Discernment Run Amuck

Discernment Run Amuck

II Cor.11: 12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

II pet.2: But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

I Jn.4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

These are the days when damnable heresies are increasing, and even cults which deny Christ are being absorbed into the evangelical morass. All of a sudden evangelicals are reconsidering the status of Mormonism? Yes, these are perilous times indeed. We do need to have discernment, and we do need teachers that expose false teachers and prophets. The church is so dull of hearing and so ambivalent about what is transpiring all around us, and yet the local pastor teaches his innocuous sermon series that changes nothing and appeases the tithing masses. The wolves are not at the door, they are in the church.

Men like Rob Bell and Joel Osteen and Rick Warren offer a tepid brand of Christianity that is completely bound to the temporal. And people by the millions are only too happy to listen and support these and other false teachers. And these men are ever so slick and able to talk themselves out of doctrinal trouble with the cunning of the original serpent. As the Scriptures warn, the devil comes as an angel of light. The feel good messages spoken by millionaires is pleasant to the ears but poison to the soul. We need to do sentry duty against these men and their pernicious ways.

But we also need to be acutely aware of our own spirit and that we make clear distinctions between doctrinal poison and pouncing upon personal struggles. So often these discernment sites give solid information about these men, but then research and report on personal struggles. These types of ministries can quickly escalate into a cauldron of all kinds of salacious information mixed in with some necessary warnings about false teachings. You can find such all over the internet. But any Biblical discernment must never stop at our door, we must guard against delving into that which is personal and especially not first hand knowledge.

When we post about certain men and their teachings we have a literal plethora of material from their own writings. It is first hand and public knowledge. Some discernment sites to their credit even provide foot notes. But when we post about swirling rumors and undocumented information about the personal struggles, or even the personal sins of others, we have entered the carnal realm of gossip. Again, we must guard against even the appearance of impropriety and of malicious gossip, even when some things appear to be true.

I have never known same sex attractions, and I have no one in my family who has claimed to have either. But I have had a daughter who conceived out of wedlock and who remains happily married to my grandson’s father. I was of course hurt and embarrassed especially because of the expectations placed upon a pastor, but as a family we corrected and restored her. But I would have been devastated had a brother posted about it on the internet. Even liberal believers and unbelievers as well experience family tragedies and heartaches. I consider it unchristian for believers to pounce upon them and publicly expose them as if they were doing God a favor. But many “discernment” blogs do just that.

Here is One.

I have had some correspondence over several years with the administrator of that blog. He has provided many legitimate doctrinal indictments concerning the emergent movement especially. But the posts like the one to which I linked undermine our credibility and reveal that our passion to find things has escaped the boundaries of good taste, to say nothing of providing gossip to the ever hungry masses. Like the National Enquirer, these types of personal incursions are self righteous in nature and allow all sorts of judgments a la the publican to find refuge within the hearts of its readers.

This gay thing has provided a self righteous scaffolding upon which so many climb. While it is legitimate to confront preachers who espouse gay marriage and the gay lifestyle as acceptable, it is not acceptable to become obsessed with it. And it is abhorrent to pounce upon individual people just because they are connected to a well known preacher. This is not the time to play pin the tail on the gay donkey and think we are doing serious discernment labor. This is the time to redouble our prayer lives, commit to secret fasting, and show vulnerable redemptive love to those who are overtaken in any sin.

And when you add an appendage which calls for prayer after you have systematically eviscerated the person even before he himself has a chance to respond, well your call for prayer is a hollow cameo. Let us be clear when dealing with Biblical teachings, homosexual behavior is as sinful as heterosexual promiscuity. It is outside the scope of Biblical morality, but well within the scope of Biblical redemption. And if we ever hope to reach the ever growing number of gay people, we must let our speech be seasoned with salt and let our attitudes be clothed with humility.

The sin of homosexual behavior is like shooting doctrinal fish in a barrel. So easy and so unassailable within the “orthodox” community. It draws gratuitous approval and even applause from the heterosexual Bourgeoisie. It makes us look so moral and upright. It is a self serving piñata which offers everyone a stick with which to beat that piñata which is often in the shape of a dead horse. Just in the last few days, the CEO of Chick-Fil-A expressed his support for traditional marriage. I read the interview and the man seems like a true believer.

But what was the response? The gay community is organizing protests and boycotts, while men like Mike Huckabee are organizing “Chick-Fil-A" days. So that is where commitment to Christ has descended to? The lost boycott chicken sandwiches while the saved eat more? And all this isn’t over Jesus, its over the fact that lost people don’t see Biblical morality. Such a self righteous and even ignorant waste. In fact, Jesus and Paul exhorted us to break bread with sinners. I guess bread does not include chicken.

I hope you have gleaned exactly what I am attempting to say. Love isn’t just telling people the bad news. And love certainly isn’t researching the private lives of others in order to uncover some salacious facts.

If you came across a lost gay person lying in the road after a bad accident would you castigate him for his lifestyle? Or... if you came across a lost gay person lying in the road after a bad accident would you pull him to the side and then tell him about his lifestyle? Or... would you try and find out just how deep his sin was? Or... would you give mouth to mouth resuscitation to a lost gay person lying in the road after a bad accident? Or…would you give mouth to mouth resuscitation to a lost gay person lying in the road after a bad accident if you knew he had AIDs? What kind of reckless love would that be, you ask?

Perhaps you haven’t heard of the cross?

 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.

Selah.