Untangled

There is a lot of talk these days about “deconstructing faith,” which usually is interpreted to mean throwing out Christianity entirely, or at least divorcing it from any relationship to the Church (as if that were truly possible). I recently read Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear, by Jinger Duggar Vuolo. I like her terminology of disentangling faith—separating the manmade rules and ideas from what Scripture actually teaches. I think all of us need to do that to some extent.

I grew up in churches of various denominations since we moved frequently, although my parents always claimed the denomination of their youth. I can remember hearing my dad explain Advent Christian distinctives to the pastors of whatever churches we attended, so much so that I knew those distinctives better than I knew the gospel. I don’t recall much preaching or teaching about grace or our identity in Christ. It wasn’t until I was in seminary that I realized that most of the denominations we had been involved with were pretty legalistic. All I remember hearing is what we were supposed to do or not do to be good Christians, and it was certainly implied that we had to be careful lest God reject us. I’ve written before about the fear that I was disappointing God, and when I expressed that fear in college I was not given any kind of reassurance that God knew all that and loved me anyway.

I definitely needed to disentangle what I had been taught from what I now know to be true. Sometimes I had someone to disciple me, but often I had to make sense of things on my own. I’ve been blessed to find a number of authors and speakers who present the Word of God with clarity, and I’ve spent a lot of time in Scripture as well. During a period of church turmoil it would have been easy, and it was tempting, to turn my back on the establishment. But after wrestling with God, I knew that wasn’t really an option, and I’ve never looked back.

One of the tangles we find ourselves in is that we live in a world of celebrity pastors and instant news. So every moral failure or incorrect statement gets magnified, and not only creates confusion and problems for their churches but also for all their other followers. We can’t let our own faith be corrupted or even destroyed by the failures and deception of men. There is only one Man who lived a perfect life, and He is the one we need to focus on and follow. Every other person will sin, fail, and speak falsehood at times, because none of us have perfect knowledge and discernment. Even the Apostle Paul said, “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Rom. 7:18b-19).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in Discipleship in his chapter on the Sermon on the Mount (ch 6):

“The disciples should not think that they could simply flee from the world and stay safely in the small group on the narrow path. False prophets will come among them, and the confusion will make their isolation even greater... A prophet or preacher stands there, a Christian by appearances, words, and deeds. But internally dark motives are driving him to us... To what should we hold fast, if we hear how the word of Jesus draws the separation between the community and the world, and then within the community until the last judgment? If nothing is left to us, neither our confession nor obedience? Then the only thing left is his word: I have known you. This is his everlasting word, his everlasting call.”

Jesus Christ is the One we look to as our Savior and Lord, the One who defines truth and knows those who are His own. But we are to follow our Shepherd together as the Body of Christ, not independently and in isolation.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).

© 2024 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

On Alert

Several times recently I’ve had conversations with friends about the subject of biblical discernment. Scripture uses the Greek word diakrino in a variety of ways, and English translations include distinguish, discern, judge, or separate. Two verses in particular are:

“…to another the ability to distinguish between spirits…” (1 Cor. 12:10).

“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14).

The first of those is one of the lists of spiritual gifts. The Network Spiritual Gifts inventory describes discernment this way:

“The gift of Discernment is the divine enablement to distinguish between truth and error. It is able to discern the spirits, differentiating between good and evil, right and wrong... truth and error... accurately judging character; seeing through phoniness or deceit; helping others to see rightness or wrongness in life situations.”

One of the more obvious examples in the Bible comes from Acts 5:1-4 in the story of Ananias and Sapphira. The Apostle Peter knew that they were being deceptive in reporting how much they earned on the sale of some property, because the Holy Spirit somehow revealed it to him. Peter reminded them, and everyone else, that though they might deceive men, they could not deceive God.

In the church today, I’m not sure most people understand or know what to do with the gift of discernment. When we’re young we are often told we are to obey our leaders without question. We come to trust our teachers and pastors and others in authority, so when they trust someone else, we generally do too. But as we’ve seen in a multitude of church scandals in recent years, not every Christian leader is worthy of trust. Many people have been deceived and wounded by those who claimed to represent God. Many times the truth doesn’t come out until years later, because people rightly fear that no one will believe their claims.

I can think of multiple examples of people I have personally met who immediately raised suspicions in my spirit, but for no clear reason I could describe at the time. I ignored or shelved my feelings because other people trusted those men. In each case, truths later came out that revealed years of inappropriate and sinful words and behavior. Now I am much quicker to listen to that “sixth sense” and seek to understand what the Holy Spirit may be revealing.

One time I was standing in line at a fast food restaurant and suddenly knew something about two people who were several feet ahead of me in line, even though I couldn’t hear anything they said and couldn’t even see their faces. When they turned around there was clear evidence that what I suspected actually was true. It was odd at the time to know something about people I had never met and would never speak to, but I understood it as God’s reminder to me that He knows our hearts even if no one else does.

Those who do have the gift of discernment need to take it seriously and act as the Spirit leads—carefully and graciously uncovering hidden sins that may endanger other people or cause dissension and division in the church. Our goal should always be the glory of God and the welfare of His people, including those who may be deceiving themselves about the state of their own hearts.

“And [Jesus] said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God’” (Luke 16:15).

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Truth and Error

I’ve been reading the three epistles of John, and it struck me how blunt he is about the false teachers that were creeping into the early church. He repeatedly points to signs of the truth. Here are just a few:

“If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6 ESV).

