Beware the "false teacher?" Is it me?

A few days ago, Tim Challies concluded a series he had done on false teachers and took the opportunity to sum up some of the seven key lessons he learned from that exercise (here). We must we know about such hucksters so we do not become duped or deluded about what God has said. After all, the cosmic collapse began when the charlatan of charlatans planted the catastrophic seed with, "Did God really say?"

As salient as Challies' article, it got me to wondering about those I declare false teachers saying the same thing about me. What better way to cause even greater confusion in the church than having the false teachers start shouting that folks who profess the things I profess are the false teachers.

Who's to say, right? Looking at Challies' warnings, might such be used against me?

As I noted, people who profess the same creed I do are common, right? Is that wrong? 

I don't announce myself to be a false teacher, either. As such, am I deceptive? 

Am I dangerous, too? Do I pick and choose my doctrines and ignore or subvert others? 

Am I a divisive force among the true church? Let us be clear in dividing light and darkness. Let us not divide light from light. 

Do I scratch the itch you have? Is that my desire?

Am I intentionally deceiving you?

Does the true message of Jesus Christ make me sick?

I ask none of this to subvert Challies' excellent points. Here's the deal: if we're trying to figure this out on our own, we're hosed. False teacher/good teacher cannot be discerned through argument. The only way to tell a counterfeit bill from a real bill is to compare the bill in hand to the real thing.

We compare to the word God has given us, the Bible.

God provided it to us. Where at one time nobody had their own Bible, today homes teem with copies of the Bible--pick your translation--and if they don't, every translation is available free online. Despite its ubiquity, the Bible is less read by Americans and by those in the Church than ever before. And lions prowl the streets seeking whom they may devour.

The only way for you or me to discern whether a teacher is rightly or wrongly preaching or teaching God's word is compare what they declare to the entirety of God's word, not just what they profess but what they deny or omit.

The Church in America and around the world will continue to be deceived to its destruction if they continue to whitewash or ignore the black and white of God's clear word (note the increased impotence of mainline denominations over the past fifty years).

That task is not to be shouldered by the pastor alone, though he shares the burden. Each member must be nourished by God's word every day. A believer who has no heart for the words of the Bible is like the athlete avoids the gym like a liberal avoids Limbaugh.

To discern the false teacher, I must know well the true Teacher. I must know well the words and voice of my God and King so when the song of the seductive siren begins, I'll recognize it in a moment and avoid the enticements found there (John 10:27).

If unrecognized, great will be my fall.

Worse than a lunatic

Now that 21 May has come and gone, I had hoped that Harold Camping and his ilk would retreat into shamed obscurity. Such is not the case. As with most movie sequels, he doesn't know when to quit. The sequel comes to a theater near you this October. Rather than slither into the shadows in repentant shame, Mr. Camping has kicked the can five months down the road stating in no uncertain terms that the end will come on October 21st.

I could mock him as Rick Reilly did. Or the Huffington Post did. Or Leno. Or Letterman. Or...or...or...Who hasn't mocked Mr. Camping? Who hasn't made him the butt of a joke?

But Mr. Camping is far worse than a cartoon, a buffoon, or a common loon. He's a heretic.

In a day when any knucklehead can start his own blog ("hey?!"), people opine with less forethought than Lady Gaga puts into her wardrobe, and the number of people who are speaking on behalf of God--on what he thinks, what he did, what he does, and what he will do--are legion. It's not just blogs. Every media web-site has their own religious opinionator. Even the Huffington Post added a Religion section. Movies teem with religious themes.

But for all of the talk on behalf of God, how many grasp the gravity of making such serious claims?

If I am going to speak on God's behalf, a) I must know what he's said, b) I must understand it within its given context, and c) I ought to understand how severe a matter it is for me to say, "Thus saith the Lord." Why do I need to be concerned about that?  Two very big reasons.

First, God doesn't take too kindly to folks saying he said something when in fact he said no such thing. That's why James warns

"Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness."  (James 3:1)

Paul goes so far as to suggest that those who preach a gospel other than that which the apostles have preached are accursed (Galatians 1:8-9), wishing later in his letter that such would castrate themselves (5:12, ouch).

