Wednesday
Mar102010
Test Your Teachers
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2Timothy 4:3-4
Paul’s warning about false teaching applies to any teaching, whether it comes from inside or outside the church. Those who cannot endure the sound teaching of Scripture—Paul taught Scripture to be the basis of sound teaching—will find teachers who justify their own view of the world, a view that allows them to follow the desires of a carnal heart.
The practice Paul speaks of is common today across a wide cross section of “believers”. There are prosperity preachers who will justify our greed, conspiracy theorist who will justify our paranoid bigotry, hedonist who will let us indulge every illicit pleasure, ascetics who bolster our pride in self-immolation, and zealots who feed our our political ambitions.
There are are religious “ministries” and secular programs that cater to every human whim, every human lust, any human weakness, any evil trait of humanity. And they will do it in the name of God. They will claim his authority while commanding the allegiance due to Christ alone.
In the preceding chapter of Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy, chapter three, he offers guidance for those in danger from those who are “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God”. He points Timothy to the Scriptures, to the inspired Word of God. He tells him this is the sure way of discerning false teaching from the true, the way to know the will of God, the way of life for those who would shape and control their desires with truth.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14-17
This counsel from the apostle will guard our own hearts and minds as we approach the consummation of God’s plan for our salvation. As God brings to a close the controversy between good and evil, as he fulfills his covenant promises with the restoration of man in his own image, along with the full re-creation of this earth, he would guide us and keep us through the final battle by counsel from his Word.
Every teaching, every value of life can safely be tested by a careful study of God’s word. We have a standard in the Word of God by which we can test every teacher and teaching. “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them”.(Isa 8:20 NKJ)
Listen carefully to those DVD’s and podcast you cherish. Keep the Scriptures with you during the sermon or lectures you attend. Weigh the teachings, the sentiments, even the methods against the teaching of Scripture and the example of Christ. This is the only safe way to discern the truth in a world so full of uncertainty and deception.
Perhaps an even better way would be to take a break from these cherished teachers and spend that time reading and meditating on the Word of God, not to sustain your views but to know God and do his will.
If men and women spent more time in Scripture and less time following their favorite teachers, they would find the greatest of all teachers, Jesus Christ, close to their hearts as they read his word and pray for his guidance. No other book, no DVD, no lecture or sermon can compare with the more direct communion open to us in the Word of God. If more time were spent meditating on the Word of God for ourselves we would have a greater confidence and peace, greater than any other teacher could give us.
Take time today to hear God speak to you personally in his Word. Test the spirits to know if they agree with the teaching of Christ. Know the Word and the truth will set you free. “And if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”.