“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness” (1 John 2:9).

“No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23).

“If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him” (1 John 2:29).

“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10).

“By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God...” (1 John 4:2-3a).

“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9).

John obviously thought that false teachers were a significant danger to the church, and he warned the believers to be on their guard. I think we can tend to be guilty of “chronological snobbery” (to use C.S. Lewis’s excellent term) and think that we are immune to that danger. Obviously the early church didn’t have all the Scriptures compiled and Christians didn’t have multiple copies of the Bible sitting on their shelves, so they didn’t have a quick reference for orthodoxy. But on the other hand, they also didn’t have access to billions of books, podcasts, blogs, and Facebook posts that claim to be proclaiming truth but could be based on anything from rumor and innuendo to the so-called prophets of other religions. If anything, we need even more discernment to sift through all the information that bombards us every day.

All around us there are people who claim to have some kind of relationship with God, and they may even claim to know Jesus Christ, but they aren’t pursuing righteousness and living in the light. There are those who say they are Christians, but they do not love others as Scripture commands. Even within the church there are many who are “cultural Christians” but don’t have true faith. Although the image is alarming, I think there will be a long line of people to whom Jesus says, “Depart from Me, I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23), because “The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many” (v. 13).

In our culture of tolerance and acceptance, we may unwittingly be allowing heretics to preach their own gospels in our churches and homes. We each need to seek truth in God’s Word and allow the Holy Spirit to cultivate discernment in us. Only when we know well the One who is the Truth can we be free from the deceptions that the enemy throws our way.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16a).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Who Cares

I’ll admit I’m in a battle against apathy right now. There are sometimes difficult circumstances at work that make me want to throw in the towel. (Yes, I’m from the generation whose mantra is “Whatever!”) When you’re powerless to change what other people or organizations do, it feels like there are two choices: 1) get frustrated and angry, or 2) become complacent and determine that it doesn’t really matter. I spent many years being frustrated, and found that it did nothing but interrupt my peace and my sleep. So I’ve gone the opposite direction and become apathetic. That doesn’t always work, but it seems easier anyway. Caring too much just causes pain.

I suppose a lot of it stems from disillusionment, such as with politics: “It doesn’t matter who you vote for since they’re all liars, so why vote?” The same thing happens on a smaller scale with businesses, churches, and even families. If your opinion doesn’t carry any weight, what’s the point in trying to create change? At one time I was asked to join a church committee because my educational background was “needed.” I quickly found out that the committee had no authority and it didn’t matter what I had to contribute.

Desiring God recently published an interesting post on apathy, How God Cares for Those Who Don’t, by Paul Maxwell. Although he comes at it from a different angle, he brings out some good points. One is that God agrees that some things are trivial and not worth getting worked up about. Arguing over the color of the carpet in the sanctuary is unnecessary and not honoring to God. A second point is that when we find our security in God’s love rather than man’s opinion, we are free to tackle issues that really are important, and we can “stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24 ESV).

So I’ve been thinking of some questions that might help clarify how we should respond to some of the circumstances we face from time to time.

1) Does this issue matter to God? If it’s a question of salvation, sin, safety, or ministry, you can be sure it matters. If it is about personal preferences, there’s a good chance it is not all that important in the grand scheme of things. Most issues probably fall somewhere in the middle. As Robert Pierce said, “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.”

2) Does it directly affect me or my loved ones (which could include church family)? This question has to be considered cautiously. Although a typhoon in Japan may not directly impact me, it is still important and a response might be required. At the same time, we all have limited time and resources and we can’t do everything we might like to do. Joining the PTA at your child’s school may be more effective than campaigning for national education reform. In some of his correspondence, C.S. Lewis made the comment that the rapid availability of international news may do more harm than good as people become more concerned with what’s happening on the other side of the world than in their own neighborhood (and he wrote that before the computer age!).

3) How much influence might I have over the outcome? Not being very “politically minded,” I tend to think that it doesn’t do much good for John Smith to write to his congressman, unless John happens to represent a large body of voters or special interest groups. However, every situation and every person is different, so there could be a myriad of factors that determine one’s level of influence.

Those are some practical questions, but there are some other biblical principles that should not be forgotten:

“God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27). Whether it’s stuttering Moses, Gideon’s tiny army, or Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal, God uses who He wants regardless of their qualifications. And when He does, He’s the One who gets the glory for the outcome (1:31).

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him” (2 Timothy 2:3-4). Our aim should be to please God no matter how long or hard the journey might be. Paul continued his ministry from prison because the consequences of giving up were just too great (Philippians 1:21-25).

“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). Some battles can only be fought with unceasing prayer. The real battle is not against flesh and blood (6:12).

I know from my own experience that the things I often obsess over are trivial matters that should be forgotten. I’m a recovering perfectionist and I have to remind myself that most people aren’t going to care about some of the details I see. Along with that, I’m certain that the enemy likes to keep us distracted with the nonessentials so that the more important things get neglected. The issues that I most wish to avoid are ones that will require a lot of work and a long time to resolve, and I’m not eager to invest myself without the assurance of a positive outcome. I suspect a lot of us fall prey to the “let it be someone else’s problem” mindset. Even though I won’t be here (on this earth, in this job, or in this church) forever, I do bear some responsibility in providing for the future through good stewardship of time, money, people, property, and the environment.

I’m not sure I’ve resolved any of the issues foremost in my mind as I write this, but I do know which ones require further thinking.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).