God himself made it plain to Israel as he gave them the law that he would send prophets who were speaking directly for him. They would be correctors and encouragers. They would also tell the nation what would befall them should they continue on their present course. But here's the rub. Anyone can say, "Thus saith the Lord." Are we to believe every yokel that comes through the yeshiva? God thought of that and it's one of the reasons for prophecy.

"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams." (Deuteronomy 13:1-3)

Does it jive with what God has said? If so, great. God's word is confirmed as his through the prophet. If not--well, verse 5 goes on to make that one pretty plain.

"But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God...So you shall purge the evil from your midst."

So if someone were to proclaim something other than what God's word said in ancient Israel they were to be executed.  Is it a serious thing to say "thus saith the Lord" when in fact God did not saith?

Another aspect of prophecy was in the foretelling of future events. The Lord said

"...when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:22)

The same bad news awaited that guy.

"And the LORD said to me, '...the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.'" (Deuteronomy 18:17a, 20)

Do I advocate building a gallows for date-setters? Not at all. In context, we are not Israel. I share the Deuteronomy passages to indicate God's mind on this issue. Jesus Christ also spoke on leading others astray and the consequences for those not careful about their teaching.

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea." (Mark 9:42)

Teach someone and lead them astray and it would be better for you to be bound to an anchor sans scuba gear and pitched into the deep with no way to hoist the anchor. Serious? Hard to miss that picture especially for those around the Sea of Galilee where Jesus spoke and where many made their way fishing.

The second reason that we should be careful about speaking for Christ is a reason that Mr. Camping and company seem to have ignored or forgotten: you slander the name of Christ. Both Peter and Paul hit on this when they warned

"You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."" (Romans 2:23-24)

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep." (2 Peter 2:1-3)

Isn't that what's happening because of Mr. Camping? Peter goes on to describe the end times which will precede the return of Christ. He says that many will scoff saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation" (3:4). Are the Campings of the world part of the reason for the scoffing?

Here's the deal. Christ is coming back. He said so. His historical resurrection testifies to his claims. Despite what the date-setters set, Jesus said no man would know the date nor the hour (Matthew 24:36), though he did make clear we would know the season (Matthew 24:32-25). When those who speak for God speak amiss, they either do not understand what they are doing or they know that they are out of bounds. Either way, the consequences are dark.

The Lutheran Church is falling down

I grew up Lutheran. ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), in fact. While my understanding of God, man and all of life has become completely focused on what the Bible says, it breaks my heart to see the ELCA untether itself from its sure foundation to sail the tumultuous seas of man's whimsy.

On Friday, the leaders of the ELCA voted to allow practicing homosexuals to be pastors (here and here). I suspect a contract of contrition regarding the horrible treatment of Sodom and Gomorrah, oh, about 4000 years ago is soon to follow from these folks.

Said it before, I'll say it again, homosexuality is no greater and no lesser a sin than adultery or sex outside of marriage. The church cannot stand mute at best while the culture declares a two-husband, zero-wife family as normal. Culture might condone. Government might bless it. The church, anchored on the unchanging, infallible, and inerrant word of God must declare it what it is. It is sin.

Understand this, too. I don't expect non-Christians to act like Christians. I would argue that the behavior encouraged by the Bible in our relationships with one another and within society provide for the most healthy and vibrant societies. It doesn't surprise me at all that one who does not have a relationship with Jesus Christ lives an amoral lifestyle.

But when a group of people claims to be a Christian church and then they live their lives more in keeping with the nations that God destroyed and that the apostles condemned, then my hackles rise. Don't go all goofy on me either about interpretations and context. There's very little in the Bible about sexual conduct that requires the Rosetta Stone or even a pair of 3D glasses. The Bible makes plain that the church is to put out any who practice sin, any who live lives of unrepentant rebellion toward what God has said. That goes for sexual sin...of all kinds (porn, adultery, etc.).

So what's an ELCA church to do if they oppose this policy? What are church members to do if their church embraces this policy? The church should leave the denomination. As Martin Luther stood on the ground of the Bible, so too must the church today. If it means a splinter within the ELCA to create churches anchored in God's truth, that is a good thing! That is what has happened with the disintegrating Episcopal Church. The ELCA has rejected reformation, the hope of some conservative pastors. It's time to go.

