Are we perverting God's word?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 23-25; Psalm 19

TO CHEW ON: "'And the oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more. For every man's word will be his oracle, for you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God.'" Jeremiah 23:36

In his diatribe against the false prophets of Judah, Jeremiah lays bare what these prophets are all about. He accuses them of being self-appointed (Jeremiah 23:21), of prophesying lies as they interpret any old dream as a message from God (Jeremiah 23:25), of putting their words in God's mouth (Jeremiah 23:31,32), of being a burden to God instead of speaking God's burden (oracle) (Jeremiah 23:33 especially clear in the Amplified), and of perverting God's words (Jeremiah 23:36). Let's look closely at that last.

The Bible is clear about how sacred God's word is and not to be treated flippantly.
- It is not to be added to or subtracted from (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:19).
- It is to be obeyed (Deuteronomy 12:32).
- How we observe it will have eternal consequences (Matthew 5:19).

But could we be guilty of perverting it as those Old Testament prophets were? I can think of several practices which might result in such perversion:

- Emphasizing or giving more weight to one section of the Bible over another. (An example: the Red Letter Movement.)

- Using Bible texts to prove a doctrine which isn't otherwise generally supported in scripture. (An example: Using 1 Corinthians 13:8 as a proof-text that the charismatic gifts, particularly the gift of tongues, have ceased.)

- Overlaying our Bible interpretation with systems of numbers, colours and symbols, making the plain narrative into a puzzle that only the initiated can decipher.

- Picking and choosing which parts of the Bible to obey.

Can you think of more?

I appreciate the five types of people T. Norton Sterrett suggests will properly interpret the Bible. Those with:

1. A new heart (1 Corinthians 2:14).
2. A hungry heart (1 Peter 2:2).
3. An obedient heart (Psalm 119:98-100).
4. A disciplined heart (in its persistence) (Matthew 7:7).
5. A teachable heart (Isaiah 50:4).
- T. Norton Sterrett, How To Understand Your Bible, p. 19-21, 1974 edition.

In today's atmosphere of "My truth is as good as yours," let's continue to let these attitudes guide our reading and following of the Bible.

PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, please be my Bible teacher (John 14:26; 16:13). Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 19

***********

The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Leaven alert

Yeast cells

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 16:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'" Matthew 16:6

We can't help but smile at the little comedy of misunderstanding near the beginning of today's reading. Jesus had just had an encounter with the unbelieving Pharisees and Sadducess where they goaded Him for a heavenly sign. His reply cut to the bone: "Hypocrites...a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign..."

Then He and the disciples got into a boat and crossed the Sea of Galilee. When they reached the other side, the disciples realized they had forgotten to bring bread.

Into that setting Jesus interjected, "'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'"

I can just see the wheels trying to turn in the disciples' heads: What does that have to do with anything? They tried, among themselves, to connect Jesus' statement with their present lack of bread.

But that wasn't the connection Jesus wanted them to make. So what was He talking about?

Not physical bread. His words in Matthew 16:8-11 show us that. Even the literal-minded disciples realized by the end of that conversation that Jesus was warning them not about some literal brand of leaven to avoid, but false doctrine.

It wasn't a specific teaching that Jesus was referring to either. Because the Pharisees and Sadducees beliefs contradicted each other. According to the study notes in my Bible:

"The Pharisees had a strong commitment to the Law as interpreted by 'the tradition of the elders.' They were strong ritualists and were legalistic.


The Sadducees came from leading social families and were rationalists and materialists. They rejected "the tradition of the elders" and denied the supernatural, including the possibility of a bodily resurrection. The Pharisees and Sadducees are best known for their mutual hostility" - J. Lyle Story, commentary on Matthew in the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1320.

Jesus was, it seems to me, warning them about the leaven of false doctrine of any kind.

Leaven or yeast, is a fungus that we add to bread dough. In the right conditions just a little grows in a matter of several hours to permeate a large lump of dough. Its presence is evident by the air bubbles that make the bread light and fluffy.

False doctrine is like that. Just a little imbalance or false teaching can quickly work its way through our whole teaching about God, resulting in aberrations as dissimilar as the cults and Christian liberalism.

How do we know when truth has been mixed with leaven? By getting familiar with teaching that is pure—that is, by immersing ourselves in the Bible. As we get to know its message from cover to cover, we will not be easily lured away by doctrines of a bloodless atonement, or angelic guides or any other leaven-permeated diversion from what Peter confessed later in the chapter: "You are the Christ the Son of the living God," or the simple gospel that Paul preached: "...Jesus Christ and Him crucified" 1 Corinthians 2:2.

