CORRODED CLICHES

 

When Mark Twain wrote about being as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, the phrase sparkled with originality. Repetition has reduced the one squeaky chair which remains until it poses no threat to even a roomful of cats.

Good writers self-edit their manuscripts in order to eliminate corroded clichés. Only poorly written Westerns still have cowboys who raise Cain, dodge bullets and bite the dust. The result becomes a long cattle drive of tired phrases presided over by thread-bare Wranglers.

Even our theology can become corroded by tired clichés. When a preacher spouts a familiar phrase and we react with an internal amen, it may cause us to quit thinking. He says “God is good—all the time” and the familiarity of that phrase turns off our mental filters so that we accept everything else he says without discernment.

Don’t let your theology be reduced to a printed T-shirt slogan.

God is good all the time doesn’t mean life is good all the time.

God is good all the time doesn’t prevent trouble from appearing.

God is good all the time won’t cure depression.

There is much more to know about God than His goodness. We would do well to self-edit our theology in order to eliminate corroded Christian clichés.