What are members to do if this policy makes their church leadership all giddy? They must find another church. Speak out boldly with the Bible as your foundation that the church must not condone willful sin, especially in the pulpit. If the leadership and the rest of the congregation laughs in your face, you and God constitute a majority. There are God-honoring, Bible-teaching churches out there. It's time to find one.

Nearly 500 years ago, Luther shook the Church by his unwavering stance on God's word. Last weekend, the Lutheran Church shook their shriveling denomination by stepping off of God's word, and the walls are coming down.

(AP Photo by Dawn Villella)

Episcopalian pablum

At their annual meeting, the Episcopal Church (in America. The African Episcopal Church wants nothing to do with the American variety) has moved toward full recognition of homosexual marriage and the ordination of homosexual bishops (here).

This isn't surprising really. The same thing is going down in the Lutheran Church as well (how Martin Luther would shudder to see what's become of the denomination that donned his name). Why are formerly mainline denominations, denominations that are losing membership in droves, embracing as normal conduct that for centuries they rightly labeled sin?

Here's your challenge du jour. First, set aside what you think. Second, go to the Bible and see what it has to say about homosexual conduct. If it gives such behavior a pass, the Episcopal Church is good to go. If it labels such conduct as sin (i.e. rebellion against what God has made plain), then we get to the third part of the challenge. Does the Bible indicate that ordination and a warm embrace are what the church should offer those who practice sin or should the church take a different tack?

Before you label me a homophobe, this indictment would hold for any church that endorses any sinful conduct (gossip, gluttony, and girl-watching are three that come to mind that the church has been mostly silent on, too). But then, the Episcopal Church, et al, is not encouraging a big, wet kiss for those who gorge at the local Luby's.

The Church

Where should the Church stand on homosexual marriage?

What should the Church say about abortion and choice?

What should the Church say is the way someone can get to heaven?

What should the Church say about those who hold convictions opposed to the Bible?

Such questions as these led to Time's on-line article, "Will Gay Marriage Pit Church Against Church?" (here if you must). This is only an issue because so many churches in the 19th and 20th centuries diluted or neutered God's word to man, the Bible.

Principally speaking, the Bible is plain. The only proper sexual relationship occurs between a married man and woman. On topic two, human life is sacred because it was created in God's image, therefore the taking of innocent life constitutes murder. The Bible makes plain that Christ is the only way to secure a place in heaven for there is no other name under heaven by which man may be saved. And lastly, the Bible asserts that it is all the inspired and inerrant word of God and to teach or live contrary to what is written therein constitutes heresy or willful sin.

Those are not my opinions. These are what God declares in His recorded word. Contextually.

So here's the deal. If a religious organization asserts a position contrary to what the Bible makes plain, can it be called a church? The Bible makes plain that many will enter the scene spouting doctrine to scratch their itching ears but doctrine that runs contrary to what the Bible states. They will be wolves in sheep's clothing looking to devour and divide.

When I was a child, I heard about excommunication within the Catholic church. "How dare they!" I thought in my pubescent sensibilities. As I grew and studied the Bible, I learned that Jesus speaks about discipline within the church and that if one continues in an unrepentant state with regard to their sin, the church is to have nothing to do with that one (Matthew 18). Paul affirms the same point to the Corinthians church as they coddled a young man incestuously involved with his father's wife (1 Corinthians 5).

I am NOT saying that the Church is a home of perfect people. Hardly. It is the union of people who have been saved by and through the atoning work of Christ's sacrifice. It is of people indwelt by God the Holy Spirit to grow day by day in their obedience to God. It is of people who submit themselves to God and His word that they might become more and more Christlike.

Were the Bible merely a guide to gutting a deer or how to get up and down out of a sand trap, you'd get opinions and techniques as wide and diverse as the people wielding the knife or the wedge, but it's not. We conform to it. We don't conform it to ourselves.

