Do you remember the story of the scapegoat from the Old Testament? The sins of the people were pronounced upon a goat and it was driven away. You may point out that this practice has been done away with in the Christian faith, according to your understanding of redemption and atonement theology, but the word has still entered common vocabulary. Do you think this is no longer practiced? What about churches that pronounce all the evils of society upon atheists, Muslims, gays, or even those of different political opinions and ‘drive them away’ as those who are completely outside their group?

Are you joyful? Is this obvious to people around you? Children don’t have to be taught to express their joy. You can read it on their faces quite easily. In many cultures and churches the same expressions are discouraged in adults. Do you belong to one of these? Does this suppression enhance or diminish your life? Do you find the expression of joy by other people to be uplifting or embarrassing? Your response to this may make you self-conscious about expressing it yourself. Self-consciousness and suppression do not serve you well. Find a way that you can make a joyful noise to me!

Are there self-righteous people in the world? Are you one of them? How would you know? You may recall from my encounters in the Bible that those whom I considered to be self-righteous didn’t think they were. And so it is possible to have this problem and not be aware of it. The same Biblical accounts indicate that this is a serious matter worthy of investigation. How can you find out? You could ask your fellow believers to examine you, but they may be too close to be objective, since they may have the same log in their eye that you have in yours.

Have you noticed a big increase in the number of atheists recently? It appears to be a trend. How many atheists do you know that didn’t come from a strict religious background? How many atheists arrive at their position from an objective evaluation of first principles, and how many take it on as a reaction against spiritual abuse? It grieves me to see my church creating atheists. How should you approach them? Know that the wounds that they have received and the pain they experience are real.