Have we made Christianity too negative?

How would you answer this question?  Before you begin lecturing me about ignoring sin, let me say that I am not interested in explaining away sin, but instead wondering if we focus too much on it. I have been on a journey these last few months trying to understand why much of our belief about God or the Christian life focuses on the negative.  Is this what God's Word teaches?  I hope to be able to answer this question soon.

One book I am reading right now is called The Gospel of Yes by Mike Glenn.  As I was reading this week, several of his quotes from Chapter 2 spoke to my journey and questions I have been pondering.  Here are some of those quotes:

"One generation after another has been trapped in the habit of no."
 "But the no of God is also positive. Like the banks of a river, our given limits increase our power by focusing our potential."
"The Ten Commandments, those great "Thou shalt nots," are gifts of grace and mercy. God offers them to us as guardrails for a positive way to live-the best way to live."
"when your mind and heart are focused on the positive aspects of loving God and loving your neighbors, you won't allow a lot of space for the negativity of sin in your life."
"Yet, because most churches focus so much on sin, our lives as believers rarely focus on life, much less its fullness."
"If all you think about is not sinning, then sin takes center stage in your thinking."
"As long as our first thought is What do I need to avoid?, the guiding influence in our lives is sin, not Christ."
"If you live for the "yes" of Christ, the "no" of sin will gradually cease to be a major issue."
"Most of us don't know the "yes" of who we are; we only know what we are not. This is a sad way to live, a long way from the "yes" that God offers us in Jesus Christ."
"They have locked away any potential of engaging the world for a Kingdom purpose because they are afraid of what God will do if they fail."
"We have concluded that avoiding hell is more important than following Christ in any practical, daily, risky way."
I look forward to reading more of this book and searching the Scriptures to see if I personally have taken God and made Him more negative than He intends to be. I am interested in hearing your thoughts and look forward to growing in our faith together over 2013.

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