For no other reason than that I don’t want to be cranky and unhappy, I try to go through life not getting too exasperated by annoying issues, but the other day, I snapped.

The path that Christ leads us on is much different than the one ambitious humans prod us to take. Expose, original oil painting by Steve Henderson, sold.

It was with extreme irritation that I read an “inspirational message” by the adult child of a well-known Christian Celebrity Figurehead. Like many adult children of famous people, this person has landed in a sweet spot, with books being published, speaking engagements filled, and a “ministry” corporation funded largely on the basis of the parent’s famous name and pocketbook.

It’s as if Christianity runs in the family, kind of like royal blood, or inherited money. (Am I sounding cranky and irritable? I’m feeling cranky and irritable.)

Back to the “inspirational message” which, in addition to being depressing by corroborating the misconception that God’s ways are so at variance with, and unsympathetic to, our deepest yearnings of the soul, it was also theologically “off,” stretching Scripture to the point that the verse must have pulled a tendon in the process.

Years ago — back in the days when I gathered most of my spiritual nourishment from church services and attendant activities — I wouldn’t have spotted the fallacy of the message, but subsequent time of reading the Bible, consistently each day, pays off in rich dividends: I’m familiar with more of what’s in the Book, and I notice when a sentence is being twisted and contorted.

It happens a lot, and as individual Christians, we simply must get to the point of trusting our intelligence and ability to reason, so that we know what we believe, and why. Otherwise, there are plenty of people out there who are not only are happy to tell us, but they’ll make money off of us while doing so.

Please read the rest of the story at my Commonsense Christianity column at BeliefNet, Why Do We Follow Celebrity Christians?