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ISMS that Poison the Soul
Escapism | Part 4
Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
May 18, 2025

Let’s face it. Life can be tough and sometimes the challenges we face seem unrelenting. More than anything we crave a little reprieve from the stress and losses we’re facing. So we escape. We distract ourselves. We do something that gets our mind off our current problem. Our distraction might be binge-watching a Netflix series, playing video games or even just scrolling through our phone – really just about anything other than facing the problem. But when does a harmless distraction become a harmful habit? How do you know when a little break from the stress has become a practiced way of avoiding reality? That’s what this message is all about and more importantly, how to be set free.

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Discussion Questions

1. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being very little and 10 being a lot), how much do you personally struggle with perfectionism? When you think back to the pressures of society and the influence of parents and other authority figures, what messages did you internalize that contributed to the problem of perfectionism?
2. What has perfectionism cost you professionally, physically, psychologically, relationally and spiritually? Can you think of any other ways your life has been adversely affected by perfectionism?
3. People with perfectionistic tendencies often struggle with forgiving themselves. Has this ever been an issue for you? What did you learn today that might be useful in the future as an alternative to beating yourself up over and over again?
4. What were some of the things that stood out most to you in today’s message? Any new learnings about perfectionism or yourself? How will you take what you learned today and incorporate it into your life?
5. Discuss the ideas of progress not perfection and the willingness to do things poorly.