Avoiding Toxic Positivity

I have been around the block, so to speak, spiritually.

I have been to many churches and learned many different things.

One church I went to was a Word of Faith church. I learned a lot there. I gained a huge appreciation for the Bible and became a Bible studier for life due to my time in the Word of Faith movement.

However, they had a tendency towards "Toxic Positivity".

With time, I have learned that the Word of Faith bunch are not the only ones that engage in it.

David Wang from his post 6 Ways Christians Can Become Trauma Informed said it like this.

"We focus so much on celebration, praise, and triumph—living from victory to victory.  And to be fair, these are certainly an important part of our faith.  But today (and especially here in America), I feel like it’s easy to equate being positive or being encouraging or being successful as being Christian. "

He goes on to say later:

"Because the impact and/or consequences of trauma are often long-term, this would imply that the stories and experiences of trauma survivors are similarly unchristian unless they immediately can give testimony to a perfectly happy ending. 

Friends, this is not what our faith teaches."

He mentions that grief and lamenting (as part of our faith experience) is well represented in the Psalms. As Christians, we must make room for them as part of our human experience.

Being trauma informed makes room for grief and lament.