PRAYER: Dear God, please sharpen my spiritual awareness so I will recognize the leaven of false teaching. Please guide me into truth by Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

MORE: Feast of the Confession of St. Peter

Today is the day the church celebrates the Confession of Saint Peter. It begins with this prayer:

Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, so that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Liturgy for this day

***********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

False hope

"Jesus Cleansing the Temple" - Artist unknown

(Jesus quotes Jeremiah 7:11 when He cleanses the temple - Matthew  21:13)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 7:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "Behold you trust in lying words that cannot profit." Jeremiah 7:8

In today's reading God tells Jeremiah to deliver an unpleasant message to the citizens of Jerusalem as they enter church ("the gate of the Lord's house" - Jeremiah 7:2). They apparently believed that they could live any way they liked and still be secure in Jerusalem because the temple was there. This belief, based on a 100-year-old prophecy of Isaiah, predicted that the Assyrian king Sennacherib would not take the city (Isaiah 37:6,7,29).*

Here God tells Jeremiah to set them straight. Unless they amend their ways, Jerusalem will fall like Shiloh—the original home of the ark and center of worship.

Amending their ways includes:

• Dealing justly with the fatherless and widows.

• Refraining from shedding innocent blood.

• Ending their flirtations with idols.

I wonder how much double-think, like the Israelites indulged in here, has crept into our worship and practice.

• Are we trusting in some religious routine, practice, or establishment to save us like these people were trusting in the presence of the temple (Jeremiah 7:4)?

• Are we habitually offending God's will and standards by ignoring those things close to His heart (here providing justice for the poor and unfortunate) while bowing down to idols (Jeremiah 7:5,6)?

• Do we separate our Sunday worship from our weekly lifestyle, doing things during the week that we'd be loath to acknowledge when we go to church on Sunday (Jeremiah 7:9,10)?

Perhaps we too need to seek out the "lying words" in which we've put our confidence and "amend (y)our ways and (y)our doings."

PRAYER: Dear God, I know the tendency of my heart to believe and live by the way of least resistance. Sometimes that means living by the 'truth' of the culture instead of the truth of Your Word. Help me to see areas of my life where I have put my trust in lying words and have false hope. Amen.

* Background information is from the commentary on Jeremiah by Roy Edmund Hayden, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 970.

***********

The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

False shepherd alert

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 23:1-22

TO CHEW ON: "'Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!' says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: 'You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,' says the Lord." Jeremiah 23:1-2

I have, in the last while, run into evidence that the problem Jeremiah had with false shepherds in his day continues in ours. Otherwise, how do you explain a Lutheran pastor who describes himself as a "vedic buddhist pagan," or a local church leader who, in his role as TV host-interviewer is more preoccupied with pointing out how Buddhism contains truth than explaining how it contradicts the Gospel?

In our time, when blending belief systems with a view to getting along with everyone is the trend, I guess it's not surprising. But the pervasiveness of such tainted teaching makes it all the more important to be able to tell who the false shepherds/teachers are. Jeremiah in this chapter names several lifestyle and teaching indicators:

1. They are profane (vs. 11). I can't help but think of the trend in parts of the church these days to use spiced up language even from the pulpit, supposedly to attract the unbeliever: "See, we can relate to you because we talk just like you do."

2. They prophesy by Baal (vs. 13), i.e. hey incorporate the teachings and authority of another 'god.'

3. They commit adultery and live like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah (vs. 14), i.e. their lifestyle is just as immoral as society's all around. 

Throughout the Bible false teachers / shepherds are mentioned often. Looking at those references gives us some more ways to spot them.

• Unfamiliar teaching. Jeremiah describers them as teaching something "new" and says they "speak a vision of their own heart" (Jeremiah 23:16). Paul warns Timothy about their "doctrines of demons," and their "profane and idle babbling" (1 Timothy 6:20).

• Human-centered. This may mean making up rules for people to follow, as the Scribes and Pharisees did (Mark 7:7). It could also include teaching human wisdom instead of Christ: "philosophy and empty deceit ...tradition of man according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8).

• New take on Jesus. False teachers often tinker with Jesus' identity. Paul warns the Corinthians about preachers who proclaim an unfamiliar Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4). Peter warns about teachers who deny the efficacy of Jesus' work on the cross (2 Peter 2:1). Some may even use Scripture itself to challenge Jesus' identity, like Satan did during Jesus' temptation (Matthew 4:6).

• No bad news. The false shepherds of Ezekiel's day avoided the bad and unpleasant, saying only things the people wanted to hear (Ezekiel 13:10).

• Divisive. Paul warned Titus about teachers who were divisive (Titus 3:10). Related to causing division is the desire to build one's own following (Acts 20:30).

• Hypocritical and immoral lifestyle. Jesus warned about teachers who lived lives of hypocrisy (Luke 12:1). Paul lumped heretical teachers in with those who practiced idolatry, sorcery and a lot of other things (Galatians 5:20).

The key thing in identifying false shepherds still always comes down to being familiar with God's word. When we know what it says, we'll be alert to someone who is trying to tell us something it doesn't say: "...holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict" (Titus 1:7-9).

PRAYER: Dear God, I want to live by truth. Help me to know and understand Your word so that I will be able to detect error. Amen.

MORE: Doctrinal defection

"What we see today in the moral collapse of the ministry is not the worst priestly failure. Far more devastating for the church long term is the doctrinal defection of thousands of pastors away from the authority and sufficiency of Scripture and away from biblical truth.

"The Curse of Priestly Failure" By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

(From the archives)

False!

