"The Great Set-Up"
These ideas and concepts have infiltrated the
church and have replaced a careful adherence to the Christianity of the Bible. With
these beliefs undergirding and infiltrating the thought patterns of most
Christians today, false teachings are slipping into the Church from many
different angles. Yes, there might be some truth in some of these ideas, but
taken as a whole, they have replaced orthodox Bible teaching and are allowing
"Another Gospel" to be taught. Understand that many false teachings are being taught in the worst
possible way: by people who don’t even realize what they’re doing; so their
sincerity makes critical analysis and discernment unlikely.
1. "God Offends the Mind to Reveal the Heart" This catch
phrase isn't in the Bible, and it makes Biblical confusion highly probable; it
can be a foundation for manipulation through false doctrine. If anybody
promotes discernment (which involves using the mind) they can be dismissed when
this catch phrase is used against them. God didn't give us a mind and then
expect us to stop using it. Ironically, when a false teacher says things like
this, he is using a type of thinking
to convince others to think a certain
way.
2. "Don't Have a Religious Spirit" This is a vague
concept that can allow deceit to stay in place. Want to refute someone who
demands doctrinal integrity? Accuse them of having a religious spirit. It's
much easier than searching the scriptures and seeking the truth. After
all, "God doesn't care about our doctrine, He cares about our heart."
That sounds really good, but it's not in the Bible-it’s just another catch
phrase. Doctrine is important! Doctrine tells us who God really is, and who we really
are.
3. "Don't Touch God's Anointed!" When false teachers can't
defend their beliefs in the clear teachings of the Bible, they use this partial
verse as a rebuke. It's taken completely
out of context from the Old Testament; and it refers to physically harming the
Israelite king or prophet. This has nothing to do with questioning bad
leadership or wrong teachings. It’s interesting
to note that cult leaders usually use some type of threat; it's the lowest form
of leadership.
4. "Get ready for a new and different thing-it won't be like the
old things!" "This is probably gonna make you uncomfortable!"
"Don't put God in a box-as soon as you think you've got Him figured out He
will do something unexpected!" This can be a way of spiritualizing false
teaching, demonizing discernment, and getting people off their guard. The Bible
makes it very clear that we are too hold fast to correct (and "old")
doctrine. But in the effort to gain followers, a false teacher can always
tickle the ears of those who get excited about being part of "something
new;" after all, most people don't want to be part of something old.
Instead of new versus old, we should be teaching what is true versus what
is false. Is it really true that God is always changing His methods and His
ways so He can keep surprising us? Yes, there will always be mystery involved in
our understanding of exactly who God is (on this side of heaven), but God isn't
like a magician or a leprechaun who constantly throws us for a loop to keep us
guessing; the Bible describes Him as wanting to be known and understood (and
obeyed). Being uncomfortable about a teaching doesn't indicate anything for
sure, it's just a feeling that is being caused by something; it might be
something good or it might be something bad.
5. "We only teach the Bible!" This is, perhaps, the easiest
way to teach a false doctrine. For most Christians, they will shut off all
discernment once they hear that sentence as a prelude to false doctrine. Plus,
a false teacher can just throw in some Bible verses wherever he wants-whether
they apply or not-and continue to promote all kinds of weird teaching. If a
pastor actually explains that we "should never proof text!" he might
be actually making it easier to continue proof texting; the key is to keep his
congregation comfortable and trusting.
6. "But
he's really famous (he/she has written books, has a huge church, has a TV show,
etc.), he must know what he's talking about." This exposes the painfully
common belief that "CONSENSUS EQUALS TRUTH." Few people would ever
admit to this ridiculous belief, but their behavior (and thinking) says
otherwise. Christians say that they believe the Bible, but what they really
believe is whatever their "guy" (local pastor, TV preacher, popular
author, etc.) says about the Bible. On top of that, many Christians don't even
believe what their local pastor teaches because he is constantly being
over-ridden by the surrounding culture. So we have millions of Christians
watching 10, 20 or even 30 hours of television per week, yet they just don't have time to read and study the Bible.
But when the latest Christian guru comes along with a new method of
"hearing from God" they drop everything to "learn the
secret;" all the while they've neglected God's Word-the actual words from
God. The situation should be seen as utterly absurd, yet since almost everyone
behaves and believes this way, it’s been normalized. As a result, false
teachers have free reign and an almost limitless customer base to promote
heresy and to enrich themselves.
7. "We should never live out of fear-fear only comes from the
Devil!" “He’s got a lot of anger-you can tell he’s not of God!” Of course
it's true that we are not supposed to live in fear and anger; but when a
discerning Christian tries to warn the church about a dangerous deception, a
false teacher can easily shut him down by saying something like: "he's
promoting fear-don't listen to him!" If a sheep discovers that his
shepherd is actually a wolf, a (temporary) sense of fear and/or anger would be
an appropriate response in order for him to leave and warn others. In
actuality, it is the cult member that goes through life like a zombie,
constantly thinking "positive thoughts" and refusing to wake up to
the deception that surrounds him. Warning a fellow Christian about false
teaching is not promoting fear-but, ironically, a false teacher has no problem
scaring his followers into compliance and threatening them if they question his
authority.
8. "Judge not, lest you be judged..." Whenever a false
teacher/prophet is exposed (because of heretical teaching, blatant sin,
corruption, prophesies that prove to be utterly false, etc.) they can usual get
their "ministry" up and running again with the misapplication of this
verse. Christians have been systematically programmed to ignore all scripture
about the accountability of leaders... because their leaders said so. So the
false teacher ends up judging his
theological critic who is supposedly guilty of judging.
