Be careful how much you admire or listen to others who claim to be someone. Be careful who you consider yourself to be a disciple of. Many teachers here in America are very wealthy, even by American standards, and this should be a tremendous concern in itself. How much money do you think your pastor makes? How much money does Norman Giesler or Beth Moore or John Eldridge make? How much do they give away? How much do they spend on comforts for themselves and their families? Does this mean they know nothing about Jesus Christ? Not necessarily. It just means they have a completely unnecessary temptation living with them everyday. An unnecessary temptation which may cause them to worship something other then God. (Matthew 19:24)
A Christian should only be a disciple of Jesus Christ and His teachings and the only source of truth is the bible. This means Calvin, the Apostle’s Creed, C.S. Lewis (one of my favorite authors), Jonathan Edwards (another favorite) and any of the above mentioned folks, can and will be wrong at times, no matter how strong or mature they appear to be. This is why we ought to read the Bible every day, multiple times preferably. This way we’ll be able to discern truth from opinion.
For instance, up until recently I simply believed what the Apostle’s Creed was biblical fact (see previous article ‘Did Jesus Descend into Hell?’. However, a friend recently challenged the validity of this teaching based on the lack of direct support found in scripture. This makes this supposed “truth” actually a doctrine of man. So up until one of my friends confronted me about this I had thought this was biblical truth.
This past Sunday morning, during a small group time, a topic was brought up which has concerned me ever since I heard it. Someone briefly discussed a teaching of Beth Moore which goes something like “we were created specifically for this time” and “we are more blessed now because we believe without seeing”. I admit I know almost nothing about Beth Moore. However, the fact that we were created for this time and elected prior to our births can be supported in Romans 9:10-12, among many other supporting verses. However, the scriptures Beth Moore references for her teaching (John 20:28-30) do not clearly support the belief that we have more faith, or are more blessed then the folks in the early church. If this is what Beth Moore teaches then I strongly disagree with her. We believe Jesus rose from the grave, but when was the last time any of us heard of someone, like Peter, raising someone from the dead (Acts 9)? Now that’s great faith!
If anything the opposite would be more true, especially here in the American church where we horde our wealth, love our material possessions, passionately protect our independence (even from God), arrogantly believe we own or are the keepers of the gospel for the world, arrogantly believe we know God and His truth, rarely take risks for Christ and continually look to flesh and blood for answers, much like the ancient Israelites who wanted a king other then God and received Saul (1 Samuel 8). However, what we need to do is very simple. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind and soul. Love thy neighbor as thyself. I will boldly tell you that any teaching which contradicts or takes away from these essential truths is a false doctrine. Mark 12:28-34 & Matthew 22:34-40.
A good Litmus test for truth:
Every doctrine must line up with the Word in order to be true; however, many people (as well as satan) have perverted scripture (Matthew 4:1-11). Along with reading the Word and praying another practice I use to discern God’s truth from man’s, is to answer the following question: Who is more glorified by a specific doctrine or interpretation, Jesus Christ or man? If man then it is false. If I’m made to feel above or better then anyone, alive or dead, then I’m hearing false doctrine. If pride swells in my heart from hearing a teaching, then it is false, as this feeling is not from God. If however, I’m brought to my knees in humbleness, desire to repent and confess my sins to Jesus Christ and glorify His name, then I’m made right with God.
If I misquoted or misunderstood this teaching by Beth Moore then please feel free to correct me.
2 comments:
Hey Bill,
Good post. Right on with the theological concepts. I don't really follow Beth Moore's stuff, but, from time to time, hear people complaining about some of it being unbiblical. You can look up most any public Christian figure these days and find websites of people examining their teachings and, in many cases, exposing them to be rather heretical. Still, I figure the more one talks, the more likely they are to mess up on something. I've found myself proclaiming things that I had to shake my head about later! This doesn't mean we should dismiss Beth Moore entirely. But, as you said Bill, we should have our Bibles open and keep an objective mindset. The more we study, the less prone we will be to erroneous teaching. We need to pray that the Spirit will lead us in the ways of wisdom and righteousness and keep us from error.
- Greg
ps - As far as the Jesus in Hell theory goes, I don't think there's enough evidence for me to really affirm OR deny it. S'pose I'll just be chalking that up under the "mystery" list.
Thanks Greg!
I'm also definitely not suggesting we dismiss Beth Moore, John Calvin John Piper, C.S. Lewis or any of the other Christian writers either. I just get a little frustrated/upset when people go on and on about these folks like they have inside information we don't. Like John Piper has God's ear and no one else. How can a sinner be great or good? Only God is good and great!
My point is most of these folks have good things to say and we ought to listen and pray about what they say. We just need to be careful we're sold out to Jesus and not a man, or woman. It just sometimes seems to me that we so often look for God in everyone or anything other then Jesus Christ. We want to touch the face of God. We want to grab His hand and we want Him to talk with us audibly. So when someone comes onto the Christian scene who seems to understand us, or someone we can relate to, we turn to them for the answers instead of the Holy Bible, instead of Jesus Christ. Jesus is almost a concept to us at times. I mean I can't touch Him, but I could touch John Piper or Beth Moore. This is where faith plays such a big part of our lives.
I would just encourage all my bros and sisters in Christ to listen to wise men and women, but don't forget the fact they are just as sinful as you are, no better, no worse, no matter how they seem. Don't look up to them. Look up to the author and perfector of our faith. The one who loves you unconditionally. The one who died on a cross to prove it. Jesus Christ is the one we should be disciples of and He's provided us with His Word to guide us. Even the most godly man or woman can only reference the Bible and perhaps elaborate on it's teaching. However, Jesus is the source and every "truth" needs to be measured against the Bible.
P.S.
Regarding the Jesus descending to Hell issue, I'm with you. There's really no conclusive information either way. You could make a case for either interpretation. The thing is I almost feel this is one of those Christian issues which is essentially irrelevant to our daily walks, and the glory of Jesus Christ in our lives. It's not useful as a witnessing tool and it doesn't concern my salvation, so what does it matter either way? Yet it's preached as a biblical truth and this is what concerns me most.
Teachers! Preach from the Bible!
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