I have to admit to being
captivated by the writings of the Apostle Paul. In his letters he deals with
timeless issues which impact the church and the individual true believer. Spiritual discernment which is the skill of
separating divine truth from error is an important element in the Apostle’s
letters. Writing to the church at Thessalonika, he encourages the believers to,
‘examine everything carefully’ and this skill of spiritual discernment is as
important today as it was in the Apostle Paul’s time.
Many Christians find that
spiritual discernment is hard: they are constantly fighting their own sinful desires;
they are confused and confounded by an adversary whose primary tactics are doubt
and deception, and they are inundated with unholy influences from a corrupt
media.
Large parts of the so-called
‘Christian’ media broadcast via satellite from the USA has had a corrupting
influence on some areas of the church with its emphasis on the gospel of
prosperity. As on writer has said, ‘Christianity began as a personal relationship
with Jesus. When it went to Athens, it became philosophy. When it went to Rome
it became an organisation. When it went to Europe it became a culture. When it
came to America, it became a business’.
Individuals such as the late
Paul Crouch became fabulously wealthy through his ‘business’, the Trinity
Broadcasting Network. Crouch’s organisation appealed annually to Christians for
funds, promising that God would in turn bless the donors with wealth. Upwards
of $90 million dollars was donated annually, mainly by the poor and elderly,
much of which funded the ostentatiously tacky lifestyle of Paul and Jan Crouch.
Similar methods are employed
by Scotland’s newest independent evangelical church brand. Based in Glasgow,
and describing itself as a social enterprise, it has branches springing up
across the country.
Essentially based on
dubious experience and image, these churches attract the young and spiritually immature
who are apt to swallow wrong teaching because they’ve not been taught to
discern between spiritual truth and error.
Writing to the church in
Ephesus, the Apostle Paul made the argument for sound teaching in the church: “Then
we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown
here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of
people in their deceitful scheming.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every
respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”
An in-depth understanding of
God’s word is the key to spiritual maturity. The writer to the Hebrews
highlighted the effect that neglect of sound teaching can have on the church:
“Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone
to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come
to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not
accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is
for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern between
good and evil.”
Most of us are discerning in
the everyday affairs of life. We read dietary guidance and take exercise
because we want to be healthy. We read the fine print before signing
legal/financial documents. However are all Scotland’s born again Christians
confident that they can discern between spiritual truth and error, given what
they are subjected to via the internet, conference headlining spiritual
‘gurus’, and TV?
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