The Deceived - Part II

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

I may not be deceived about salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ, but if there is self righteousness in me about that then I am deceived as well. Deception is a spirit and is not confined to roam among the Rob Bell’s and Brian McLaren’s of the religious world. It wanders with ambition and design. It seeks victims. And deception does not introduce itself before entering, in fact, it fabricates its identity and plays the friend. If this spirit cannot leverage an outright denial of Christ and His gospel, it aids in constructing a denial of the same with compromise and ingenious doctrinal manipulation that seems to be compassionate and even Biblically profound, but in reality strays away from that same gospel. That can and does end up in heresy and eventually apostasy.
But there are those of us who have not only not strayed from the simple gospel of Jesus Christ, but we have seen and identified the teachings of some who have become false teachers. This is necessary, of course, but do not believe that we are free from deception simply because we see deception’s stronghold in others. And just because we are not deceived about the gospel does not mean we are immune to deception in a host of other areas including, and most significantly, thinking and living as Jesus Christ. And within the “orthodox” community there is an unspoken understanding that assumes that if you believe the true gospel then you are not deceived or at least your deception is commonplace and not noteworthy and serious. This is a grievous error in thinking and in practice, and it is a hindrance to the gospel we believe and a blemish on the Person and character of Jesus Christ.
And many times the orthodox community, especially those who become obsessed, if not enchanted, with searching out and exposing error, have no stomach and little energy to search for error in their own lives. They consider their own “shortcomings” as par for the course and they merrily dispense with them through routine “repentance” and redundant acknowledgment before God. And that is one of the residual dangers of seeking out the deception in others and having that become your dominant purpose and your constant drone. Your sin does not look so horrid when you spend your time reviewing, investigating, and uncovering the sin of Charles Manson. The same is true when we are preoccupied with the doctrinal error of others and become blind, or at least ambivalent and contented with your own sin. And the passion that you have to find the sin and error in others seems very measured and lethargic when it comes to your own sin and areas of deception.
Many times this scenario emerges because the orthodox community has compartmentalized error, become complacent about their own life’s revelation of Christ, and believes it knows much more than it actually does. It is a heart problem that that has become a willing host to a parasite that feeds on self righteousness but gives off a fragrance of doctrinal soundness. Make no mistake, it is entirely possible, and demonstrated regularly, to be fully orthodox on systematic theology and fully unrecognizable as a believer. Now there is a paradox, brethren. And it is that paradox that confounds the sinner and even pushes some saints to seek men like Bell and McLaren since they have become disenchanted with mainstream evangelicalism and the toxicity displayed by many in the orthodox community. Some false teachers and heretics exhibit remarkable humility and charm which is used by the spirit of deception to lure the unsuspecting and the disillusioned.
But to pitch your spiritual tent within the self satisfying campgrounds of the errors of others is spiritual death. And to be clear: We in the western orthodox community are deeply deceived in many, many areas and in fact have changed the template of what it means to live for Christ so drastically that we are a significant stumbling block to the gospel itself, and like the Pharisees we block the door to the kingdom with our unremarkable and self absorbed lifestyles. But we remain contented with that situation because we hold up the scalps of false teachers and heretics as our trophies, and we are galvanized by who we are against rather than taking a deep and uncomfortable look into how far we ourselves are from a living representation of Jesus Christ that should be far more glorious than receiving an “A” on our doctrinal thesis or the “Discerner of the Year“ award. In short, we are deceived.
I truly believe that if the church took one entire year and sought the face of God and beseeched the Spirit to filet our hearts and illuminate our souls we just might see a spiritual landscape that lies substantially desolate. If for a while we turned our attention and energies into investigating our own sin and shortcomings, and our own spiritual straw men we use to supposedly represent Christlikeness, we might see a revival. Did it ever occur to us that one main reason that heresy and false teachers have sprung up so aggressively is that we have lost our saltiness and vigor, and that we have strayed from Biblical Christianity while clinging to doctrinal orthodoxy?
Deception is a wild ride and overcoming it requires much prayer, both personal and corporate. And with the situation as it stands, why are the church houses dark during the week? Why do the orthodox folk file in on Sundays with their well worn Bibles and versed in what they should believe and yet with dry eyes and cold hearts? And most believers spend more time washing their bodies on Sunday morning then they do washing their souls. Do believers rise early at least on Sunday mornings in order to spend an hour in intimate prayer and heart preparation before they go to a corporate worship service? Have they fasted some time during the month? Have they gone out of their way to witness to a lost person? Have they prayed for an hour the past week for missionaries? Have they wept with compassion over the plight of the poor and the lost? And yet these are the people who claim they are not deceived.
Is being unloving considered heresy? Is being self righteous a form of heresy? Is prayerlessness heresy? Is caustic and personal attack language considered heresy? Is hedonism heresy? Oh my brethren, let us draw back and examine ourselves to see whether or not we are in the faith. And after, by God’s grace we have found an assurance in our hearts about belonging to Christ, let us examine ourselves to see whether we are living the faith.

Whatever is unlike Christ is heresy and reveals a definite deception in all of us.