Divisions and falsehood
Today's readings
Tomorrow's readings
"I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. " Rom 16:17
This is a hard command. It is hard because often times we cannot discern between falsehood that is uttered in ignorance or that which is uttered for darker purposes. And often times this type of judgment leads to an approach much like the Pharisees and we miss the chances for mercy and compassion and love for those around us. But more often than not I see people, in my own church specifically, that either read or watch or listen to theology that is outright wrong. And then they pass that off to other Christians as something worthy of learning. Now again I caution myself and those around me that we need to be careful when sifting such material because the sinfulness of our hearts sometimes gets in the way of either judging materials or people correctly. But we generally know when we hear untruths being spoken and it seems to me that we live in a culture of 'tolerance" where everyone is entitled to their own point of view and no one is allowed to criticize or correct another. And that is why this instruction is so hard. But it is one that we should embrace and not shy from. We are called to glorify the name of God and we must do so in truth. The real truth not what we think the truth should be. That is why the Psalmist today says
"I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers,and I will not sit with the wicked. I wash my hands in innocenceand go around your altar, O Lord, proclaiming thanksgiving aloud,and telling all your wondrous deeds."
That is our calling and to do anything less or accept anything less in the name of being nice people is to fail our Lord. I pray that God would give us the discernment to see the truth and correct untruths when necessary without flinching and I pray that He would help us do all things with compassion and love.
posted by Frank @ 8:25 AM
1 Comments:
This is a great post. The key is figuring out how to correct people without Coming Off as being arrogant or a Know It All. The difficulty I see is that in general, evangelicals have lost touch with Protestant heritage. The Catechisms and Confessions have been discarded for the fare found in the Family Christian Bookstore. Most people have developed a smorgasborg theology because of this. It is particularly sad to see it in people who attend our church which offers such great theological resources in our education program.
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