Thursday, August 9, 2018
Deceptive words
2 Peter 2:3
By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words;
It is truly surprising how often the first writing apostles referred to the challenge that false teachers pose to the church. It seems that, given its prevalence, they had to confront it in their time and to warn us about our time.
During the period of the rise of the denominations, it was a bit easier to track and determine what ministers would say. In my own denomination, the position is that anyone who senses a call to ministry or anyone who is being given the opportunity to speak regularly should get ministerial credentials. The idea behind that being they, through the preparation process, would be grounded in the doctrines that the church embraces and teaches.
Today, preachers and teachers come a dime a dozen, in churches, bottom houses, storefronts, on TV, Online, social media and so on, many without as much as a reference to a body of leaders who exercise some kind of authority over the minister. Anyone can blog, broadcast, publish without a filter of any kind. I am an example of that, I blog here every day and I am working on a book that is a collection of some of the daily pieces. And while I am under a denominational structure I doubt that anyone in authority is reading this stuff every day if at all.
If with the limited options that were available in the early church it was so ease for false teachers to creep into the church, we must conclude that it is so much easier now.
Many believers are subscribing to devotional material, daily messages, and to podcasts without being able to establish or verify the credentials or authenticity of the speaker, blogger, teacher, pastor, prophet, apostle or whatever other titles they choose.
We all know of the 1978 Jonestown mass suicide of the American Peoples Temple Cult in Guyana led by the cult leader Jim Jones. We are also well aware of the 1993 events in Waco Texas at the compound of the Branch Davidians who were led by David Koresh. These are both extreme cases, but the reality is that there is deception taking place every day on varying scales.
In fact, the apostle Peter, in his second letter, wrote that this phenomenon existed before Christianity, “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” 2 Peter 2:1
I was invited to speak and participate in discussions at an event recently. The numbers for working groups landed me at a table where young people, late teens and early twenties, were in the majority. The members of this group of teens, all from the same religious organisation, were very courageous, sharp-minded and articulate. They participated fully. I was very surprised. My surprise was based on the fact that, earlier, I had heard their leader speak. The positions that he represented as their core beliefs have no basis in the scriptures, but these same deep-thinking youth are convinced that they are following a Christian leader.
Words are the stock of deceptive teachers. Their words sound good and often make you feel good. Deceptive teachers hardly correct error. Their job is to always make you feel good. These days the prophets never have bad news or stern warnings, it is almost always a message of blessing and glad tidings.
There is also a story of a very well-known Caribbean minister who came to minister at the church I attended about seven or eight years ago. As I listened to him he was very thought-provoking and animated. The congregation was drinking it in with vociferous shouts of amen and applause as evidence. The man was, however, perpetuating a heresy. It was a disturbing display from a very well-respected man from a very well-respected church. Of course, by now you could imagine that money was involved.
I went to see my pastor the next day and complained about the falsehood on which the rest of the man’s sermon was based. My pastor said that he hadn’t heard what I claim to have heard. Fortunately, I bought the CD. We listened to it together. My pastor was shocked as we listened to the replay. My pastor was in no doubt that the man was in error, but he noted, correctly, that sometimes we drop our guard and things pass without us noticing immediately.
We have gone over this issue in many different ways recently, but please be patient, we’ll move on. However, innocent people are giving and supporting false teachers every day. Peter wrote, “And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” 2 Peter 2:2
The apostle Paul warned Timothy about people like that, writing that, “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” 2 Timothy 4:3,4.
False teachers bent on deception and people always itching for the new thing is a volatile combination. We each have a responsibility to be careful about which teachers we are listening to and must have a clear basis for making a judgement about supporting ministers far removed from us.
Also, read 2 Peter 2, the whole chapter, Peter didn’t mince words in tackling this issue and neither should we.
Think on these things:
- Do you listen to and support financially any ministers outside of your church or denomination?
- How do you determine which ministers and ministries outside of your church you would support?
- How does your church choose which speakers to invite and is there ever a discussion of the things visiting speakers might have said during the meetings?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today for the discernment required to determine that a minister is committed to sound doctrine before we give our attention and support.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