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Peter 2:1-22

TO CHEW ON: "For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption." 2 Peter 2:18-19

In this diatribe against destructive doctrines Peter gives his readers some ways to identify false teachers. As we face the array of teachers and teachings available through the radio, TV, books and the internet we do well to be alert to these things in what we see, hear, and read.


Characteristics of false teachers and teachings that Peter names:

1. They can be "among us" - 2 Peter 2:1.
2. They are secretive.
3. Their destructive heresies deny Jesus in some way.
4. They are covetous - 2 Peter 2:3,14.
5. They are presumptuous and self-willed - 2 Peter 2:9.
6. They are disrespectful.
7. They mock what they don't understand - 2 Peter 2:12.
8. They celebrate their new beliefs - 2 Peter 2:13.
9. They are adulterous - 2 Peter 2:14.
10. They seek to entice others.
11. Their teachings promise a lot but deliver little - 2 Peter 2:17.
12. Their teachings and lifestyles are sensual - 2 Peter 2:18.
13. They promise liberty but are themselves slaves of sin - 2 Peter 2:19.

A sidebar article in my Bible poses six questions we can ask when we encounter spiritual teachings:

"Here is a test to determine if any revelation is true or false. Does it reinforce God's word and: 1] lead me to Christ and fill me with love for His church; 2] align itself with the clear and complete teachings of the Bible; 3] strengthen my faith and give me an honorable purpose in life; 4] turn me from wrongdoing, promoting righteousness and purity in my life; 5] find wide acceptance and affirmation by notable men and women of God; and 6] build up the body of Christ equipping believers for the work of ministry?" James W. Ryle - "False Prophets," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1776,7.

Faithfulness to God's word is the gold standard of teaching. Let's get to know it so we will not be deceived.


PRAYER: Dear God, help me to have a mind and heart that absorb and retain the truths of the Bible. Amen

MORE: Only 23 more sleeps till Christmas

Advent Calendar - December 2

Christmas Fact:
Advent calendars are thought to have been invented in Germany around the turn of the twentieth century. Many are double layers of cardboard with perforated windows which open onto the day’s surprise, perhaps a picture, trinket or piece of candy. In Germany, homemade Advent calendars were sometimes made in the shape of cardboard houses.

Writer Ann Voskamp's son Caleb and his siblings make a beautiful Advent wreath out of wood which also functions as a calender. The Cradle to Cross wreath can be used at Easter time too. Check out the Cradle to Cross Wreath here.

Whatever form they take, Advent calendars are a playful way to count the days between December 1st and 25th.


Open December 2

Fireproof

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 3:10-23

TO CHEW ON: "Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is." 1 Corinthians 3:12-13

Who of us hasn't seen video clips on the evening news of people sifting through the charred remains and ashes of their burned homes? Each time I am chilled by their, "This was all I had. My whole life was here. I lost it all."

That's the scene these verses from 1 Corinthians bring to mind. And I just know I don't want that to be me on "the Day" (of Jesus' return). I'm sure you feel the same way. So how do we avoid this? How do we leave a life-legacy that doesn't go up in flames?

As I view the rubble of the scene, I think of the warning Jesus gave:

"Don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" Matthew 6:20.

Expending our efforts on things that last beyond this life, pouring ourselves out for the well-being of peoples' souls instead of amassing physical stuff and building monuments to ourselves is certainly one aspect of this.

But it seems that Paul is talking about more. The implication is that these people are all busy in spiritual work, building on Jesus, the right foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11). We can conclude that even in that there is a right and wrong way to build, a way to build with lasting materials or flammable ones.

Read any book describing cults and you will, I think, be struck by how many start with Jesus. He is part of their foundation. But somewhere their leaders and/or followers have used other materials than the Word of God, or stressed one part of the Bible ignoring other parts, or compromised in their lifestyles necessitating rationalization with its accompanying potential for false teaching.

A footnote in my Bible says about these building materials:

"To build on the foundation a building of durable material (gold, silver, precious stones) is to teach sound doctrine and live a life of fidelity to the truth, thus leading converts to spiritual maturity. To build with perishable material (wood, hay, straw) is to provide inadequate or unsound teaching or to compromise the truth by demonstrating a lifestyle that contradicts or fails to model it" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1583.

So how do we make sure we "teach sound doctrine and live a life of fidelity to the truth"? I would submit it's by getting very familiar with the building supply depot — the Bible (all of it, not just the red-letter parts, or the gospels, or the epistles, or the Psalms...) and by giving the Holy Spirit permission to apply it to our lives, even when it wreaks a little havoc with our current building projects.

PRAYER: Dear God, I don't want to stand before You someday next to a pile of smoking rubble, having accomplished nothing that lasts. Help me live my life with today's warning in mind. Amen.

MORE: Learning about world religions

There are thousands of belief systems in the world, hundreds of which name Jesus as part of their foundation. One book that helps the layperson through this maze is James Beverley's Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions: A Comprehensive Introduction. A part of the book that makes it useful is Beverley's evaluation of how each belief systems relates to Christian orthodoxy. This book would be a valuable addition to any home library.

(My July 2009 review of Nelson's Illustrated Guild to Religions is here).