Defend your Church from all false teaching

Defend your Church from all false teaching

It seems that “teaching” in one form or another has been on my mind recently; this is the fourth post in the last week or so that talks about it in some way. See the others here: A Special Teacher; Teach by Example; and The Parable of the Child.

There are two important truths I try to test my understanding of what I read, in the Bible and elsewhere against. The first is that God loves us. And the second is that the Gospel is good news. These two truths are not only a wonderful support, but are also a wonderful defence against false teaching. You may find them helpful too.

Think about the greatest love you have ever experienced, whether it be from a mother, a father, a spouse, a child, or an animal. Keep it in mind, but now think, too, about the greatest love you have ever given, whether it be to a mother, a father, a spouse, a child, or an animal. Keep a hold of those thoughts of love in your mind, and in your heart for a while; really enjoy them; really appreciate them. It’s a good feeling, isn’t it?

Now consider that as good as those feelings of love are, as happy as they can make you feel, that our God loves you, and me, more even than that, much more. God loves us even more than the person who loves us the most.

The literal translation of the word, “gospel”, is “good news”. Every authentic aspect of Christianity is good news. It’s important to remember that, it’s important to share it: Christianity, and the whole Gospel message is Good News!

Those two important truths can be used to test things against. We can use them as a test to discover if we’re understanding a Bible passage, or personal revelation, correctly; by judging our interpretation by its fruits. And I think this applies to the Church as much as it does to us personally.

Since the most important fruit is love, we can ask ourselves, “When someone who loves me is loving me the most, would they act in this way?” or “When I’m loving someone the most, would I act in this way?” And, since every authentic aspect of Christianity is good news, we can ask ourselves, “Is it good news?”

If the answers to these two questions are “Yes”, our understanding is probably right. But if either answer is “No”, then we probably need to look again at our interpretation, or our actions, because it’s most likely something’s wrong, coming from false teaching.