As groups continue to reject what the Bible says, they cease to become churches. That's why when denominations like the Episcopalian Church condone the act of homosexuality and ordain its practitioners that churches within the denomination that hold to the teaching of the Bible splinter off and away from the denomination.

Church against church? Not so much. What we find happening is that groups are fighting against God Himself and what He has declared. You'll be hard pressed to come out on top of a battle like that.

Handling the Bible: A contrast

I have no doubt that in the next few days, we will learn who received Sarah Palin's first kiss and how many desks received her bubble gum in first grade. Considering Barack Obama's pastor received such media scrutiny, "it's only right" that Governor Palin's pastor, the Reverend Ed Kalnins, receive as deep an examination.

Do you know what they found? He believes that the world is going to face a horrible time and then Christ is going to come back to the earth (GASP)!

Folks don't get Christians because they don't get the Bible. David Gushee, a "Christian" ethicist at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia, said about Palin's biblical understanding of the Bible, "To me, it is highly relevant to someone who potentially has her hand on the nuclear button," he says. "If that is her worldview, I would want to know about that."

Oh, yeah! All of us who believe what it says in Revelation want to hasten Christ's return by nuking the world. Sarcasm aside, how is it that they always find the Christian ethicists who believe nothing of what the Bible says? And how is it that folks think your whacked when you expect God to fulfill the Revelation the same way that He fulfilled the rest of His prophecies (i.e. just like He says He will)?

On one side, the media thinks you're daft for holding to the word of God. On the other side of the ghastly coin, they love you to pieces of you say you're a Christian but disregard the majority of what is written.

The heretical head of the Episcopal Church in America, Katherine Jefforts Schori, received "sunshiney" treatment from the USA Today. While the Episcopal Church had been in tenuous straits for awhile as it drifted left in its ordination of women and views on abortion and marriage, Schori's eleveation to Presiding Bishop has begun a splintering of the denomination already in decline.

How heretical are her views?

She sees two strands of faith: One is "most concerned with atonement, that Jesus died for our sins and our most important task is to repent." But the other is "the more gracious strand," says the bishop who dresses like a sunrise.

It "is to talk about life, to claim the joy and the blessings for good that it offers, to look forward.

"God became human in order that we may become divine. That's our task."

You can mark my words that those churches that have separated themselves from the "bishop" will thrive (in the eyes of God).

Kalnins holds to the Bible and is seen as nutty as a jar of Jiff. Ms. Jefferts Schori does her best Eckhardt Tolle with God's word and is praised for her personalized vestments.

White has become black and black has become white.

Around the horn

Trolling the news web-sites today provided a heaping helping of discouragement. I'll not go into detail, but a great deal of stuff on prominent news web-sites exposed the gruesome debauchery that has become commonplace in our land and in the world.

And yet, despite the 104-degree temperatures, the beauty of the day could not be masked.

Here are a couple intriguing tidbits, stuff to get you considering the God who's not yielded His sovereignty:

• Who'd have thought that Chuck Norris could script some of the best what's-good-about-America commentary going? Here's a quote from today's column:

  When will we learn that just because we can say something doesn't mean that we should? Once again, we're confusing liberty for licentiousness. It is a classic example of what happens when a society leaves its moral absolutes: Everything becomes culturally relative, with each deciding what's right in his own eyes. Language is one more infected arena in America's societal degradation.

• Jay Nordlinger of National Review jots about random items in his semi-weekly "Impromptus" column. Today he included a bumper sticker seen by a subscriber. Yikes:

  "Faith...hope...Obama."
  

• These two articles were no kidding posted one after the other on Pravda's news site (and I quote):

"Moscow to turn into Europe's gay capital for Eurovision 2009"

"Islam to become Russia's predominant religion by 2050?" (If that's the case, I think Eurovision 2050 might a wee bit less tolerant.)

• The last item deflated my sails most of all. The US military is reviewing the "Don't ask/Don't tell" policy regarding homosexual conduct and military service. Considering what's been happening on the coasts, I don't suspect it's being reviewed to further tighten the current guidance.

Let's step out of this with a bit of hope:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God...Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?...For the foolishness of God is wiser than men...

1 Corinthians 1: 18, 20d, 25a

Photo from Botany.com