WHY IS DISCERNMENT SO IMPORTANT?
Discernment is a subject I've written on before. These days, it's a trait that seems to be lacking in many Christians, and pastors don't seem to think it's very important to speak on because (a) they may think they'll bore their congregation, or (b) they don't practice discernment, either. This is concerning because one of the important duties of a pastor is to PROTECT the flock.
The book of Jude, along with other New Testament epistles, speak about false teachers. In verses 3-4 we read:
"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
Jude, Jesus' half-brother, was writing to either a Jewish Christian group or a mixture of Jewish and Gentile Christians. His original purpose for writing to this group was to speak about their "common salvation", but, unfortunately, false teachers had begun creeping into the church and was stirring up confusion among the believers there. It was common for the Judaizers to come into a church after the apostles had left to start spreading their false doctrine. Whether or not this is the case in this situation doesn't matter. What matters is that someone "crept in" unnoticed and began perverting the gospel and denying Christ as Master and Lord.
Today many churches are sadly allowing teachings and doctrines to creep in that are biblically unsound. Also, they're allowing things into the church that, if someone does some basic research, are rooted in paganism. These are practices and doctrines that are dressed up in "Christian" garb, but underneath you'll find the "naked truth".
One example of this is the Enneagram. It's passed off as a "personality test" but when you go back to its roots, you'll find the Enneagram gets its influence from pagan religions (see this article and this article). The original creator of the diagram, G.I. Gurdjieff, used practices rooted in Buddhism and the two who added the "personality types" were influenced by "Christian" mysticism which is rooted in Eastern pagan religions.
Religious cults and those in Progressive Christianity are notorious for changing the meaning of religious terms and doctrinal teachings. When talking with people of other faiths or those in Progressive Christianity, they may say they agree with certain doctrinal statements of the Protestant Church, but if you ask them to clarify their beliefs, you'll find what they believe is totally off the rails of the biblical meaning.
Christians are to be on guard for these sneaky attacks on the church. But sadly, many are too concerned with ecumenical "unity" that they won't speak out against the errors of those whom they want to "play nice" with. Many say they don't want to come across as "mean", but you can oppose error without being a jerk about it. We have to do better at knowing Scripture. We have to be better at understanding what we believe and why we believe it. I think that is one of the reasons why many won't speak up - they don't have enough confidence in their knowledge of Scripture to be able to refute error.
The quote by C.H. Spurgeon featured in the image at the top of this article discloses the problem the mainstream church faces today. We don't know the difference between what's right and what's almost right. The devil doesn't come crashing through the front door of the church announcing his presence. He sneaks in and mixes much truth with a little bit of error. That error sounds biblical, but if we haven't immersed ourselves in sound biblical preaching and Bible study, we wouldn't know the difference.
Someone once asked how we can know the real from the false, and the analogy was given of a bank teller who has handled the real money for so long, that when a forgery is passed into their hands, they can tell the difference. We must spend time with the "real" so that when the "fake" presents itself, we'll know the difference.
The church in America has become lazy and apathetic, and those who speak out against false teachings/teachers are becoming the targets for "Christians" who accuse them of being "hateful" and "unloving". But the reality is, those "Christians" who don't speak out are "hateful" and "unloving" because they see no problem in letting people stay in error.
The book of Jude, along with other New Testament epistles, speak about false teachers. In verses 3-4 we read:
"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
Jude, Jesus' half-brother, was writing to either a Jewish Christian group or a mixture of Jewish and Gentile Christians. His original purpose for writing to this group was to speak about their "common salvation", but, unfortunately, false teachers had begun creeping into the church and was stirring up confusion among the believers there. It was common for the Judaizers to come into a church after the apostles had left to start spreading their false doctrine. Whether or not this is the case in this situation doesn't matter. What matters is that someone "crept in" unnoticed and began perverting the gospel and denying Christ as Master and Lord.
Today many churches are sadly allowing teachings and doctrines to creep in that are biblically unsound. Also, they're allowing things into the church that, if someone does some basic research, are rooted in paganism. These are practices and doctrines that are dressed up in "Christian" garb, but underneath you'll find the "naked truth".
One example of this is the Enneagram. It's passed off as a "personality test" but when you go back to its roots, you'll find the Enneagram gets its influence from pagan religions (see this article and this article). The original creator of the diagram, G.I. Gurdjieff, used practices rooted in Buddhism and the two who added the "personality types" were influenced by "Christian" mysticism which is rooted in Eastern pagan religions.
Religious cults and those in Progressive Christianity are notorious for changing the meaning of religious terms and doctrinal teachings. When talking with people of other faiths or those in Progressive Christianity, they may say they agree with certain doctrinal statements of the Protestant Church, but if you ask them to clarify their beliefs, you'll find what they believe is totally off the rails of the biblical meaning.
Christians are to be on guard for these sneaky attacks on the church. But sadly, many are too concerned with ecumenical "unity" that they won't speak out against the errors of those whom they want to "play nice" with. Many say they don't want to come across as "mean", but you can oppose error without being a jerk about it. We have to do better at knowing Scripture. We have to be better at understanding what we believe and why we believe it. I think that is one of the reasons why many won't speak up - they don't have enough confidence in their knowledge of Scripture to be able to refute error.
The quote by C.H. Spurgeon featured in the image at the top of this article discloses the problem the mainstream church faces today. We don't know the difference between what's right and what's almost right. The devil doesn't come crashing through the front door of the church announcing his presence. He sneaks in and mixes much truth with a little bit of error. That error sounds biblical, but if we haven't immersed ourselves in sound biblical preaching and Bible study, we wouldn't know the difference.
Someone once asked how we can know the real from the false, and the analogy was given of a bank teller who has handled the real money for so long, that when a forgery is passed into their hands, they can tell the difference. We must spend time with the "real" so that when the "fake" presents itself, we'll know the difference.
The church in America has become lazy and apathetic, and those who speak out against false teachings/teachers are becoming the targets for "Christians" who accuse them of being "hateful" and "unloving". But the reality is, those "Christians" who don't speak out are "hateful" and "unloving" because they see no problem in letting people stay in error.
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