Friday, February 10, 2017

Discernment - Truth Offends

There are many people wittingly or unwittingly bringing error and heresy into the church.
Some of them have conferences that people are encouraged to attend or stream into the church.
There are times when a lot of truth is taught, and yet a little poison can do much damage.
They can be men or women.

Christians need to be discerning, and we need to know the Scriptures to be able to examine what we hear to see - whether these things are so.
Sometimes some thing may sound wise or even Scriptural when you look at a verse or two, but then we still need to look at ALL of the Scriptures.
It is easy to be fooled, and some people teach in ambiguous terminology that can even confuse me as to their meaning.

There are some people who call people heretics when the people accused are teaching Biblical truth, so how do we know who is telling the truth?
We need to know essential Bible doctrines.

People can be at different levels of spiritual growth, so we should try to show grace to those who may truly be Christians while still warning of the error.
Even then, people may shun us or block us on social media.
It should be the truth that offends rather than our rudeness.
We need to remember that we did not always have as much Biblical knowledge as we might now, and we still have plenty of room for spiritual growth and Biblical study.

I'm concerned that some of my best online friends might shun me for often being unable to make it to church anymore (due to different health issues) ... and not having a local church that I feel I can join even for the times I do make it.
I get discouraged about these things, because I want to obey God.
I want to be able to go to church, and it makes me cry sometimes when I'm not feeling up to even going to any church.
When I do go, I have been struggling to even make it through the service.
I am blessed with streaming Biblical churches online, but it is hard to not have more.
I am blessed by online fellowship, since I'm unable to get much in person.
So, we need to be careful before making blanket statements about individuals.


Three articles on discernment that I recommend:

1.   Discernment: Spiritual Survival for a Church in Crisis  - GTY

2.   False Teachers & Deadly Doctrines - Tim Challies

3.   7 False Teachers In The Church Today - Tim Challies

"Satan’s greatest ambassadors are not pimps, politicians, or power-brokers, but pastors" .- Tim Challies

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