One day in the give and take of the usual office chatter among our staff, our Worship Pastor was making a point about truth and error regarding how people view other religions. He used the illustration of how government agents know the difference between authentic and counterfeit money. They do not study counterfeit money so much – but they do study everything about real money – how it looks, how it feels, how it smells. They become so familiar with authentic currency that a fake bill stands out like a sore thumb. And so it is for the child of God! We don’t need to study world religions nearly so much as we need to know the word of God.
How desperately the church today needs to immerse itself in the word of God so that it recognizes false teaching and steers clear of it. Though I am disturbed when I hear a member of the body of Christ adopting some unbiblical behavior, I am absolutely alarmed when I see and hear my brothers and sisters co-mingling the false with the truth. A half fake, half real dollar bill is considered all fake! And a biblical belief that is some portion Bible and some portion something else is altogether something else!
Most believers who read this will just say “AMEN” and move on. Yet, I hear statements like this nearly every day. “I know the Bible says something different, but I just got so much good out of it!” (it being something totally against scripture!) “Even if this doesn’t really portray what the scriptures say, it really makes us think!” When the books we read, the movies we see, the influencers we listen to do not line up with the word of God, then the books we read, the movies we see, and the influencers we listen to are false! Co-mingling the false with the true is not an advantage – it is a distinct disadvantage. The easier it is for us to take in the false, the easier it will be to purge ourselves from the rigors and demands of Holy Scripture.
If your husband / wife came home late one day from work, and told you that they saw a beautiful / handsome person of the opposite sex and just had to ask for their name and address and talk a bit over coffee, would you say that was good or bad? Nothing happened! Just an exchange of info – a friendly conversation – and some good coffee! Unless you have lost your mind, you would say that it was not only bad, but something of the marriage covenant had been violated. And even more dangerous is the inevitability of a moral fall coming soon down the road!
When we co-mingle false theology and false teaching with a wink and a nod into Christian doctrine, we have, according to the word of God, played the part of the spiritual harlot who goes whoring after other gods! Yep! God takes this stuff pretty seriously.
There are a lot of “pop-spiritual” books, movies, and teachers in our society. Some of our preachers are so riddled with falsehood that they sound like a mixture of proverbs and fortune cookies when they speak. How will the child of God know the difference between the authentic and the false? Psalm 119 says it best - By taking heed according to Your word. 10 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You! 12 Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes! 13 With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. 16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
Recent Comments