Spiritual Blackmail: The fine art of sounding spiritual
to mask masterful manipulation.
1. “God told me.” Impossible to argue with that.
2. “I’ve prayed about it.” See number 1.
3. “I’m going to pray for you!” Said condescendingly.
(My retort: “Great! I need the prayers, you need the practice!”)
4. "God bless...everybody." How to tick off your prayer list in one fell swoop.
(And quite possibly, how to tick off God.)
5. "The Devil made me do it." No you chose to sin.
6. "Sow your seed faith." Prosperity preachers don't teach tithing, they sell investing.
Basically "give to get" theology.
7. "It must be God's will." Or, "If you just had enough faith!"
Even, "You must have some sin." Said to someone experiencing tragedy.
Trite cliches, while theologically feasible, often increase pain. Ask Job.
8. "We've never done it that way before." A familiar smokescreen in many churches
to avoid moving beyond the prized comfort zone.
9. "Why, we've got enough to do right here at home!" Said to deflect participation
in world mission (contrary to Scripture). Proponents usually aren't doing
either one.
10. "After all I've done for you, God." Uh...turn that around.
Spiritual Blackmail: don’t try this at home.