Is it All Acceptable?
“But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” ~ 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (ESV)
Last week, while on vacation, I received an email from a dear friend sharing a link to a rant by Pastor Mark Driscoll. Yes, sometimes Pastor Driscoll gets a little excited, but he made a great point. What really hit me between the eyes (once again) is how often we don’t question things when it comes from Christian sources.
We believe that we are ‘safe’ when we read only Christian magazines, books or listen to Christian radio. Sometimes I am guilty of just taken the author/speaker/pastor by the word or think that it is ‘acceptable’ because it comes from another Christian. I really need to be more critical at times–weigh everything against His Word.
Paul was very clear in his letter to the Corinthians when he wrote:
“And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” ~ 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 (ESV)
Yikes! I have been listening exclusively to Christian radio over the past 10 years, read 99% Christian publications (except news), but I don’t think that I really have ever questioned anything or weight it against His Word at ALL times. One thing that my pastors always point out: ‘Don’t trust me, read His Word to see if I speak His Word’.
Sweet sisters, we are living in a very strange time, maybe Christ is near–I don’t know. One thing I do know though is that we can trust His Word–His Word is pure. Let us stay close to the Word so we know when someone is disguising themselves as an angel of light.
“Lord of Heaven and Earth. The times are uncertain. Many wars are going on, not only in the world, but also in the Christian community. Lord, we know that Your Word is truth and that we can trust You. Help us to stay close to You and Your Word–help us to see angels in disguise. In the precious name of Jesus ~ Amen.”
Blessings on your day and as always…
This is such an important thing for us to be reminded of. With the recent events among the “body of Christ” I think we all should be filling ourselves with the pure word of God.
Amen, the same goes for me as I write devotionals, weight everything I say to His word not mine. Great reminder.
Amen and amen. It is not all acceptable and I think there is such a thing as having too many resources, so much so that we spend time reading great material (hopefully) about the bible but not the bible itself. Thanks Iris.
Praising God for this entry of yours, Iris! Thank you!
We live in deceptive times. We depend too much on writers and pastors and speakers, instead of the pure Word of God. We’re letting them interpret the Word, instead of the Holy Spirit. So glad you’ve posted on this.
The Lord is calling me more into His Word, so I find it necessary to forsake all other authors right now. Being in the Word led me to feel utterly disappointed in Beth Moore’s new book, “Get Out of the Pit,” believe it or not. As wonderful a bible teacher as she is, I couldn’t even give that book to my sister. We just assume that everything a Christian writes is right. But too many authors are pandering to our flesh and giving us superficial coping strategies instead of leading us to Christ as our LIFE. I’ve stopped listening to Christian radio, reading Christian magazines, and relying on so-called Christian books to teach me about Christ. It’s making a HUGE difference in my heart and life. Besides, I don’t need to be entertained, I need truth. I need CHRIST.
Anyway, sorry to ramble, but this excellent post got me going:-) I’ll stop:-)
May the Lord bless all who write and read here. I’m blessed every time I drop by!
This is so true and something I have been really digging into the last few months. Checking everything and everyone against scripture. Sadly, I don’t think there are many very good sound teachers anymore – kinda given way to entertainment instead of teaching sound biblical truths. Getting the numbers up.
Always check me – everyone who reads – and please point out any errors!!!
this is was awesome Iris! Thanks!
A big amen to this.
RIGHT ON my friend.
i recently read the book, “velvet elvis” by rob bell. the back of that book says this: “We have to test everything. I thank God for anbody anywhere who is pointing people to the mysteries of God. But those people would all tell you to think long and hard about what they are saying and doing and creating. Test it. Probe it. Do that with this book. Don’t swallow it uncritically. Thank about it. Wrestle with it. Just because i’m a christian and I’m trying to articulate a christian world view doesn’t mean i’ve got it nailed. I;m contributing to the discussion. God has spoken and the rest is commentary, right?’
i loved the way he put it. and the way you have put it today. 🙂
So true, so true. You’ve really hit the nail on the head, Iris! We must even be very careful that the pet doctrines of our favorite denominations line up with the Word of God. We’re can be duped and tricked, but when we know how to identify the real thing (God’s Truth), it’s easy to spot the counterfeits.
What a wonderful exhortation! And you said it so much more gracefully than I would have bothered to. 😉
I had to weigh in. I live in an area populated with many national ministry headquarters so I get to see “behind the curtain at the Wizard of Oz’s castle”, so to speak. I’ve always shied away from soley Christian media in all forms because so much of it is hastily thrown together to support a certain point of view, or to sell a new book, or CD, etc. It’s high time Christians got smart, and got secure enough in their own faith to decern truth from fiction.
Thanks for the post!
I never thought about this before. I do read the Christian magazines, and radio, and it is like anything else. I do need to start examining what i read more thoroughly and see if it is what God wants be to know and read. Thanks for this eye opening article.
Wow Iris,
You really hit a cord. Thank you. I agree and also ask anyone to correct me if I am off base.
Reading the Bible everyday is more important than blogging, the news paper, television, radio, etc. Excellent post and I love reading the comments, they are excellent as well.