I find it easier to live and judge others by the letter of the Law rather than by its spirit, which intends that I should treat other people with mercy and grace.” (Archpriest Steven John Belonick)
“Some people serve their distorted desires for fulfillment in money and possessions, like the rich fool in today’s gospel lesson. Others make false gods out of nationality, culture, race, or politics. Too many people today want to keep up “the dividing wall of hostility” so that they can indulge in the pleasure of condemning others as evil even as they imagine that they themselves embody all virtue. At a deep level, we all know that the passing distinctions between people and groups in this life extend no further than the grave. In order to protect ourselves from facing the anxiety fueled by basing our lives on such insubstantial realities, we like to convince ourselves that some worldly agenda manifests the ultimate good. It is no surprise, of course, that we tend to place ourselves on the right side of such divides.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
“One way we make sense of life’s circumstances is by the meanings we ascribe to what we encounter. The narratives we tell ourselves have enormous power because of the web of reciprocities linking the way we think with the way we feel, behave, and relate to others. The problem arises when we impose meanings onto our experiences that stem from distorted or incomplete views of reality. Sometimes the narratives we tell ourselves are rooted in defense mechanisms that keep us tethered to self-deception, self-justification, victimhood, or enabling behaviors.” (Robin Phillips)
“Many people want to see the real God. The truth is, the only God they are likely initially to see here on earth is the one they see in us as His living icons. Our behavior in the world either manifests the truth of God’s love or distorts it into something that does not resemble God at all.” (Father David L. Fontes, PsyD)
“If we don’t have real love in our hearts as a result of a life dedicated to a relationship with God as our highest priority, it is impossible to truly deal with our own sin and the sins of others. When we are filled with God’s love, recognition of our own sin moves us to heartfelt sadness and then repentance. Without God’s love, recognition of our sin can lead us to a form of distorted self-judgment. This is a manifestation of pride since we are playing judge with ourselves which is to usurp God’s position and authority. He alone is our judge. When we think like this instead of mercy and compassion, we tend to apply the same judgment to others when we recognize their sin.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
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