9. Infrequent and obscure passages of scripture take precedence over the
clear and frequent passages. Spiritualized and overly allegorized Old
Testament passages are emphasized, while the clearly applicable teachings of
the New Testament are ignored. Examples: “The Latter Rain,” “The Elijah
Generation,” “The Bridal Paradigm,” “The Anointed Manifestation of the
Tabernacle of David with the Oil of Joel’s Army Beneath the Eagles Wings of the
Coming Presence…” This is a topic for another paper…
10. Man's thoughts, ideas and visions (“revelations”) are equated with
scripture. This is the Charismatic church’s gigantic and obvious problem; the
over-emphasis of new revelations. "God's Word is really good, but we need
to add something new to make it even better!"-Really? Again, this is a topic for a whole other paper…
11. "We only want to be positive!" The stereotypical
Bible-thumping, angry fundamentalist is the one thing nobody wants to be. In response, the average Christian will go
along with anything as long as it's seen as "positive." However, in
the Bible, we see "negative" things all over the place: it is not
always a "positive" book because it contains the truth that we need-not
just "feel good" sayings to placate our sin. We humans are often like
disobedient children who need correction from our Heavenly Father, who loves us
enough to tell us the truth.
12. "We're getting lots of resistance-we must be doing something
right! Satan wants to stop us, that's why people are so critical..." This
line of thinking is, at best, a 50/50 proposition; maybe it's true, but it's
just as possible that you're getting resistance because you're wrong and some people are trying to
correct you and stop the false teaching.
13. "Well, he just read some negative stuff on the Internet-they
can say anything on the Internet!" Like the previous point, this is, at
best, a 50/50 proposition. It could just as easily be said, “he just read that
stuff in a book-they can say anything in a book.” Do so few people realize that
there are no rules for what can be published in a book? Also, there’s a lot of
information that is only available
online; that's the nature of the world we live in. This goes back to #6, too,
because what people are really saying is: "it might be proven by lots of
information online (blogs, interviews with actual witnesses, doctrinal papers,
personal testimony, etc.) but it's not the consensus view (isn't supported by
large book publishers, Christian media companies, mega-churches, etc.), so I
don't believe it." We should be testing everything against the Word of God-no matter what anyone else says
(or doesn't say). It is also very important to understand that giant
"Christian" media companies are mostly owned by even larger
non-Christian media companies that only care about making lots of money. It is
very foolish to think that those companies are carefully checking the content of
what they sell.
14. “Look at all the fruit on his/her tree-they must be blessed by God!”
“With all the new people going to that church, you just know it’s of God!”
Fruit on the tree does not mean
“people coming to church.” Here’s the only thing that can be said for sure
about a church with thousands of people showing up on Sunday morning: the
pastor is being paid a large salary. Seriously, that’s it. Oh, and they also
have a good “worship team” (soft rock band). When Jesus told us to look at the
fruit of a teacher, He’s saying: compare the teaching and life of the teacher
to Jesus-it should “look” the same. Any
pastor teaching things that are contrary to Jesus is a false teacher-no matter
how many followers he has.
15. “But he does everything in the name of Jesus-he must be okay!” Think
about it; if Satan wanted to operate in the church, would he do it in his own
name? Does Satan show up at church in his bright red jumpsuit and give himself
away? Does any deception announce
itself ahead of time? Matthew 7:22 says:
“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your
name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many
miracles?’ And I will declare to them; I never knew you; depart from Me, you
who practice lawlessness.’” It should be assumed that a false teacher will use
the name of Jesus. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s
clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” is what Jesus says in Matthew 7:15.
16. "It can't be true, because I would've know about it
already" (or "somebody would have said something by now")-a knee
jerk reaction when first hearing about false doctrine. This is really saying
"I already know everything that needs to be known; if I get new and
different information that doesn't correspond to my currently held beliefs,
than it must be wrong. I refuse look into anything that threatens my
views." Jesus said to "watch out for wolves in sheep's clothing"-He
didn't say "Don't watch out for wolves in sheep's clothing, because
someone's already doing that for you, besides, you don't want to be too
critical..."
17. "He's making the Bible his idol!" I suppose it's possible
that someone could do that, but that would certainly be the exception. There
are no warnings in scripture about “getting into God’s Word too much.” The
Bible points us to Jesus, so we shouldn't fear becoming a "Bible
nut." Luke 24: 47 "then He said to them, 'these are the words which I
spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms
concerning Me.' And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend
the Scriptures. Then He said to them,'Thus it is written, and this it is
necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and
that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
18. Lastly, I want to point out the importance of correctly thinking for
yourself. Start with a question (or “hypothesis”), then diligently search the
scriptures, get the facts of the
matter, and then reach a conclusion.
Most people start with their conclusion, sift the facts around, take a few
Bible verses out-of-context and arrive exactly where they started. This is the
recipe for ignorance disguised as wisdom. There is freedom in letting God’s
Word teach you and guide you! When Jesus addressed the large crowd and said “watch
out for wolves in sheep’s clothing,” He was giving every person permission to check
any teaching against the Word of God.
On the contrary, if we blindly follow after the teachings of man (no matter how
nice and sincere they might be) we are getting set up for deception.
No comments:
Post a Comment