DISCERNING SHEEP FROM GOATS AND WOLVES - IS IT AS EASY AS WE THINK?

Northeast Church of Christ, Cookeville, TN

 

        "Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him." Malachi 3:18, New King James Version

A couple of days ago, I read a story in an update from CBN about a foreign evangelist being deported from the U.S. He formed a group, the name of which intrigued me, sounding like one that takes a firm stand. I was ready to like his FB page, and support this brother who was unjustly treated by his native country.

However, I remembered what it said in Proverbs 18:17 - "The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him." Maybe this person is standing for the truth, and maybe he has false teaching. So I searched for other pages dealing with this individual and his group.

Fairly quickly I found a Facebook page focused on the false teaching. This meant one of two things: 

1. This "evangelist" was a false teacher, and the page was wisely warning against him, or 
2. The warning group were themselves false teachers, and they were trying to discredit a true minister.

So I looked at this page. If I scrolled down far enough, I may have found some doctrinal fallacy of this evangelist, but the posts I saw sounded more like, "I don't like this evangelist guy so he's a false teacher and if you're wise you'll take my word without checking me out." Sorry, but I did not sense a godly attitude in this "watchman."

Fortunately, as I looked down at other posts, I saw one by "Got Questions," which I find reliable in information and of a calm spirit instead of having an attitude. They pointed out what the implications of the group's name was, which basically means "The church got it wrong for centuries so I've arrived to straighten things out." They pointed out some of the theological thought of the group, one of which I considered a yellow light and the other was a red light. 

I've said for years that one of the biggest problems of the church is that we want to unite with those we should be divided from and divided from those we should be united with. True, I am an encourager at heart (I don't know if my reviews and interviews reflect that), but I also want to take a stand for truth. I'm aware that unity between believers is not necessarily uniformity, but I also want to take a firm stand for truth.

There are things that make me wary when I hear them. The "one true Church" mentality. Baptismal regeneration (meaning you need to be baptized by water to be saved), especially when coupled with a formula (e.g. "for the remission of sins" or "in the name of Jesus"). Claiming some of the apostles are false teachers (I've encountered people who blacklist either Paul or James). Biggest two? Denying Jesus is God come in the flesh and that our salvation isn't paid in full by Christ's sacrifice on the cross but that we need to earn through works (or obedience) salvation.

But God has not left us alone in trying to tell who's representing the truth and who's not. I believe there are three things that will help:

1. The Bible, where the plain sense meaning is trusted. If it is of God, it will agree with what's written in Scripture. Not just an isolated verse that might not even be a whole sentence, but passages in context and developed throughout Scripture. Experience may help, but it does not replace the written Word of God.
   
2. The indwelling Holy Spirit. He will guide you through Scripture and also help you stay on the right track. And if you're a believer, then the Spirit is indwelling you.
3. The local church. Yes, the local church is made of fallible humans. But if the pastor is regularly preaching Scripture, you'll learn what Biblical thinking is. Just as God did not leave us without His Spirit, He also has put us in communion with like-minded believers to  travel in the truth together, which is why we're commanded to stir up love and good works and not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, exhorting one another instead.