I recently watched American Gospel on Netflix. It’s a documentary that compares the gospel of the Bible to the gospel going out from many pulpits in America today. I enjoyed watching, and I agree with a vast majority of its perspectives. I certainly recommend it to anyone who wants a better understanding of what the Bible teaches in comparison to what many well known preachers preach, and I especially recommend it to those newer to the faith who haven’t established a strong foundation of Biblical literacy. The thought that kept coming to my mind as I watched it, was, “Wow! People really need to know the true Gospel themselves.” That’s the only way we’ll be safe from those who would lead us astray. So I want to offer three tips to help navigate the waters that are teeming with preachers with varying degrees of error that our enemy can use to pull us off course:
Tip #1 – Don’t over-delegate your discipleship. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only,but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12) The main point of this instruction was that they should take responsibility for their own discipleship, and not require someone looking over their shoulders. I believe the most important word in this verse is own. They needed to own their relationship with God and pursue their growth in, and service to, Him. Paul didn’t want that responsibility. It was theirs. He couldn’t assume it. Paul certainly had a role in their lives in Christ. He introduced many of them to Him during his visit there, a fascinating story found in Acts chapter 16. He mentioned in the Philippians 2:12 verse their obedience. They had obeyed Paul’s instruction, and he admonished them to continue in that obedience. But Paul was being used by God to establish timeless doctrine, and his letter to them would be of such authority that it would be included in the New Testament canon. Every Christian should know that no person since the age of the apostle Paul and the twelve apostles present in Acts chapter 2 has the authority to instruct believers in such a way. Ephesians 4:11 makes it clear that God gives some people to serve in the roles of apostles (Paul and the other Twelve of Acts 2), evangelists, prophets, pastors and teachers. Their calling and responsibility is to equip the saints, which means every believer. But those equippers are held to a very high standard and should carry out their ministries according to Scripture.
Tip #2 – Gain a complete understanding of the Biblical Gospel. At least a dozen times, I’ve heard teachers use the analogy of the counterfeit checkers. The way the checkers are trained is by studying real money for so long that they know exactly what real money looks like. Then, when they see a counterfeit bill, the difference jumps out at them. That’s the way we’ll detect non-Biblical doctrine – by studying God’s Word so thoroughly that a teacher of false doctrine stands out as such. We don’t have to wait for someone to expose the counterfeit because God’s Word, that we’ve hidden in our heart, has exposed them. Being able to detect erroneous teachers isn’t the main reason we study God’s Word, but it’s a good reason. The main reason we study is to get to know God better and to know what He wants for us. By the way, it’s also a great idea to get the counsel and perspectives of other Christian leaders and peers. And most important is the counsel of the Holy Spirit, which He’ll give to us if we ask Him in prayer.
Tip #3 – Discern a Preachers’ Doctrine. I recently had a student at a Christian university ask what I thought about Joel Osteen. One of the student’s professors had warned his students about Osteen and the student’s dad disagreed with the professor. Incidentally, the Netflix documentary put a pretty big target on Osteen’s back, as well. I don’t have as big of a problem with Joel Osteen. He isn’t where I would go to gain a complete understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes repentance from sin and full surrender to God’s plan for me – rather than trying to fit God into my plan – as well as His forgiveness and unmerited favor. But when I was recently battling discouragement during a long, slow recovery after suffering a major stroke, I searched out a few Osteen sermons on YouTube and they were just the encouragement I needed. I’m not saying I swallow everything Joel says, but neither do I always agree perfectly with the way many mainstream preachers word things. The key is that I’ve been a student of, and communicator of, God’s Word for many years. I’ve studied academically and devotionally, and that has given me a solid foundation of understanding with which to discern when I run across some bad doctrine. The point is that we should work to understand God’s Word and be in step with the Holy Spirit so that we can discern truth and non-truth ourselves without having to rely completely on someone else to catch troublesome doctrine for us. Paul also invited his Corinthian church members, Imitate me as I also imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1) This is the man who wrote one-third of the books in the New Testament encouraging believers to imitate his life, but only to the extent that he imitated Jesus’ life. How were they to discern when Paul’s model might part ways with the model Jesus exhibited? They must know the Way themselves. Let us know the Way ourselves, as is laid out in God’s Word. And let us imitate only as the Christ of Scripture is modeled for us.
Good Word!! Important word right now!
Your article is very nice thanks.