In
his great book on preaching, Haddon Robinson tells the story of a Chinese boy
who wanted to learn about jade went to study with a talented old teacher. This
gentle man put a piece of the precious stone into his hand and told him to hold
it tight. Then he began to talk of philosophy, men, women, the sun and almost
everything under it. After an hour he took back the stone and sent the boy
home.
The
procedure was repeated for several weeks. The boy became frustrated. When would
he be told about the jade? He was too polite, however, to question the wisdom
of his venerable teacher. Then one day, when the old man put a stone into his
hands, the boy cried out instinctively, 'That's not jade!'"[1]
What
the boy learned from the wise man was the critical skill of discernment. His
method was tried and true—expose the student to the real article so that he
would become so familiar with it that it would be easy to quickly spot a fake.
In
the same way, if we become intimately familiar with the Scriptures then we can
develop the spiritual skill of discernment. The New Testament writers
admonished us to learn to discern truth from error.
In
1 John 4:1 we are told, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are
from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Paul echoes
this same command in 1 Thess. 5:20-21, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything and hold fast to what is
good.” Notice that in both these passages we are told to “test” the teachings
of pastors and authors, because not all that glitters is gold.
In
short, discernment is the intuitive ability to read between-the-lines and
perceive beyond what is being said. Discernment involves an insight that goes
beyond the obvious. Joe Stowell writes:
“Discernment
in Scripture is the skill that enables us to differentiate. It is the ability
to see issues clearly. We desperately need to cultivate this spiritual skill
that will enable us to know right from wrong. We must be prepared to
distinguish light from darkness, truth from error, best from better,
righteousness from unrighteousness, purity from defilement, and principles from
pragmatics.”[2]
Like
one of my seminary professors said, “Christians don’t get brownie points for
being stupid!” Evaluate what is being
taught by comparing it to the Scriptures.
Don’t be a gullible Christian that takes in everything just because it
has a Jesus-sticker slapped on it or because it’s on the Christian TV station
or because you got it out of the Christian bookstore.
Instead
imitate the believers at the church of Berea. Observe what Luke says about
their pattern of investigation when Paul and Silas rolled into their town and
started teaching, “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica;
they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to
see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
In other words, they just didn’t take Paul and Silas at their word, but
they did their own investigation and went back into the Old Testament to
confirm their doctrine.
In
the marketplace of spirituality there are numerous fakes, knockoffs and
counterfeits. It has been said that
Satan is not a creator, but a great imitator. For every one of God’s truths,
Satan has concocted ten counterfeits that look right, sound right and feel
right.
This
is why knowing true Biblical doctrine is so important. Many believers have left
the study of doctrine for the stuffy seminary professors in tweed jackets. However,
knowing the truth and becoming conversant in right doctrine is essential for
staying wise to the wiles of the Devil. As C.S. Lewis said, “God is no fonder
of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian,
I warn you—you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of
you, brains and all.”[3]
No comments:
Post a Comment