We began talking about boundaries, and someone told a story about something that happened to them in their past, and I couldn't help being reminded about some of the wackos I have encountered in and around "the church" and in Christian circles.
I guess, my point, and the reason I ran home to get online and post this blog- is that it is OK to tell the wackos to hit the bricks. Just because someone calls themselves a Christian doesn't mean that you have to listen to what they say or allow them to overrun your boundaries. As a matter of fact, the Bible is pretty clear about guarding ourselves against some people. Proverbs 4:23 warns us "Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it." GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
If you are visiting a church, or you are attending a special event, or even listening or watching a TV preacher on TV, radio or internet- you don't have to accept everything they say. You need to protect yourself by testing what they are saying.
"1 Dear friends, don't believe all people who say that they have the Spirit. Instead, test them. See whether the spirit they have is from God, because there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how you can recognize God's Spirit: Every person who declares that Jesus Christ has come as a human has the Spirit that is from God. 3 But every person who doesn't declare that Jesus Christ has come as a human has a spirit that isn't from God." 1 John 4:1-3 GOD'S WORD ® Translation
I know that church should be the place where you can trust what people are saying, and that you should be able to let your guard down- but you've got to be careful who you allow to have influence over you- and it is OK to set that boundary.
15 "Beware of false prophets. They come to you disguised as sheep, but in their hearts they are vicious wolves. 16 You will know them by what they produce. "People don't pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, do they? 17 In the same way every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a rotten tree cannot produce good fruit. 19 Any tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into a fire. 20 So you will know them by what they produce. Matthew 7:15-20 GOD'S WORD ® Translation
In my short time on the earth, I've heard some pretty weird things, and some of them even sounded good at the time- but deception can be subtle and it is important to "guard your heart." I find that I have three places I look when I hear something new
1. Scripture. I go to the Bible to see if there are references about the topic. This isn't tough, and you really don't need to be a scholar to look up topics in the Bible, especially with some of the modern tools that are available online. As a matter of fact, the references I have made on this blog were done using Biblos.com
2. Tradition. This one is a little tougher, but the saying that "There is nothing new under the sun" is usually true. There are many people who have gone before us who have studied theology far more than I ever will, and there are many resources available. Look to find what the issues were, and decide for yourself where you stand on the issue.
3. The best thing to do is to have a church that you can trust. Get to know the pastor, find out where he or she was educated, and remember that you don't have to check your brain at the door when you attend.
Finally, and i'll get off the soapbox after this, another pet peeve of mine is Christians who haven't read their Bible. I can't say that I've read the entire annotated code of Maryland, but if I get a ticket for speeding or jay-walking its still my fault. This is the same way I view Christianity. I'm not saying that you have to have the thing memorized, but you should have some working knowledge of what each "book" says, or at least what the main theme is.
I try not to "preach" on my blog, but sometimes the sermons slip through.
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