BEWARE
WHAT YOU BELIEVE
When
Jesus gave His warning to beware of false prophets, He told how they
could be identified by observing the "fruit" they bear.
There is no mistaking a plant when you recognize its fruit. False
teachers are no exception. To recognize them, you only need to
compare what they teach against the standard of God's word. But what
if you aren't very familiar with what the bible teaches? Those who
are young in the faith often find themselves vulnerable because they
have not become grounded in the teaching of the scriptures. "For
everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of
righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who
are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their
senses exercised to discern both good and evil." (Heb. 5:13-14)
In
Jesus' parable of the sower, you will recall that the seed that fell
on the stoney ground lacked the soil for the newly sprouting plant to
take root. "Some fell on stony places, where they did not have
much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth
of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because
they had no root they withered away." (Mt. 13:5-6) In
explaining this parable, Jesus said that "... he who received
the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and
immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but
endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises
because of the word, immediately he stumbles." (Mt. 13:20-21)
Herein is the danger of immaturity in being ungrounded in the
knowledge of God's word.
The
solution to the problem of spiritual vulnerability is study, study
and more study. When I say study, I don't mean commentaries,
religious periodicals, bulletins, tracts, etc. to the exclusion
of God's word. (And yes, I mean this article as well.) Keep in mind
that while those "helps" may be accurately "on the
mark," they are the writings of men who are fallible. Even
though such "helps" can be valuable in our quest for
greater understanding, there is the danger of accepting the teachings
of men without
"looking any farther."
It is too easy to be "intimidated" by those who display
bible knowledge and to just "assume" they must know what
they are talking about. Regardless of the fact that they may be
"well known", eloquent, noted as authors of many books,
etc. they are still fallible. It is true that Paul said we
should "...join in following my example, and note those who so
walk, as you have us for a pattern." (Phil. 3:17) Paul used
himself and his fellow-workers as an example
of the pattern that we should follow. In stating this, he was
encouraging his readers to "note" (or be observant of)
those who so "walk" and join in doing likewise. However,
it must be understood that Paul was not saying that they were perfect
or infallible in all of their behavior
and
therefore were the
standard by which we are to measure our own conduct. Paul confirmed
this when he referred to the incident regarding the apostle Peter
that occurred while they were at Antioch; "But when Peter had
come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because
he was to be blamed."
(Gal. 2:11) Peter knew
better than
to behave as he had on that occasion, because in rebuking him, Paul
said that "the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite
with him,
so that even Barnabas was carried away with their
hypocrisy."
(Gal. 2:13) Peter, and those who followed his poor example, were
acting
contrary to what they knew
to be right. That is hypocrisy. In spite of this poor example, it
took nothing away from the infallibility of the inspired message of
the gospel that they preached. In that same letter, Paul warned that
"even if we,
or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we
have preached to you, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:8) Here,
Paul makes it clear that the gospel
which
he and his fellow-workers had preached was the
standard,
and if he or his fellow-workers should come along later and teach
something different
they should be regarded as being "accursed." What we learn
from this is that while God's word is infallible and trustworthy, the
same cannot be said for men.
The
Bereans understood this, and displayed a healthy attitude in regard
to learning the truth. "These were more fairminded than those
in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness,
and
searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were
so."
(Acts 17:11) The interesting thing about this observation is that
these Bereans didn't take
for granted that
Paul and Silas were accurately teaching truth. After listening, they
went to
the standard of
God's word and "searched
the Scriptures," then they compared
it against what they had been taught. If they could see the need to
confirm what inspired
men were teaching, how much more so should we follow their good
example in confirming what uninspired
men teach?
Apollos
was "...an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures..."
who "...had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being
fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught
accurately the
things of the Lord, though
he knew only the baptism of John."
(Acts 18:24, 25) He lacked some important understanding of
scripture, so "when Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took
him aside and explained to him the way of God more
accurately."
(Acts 18:26) Apollos is an example of honesty and humility, who,
upon being "corrected," did not react with resentment, but
acknowledged his newfound truth and adopted it into his teaching.
But what about those who had been previously taught by Apollos? We
find that Paul encountered some disciples at Ephesus where Apollos
had previously preached before being taught more accurately. Upon
questioning these disciples, Paul realized that they too lacked the
same information that Apollos had lacked. So he taught them as
Aquila and Priscilla had taught Apollos, and the result was "when
they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."
(Acts 19:5) The moral? "...Teach a just
man,
and he will increase in learning." (Prov. 9:9)
-
Gary V. Womack - June 2003