If you are like most people, the time spent checking your e-mail is often cluttered with deleting forwards from friends, family and complete strangers. The majority of those forwarded messages seem to be consumed with false doctrines, conspiracy theories and anti-biblical ideas that we should not believe nor pass on to our address list. Unfortunately, many people in our churches believe these ideas and pass them on to their friends. This problem is not with e-mail itself, but with the need for discernment in the lives of Christians.
It was a couple of weeks before the inauguration of Barack Obama as our 44th President when I received an e-mail asking my opinion about a specific e-mail she had received. This lady who sent the e-mail is a member of my church and a great Christian who is committed to the Lord and demonstrates a great deal of discernment. She was not claiming to believe it herself, but she mentioned that she knows people who do believe it and they had forwarded it to her. The e-mail claimed that some major national disaster would erupt before the inauguration causing Bush to remain in office and that Obama would not take office in January. The content of the e-mail was mixed with eschatological events (end times) and theories based upon a supposed heavenly visitation experience where this man (Scott Walkington) received this information from God. The full e-mail text is too long to print here but it can be read by clicking here.
After reviewing the e-mail, I could tell in a matter of 15 seconds that the e-mail was not creditable and certainly was not going to come to pass. I was tipped off to this by the obvious biblical contradictions and theological blunders that were present in the e-mail. I responded to my friend and church member by saying:
It sounds very entertaining, but unfortunately, I do not put much stock in such messages. You see, the person has proclaimed himself a prophet to send a message to us which is outside of the Word of God. God has already spoken to us – and it is through His Word. When He comes back – it will be like a thief in the night, in the twinkling of an eye – not expected through an internet / e-mail prophecy. So, I think this gentleman may have had too much onion with his cornbread the night before he sent this e-mail.
As we consider the situation in most churches today, the pews are overflowing with very shallow Christians who do not know their Bibles and therefore do not know how to spot false doctrine. The best way to spot false doctrine is to be an expert on the true biblical doctrines contained in Holy Scripture. Spiritual maturity combats false doctrine. Below are several ways that the local church can achieve spiritual discernment and combat the doctrines that often toss people around like a sailboat sitting upon an angry sea with powerful waves.
1. Through Pastoral Leadership: This is a must for spiritual discernment. If the people are going to grow and mature in their faith, they must have leaders who are committed to leading them to the truth and modeling such growth in their own lives. Shallow Christianity often built upon a foundation seeking larger numbers will not lead people to spiritual maturity. The overseers (elders / pastors) of the local congregation must be teaching saturating the mids of the people with the Word of God.
2. Through Doctrinal Maturity: Most people in the local churches do not know what they believe or why they believe it. Doctrinal maturity is a must for combating false doctrine. Claiming to hold to a set of beliefs because “Grandpa” always believed that way is not sufficient for the angry waves of false doctrine.
3. Expository Studies: At some level in the local church, there must be expositional studies (verse by verse teaching and preaching) taking place in order to truly understand what the Bible says. Simply jumping from Isaiah to Revelation and back to Malachi from week to week will not supply spiritual maturity. People need to know the Bible in order to combat the false doctrines that often show up in our e-mail boxes or during lunch break with our fellow co-workers.
4. Good Reading Material: There are many books today that are being sold in Christian book stores (Lifeway included) that are not spiritually uplifting nor biblically accurate. For instance, if you really want to know what the Bible says about life, you should avoid the Joel Osteen books and move toward more spiritually deep and accurate choices. However, the truth is – most people do not read and this presents a greater problem when it comes to spiritual sanctification, maturity and discernment. One thing to remember is that just because it is being sold in a reputable book store does not mean that it is something you should be digesting.
5. Good Website Choices: One of the greatest inventions in history is the internet. Undoubtedly a person can grow faster in biblical studies in our present day than ever before in history. The internet provides a wealth of knowledge at the click of a button. Many resources, commentaries, blogs, audio and video messages are available for absolutely no cost. This is wonderful for Christian growth, but it must be approached with great caution. It must be noted that a person can create a website in less than 2 minutes. With blogs and blogging software, the ability for anyone to publish their own ideas and information in form of words and video is available free and can be done in a matter of minutes. Therefore, just because it appears on the web does not mean it is accurate. A person should always consider the source when using information gathered from the web.
6. Scripture Memory: One of the greatest ways of internalizing Scripture and fully comprehending it is through Scripture memory. This discipline is directly connected to spiritual discernment. Adults and children should both practice this great discipline in order to experience spiritual growth. Click here to see more information regarding Scripture memory.
Recommended Book: I would highly recommend the book by Tim Challies titled, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. The book review from the DBG site can be viewed here and the book can be purchased here. In his book, Tim speaks about the lack of spiritual discernment and explains solutions to this great problem that plagues many Christians in our day.
Romans 12:2: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
The word, “prove” in the KJV is a word that means “discern.” We must be transformed and renewed through the Scriptures in order that we may discern what is good, acceptable and perfect in the eyes of God!
For the glory of God and the discernment of His Church!
Pastor Josh Buice
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5 Responses to “The Need for Discernment”
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How does a person grow doctrinaly when doctrine is being removed from the pulpit? I have actually heard a pastor say from the pulpit that your doctrine doesn’t matter. Would it be wrong to say if a church is full of shallow christains it’s probably because they have a shallow pastor? On the lifeway front. I was in there the other day and they had T.D Jakes books for sale. What’s up with that?
I am personally considering writing an open letter to Lifeway requesting other pastors and laypersons to sign on with me to request purity of doctrine in our Lifeway stores. We need sound doctrine supplied by the SBC entity – Lifeway.
II Timothy 4:3 “For there will come a time when they (people) will not endure sound doctrine…” We may have come to this point years ago, but it seems so real today. There are few churches that practice sound doctrine, in studying the book of Titus we see that Paul writes to Titus “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).
I will sign on with the letter to LIfeway. Josh, I appreciate your friendship, but most important, the value you put on the scriptures.
Bill,
If we feel doctrine is removed from the pulpit, we should note that it is a trend away from “doctrinal” or “topical” messages. If every sermon is an exposition alone, it leaves out systematic theology. Sometimes we need to preach topical messages on things like: The doctrine of the Bible. Doctrine of the family. (At least in California, they need to know what a family is Biblically). Doctrine of salvation. Since we talk a lot about exposition and topical teaching, I think the strength of the topical message is in the ara of Doctrine.
You know, the problem is bad topical preaching (as much a sin as bad exposition). Here’s a sermon I heard a few years ago, “What would Jesus say to Phil Jackson?” Huh? This was a serious message? Or, “”The Audacity of Faith.” How about: “Ark Amighty” with the note to pastors: “Uses “Evan Almighty” theme – GET SAVED, GET RIGHT, GET INTO CHURCH! How parents of today can construct an ark of protection for their household.” (by Grace Notes Minisry)
Anyway, rightly used the strength of the topical mssage IS Doctrine.
As I teach through Exodus, as with other books, I find myself joyfully dealing with the text at hand. It does not always lend itself to larger doctrinal issues because there just isn’t time! What that means is that when a doctrin is important to the text, we have to slow down even more to deal with it in context of theology.
Could Scott Walkington’s interpretation of his vision be the problem? Is it possible he actually experienced a glimpse into heaven and then made a mistake in attempting to interpret the meaning of the vision?