Sometimes we are not the sharpest, nor brightest, “tools in the shed.” We know that we do some things that are wrong, that hurt others and we do it without even realizing the consequences of these actions. We don’t mean to hurt or offend, but we do.

Recently I have been reading a book entitled, "The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do," by Mark Atteberry. In it, he lists ten things that Christians do to hurt themselves, to hurt the church and to hurt God. I would hope that we would not do these things consciously, but sometimes we do them and play into Satan’s hands without realizing it. I would like to share with you some of these things over the next few weeks.

Picture, if you would, a beautiful bride. The bride has planned for and hoped for this day all of her life. All things are now ready—the time for her to be wed to her “Prince Charming” has come. Pictures are taken of the wedding party, and the couple is taken outside. It had rained the night before, and, as sometimes happens, mud puddles abound. Walking in a wedding gown is not the easiest thing to do in any circumstance, and the bride is trying to avoid the mud. But it happens, she trips on her dress and falls into a mud puddle. Her day is ruined. Mud covers the beautiful dress.

The Bible pictures the idea that one day, the bride (the church) will be wed to Christ (Rev. 19:7–8). The bridegroom (Christ) is ready; all things are ready—is the bride? We would hope so, but sadly, there are mud stains on her dress. Why? Some members of the church sling the mud on her! Isn’t that amazing?

Who would do such a thing? First, those who have gone AWOL. They have left the church, and they want to tell everyone why they have left her! Then, there are the malcontents—the ones who cannot see anything but themselves and what they want. They fuss, whine and complain because they aren’t getting their way. Unfortunately, there are the moochers who will not give one penny or sacrifice one hour for the good of the church, and they demand that everyone serve them, never realizing that the Savior teaches that we all are servants. Finally, there are the misbehavers who know how they should live, but when placed in certain situations act like anything except Christians. Each and every time these open their mouths or do things that are not becoming to the cross of Christ, they are slinging mud on the bride of Christ.

What can we do to stop doing this “dumb thing?”

We can go to the person with which we have a problem before we blab all of our problems to everyone.

We can look for good things to say about the bride of Christ—after all, it is the Lord’s church. When was the last time you BRAGGED about South Cobb? When we realize that for every idle word that we speak we will have to give an account thereof on the Day of Judgment (Matt. 12:35–37), we want to make sure that we say good things about the church. After all, how many of us would appreciate it if someone spoke of our beautiful bride in the way some speak of the Lord’s bride?

Think about these things! There will be more next week!