Where did that “Error” come from? (Notes on Discernment)

Of course, we understand the Bible.  We would never add anything to it, or take anything away from it.  We never rely on human traditions – we only just believe what God’s Word says.  Right?

Well, no.  I hate to break it to me – but I’m not that way at all a lot of the time.

The next section of our study on spiritual discernment has to do with our reactions to other people.  And one of the most important things we need to realize is – other people are a lot like me.  Not so perfect.

So before we get into some of the details of how we respond to other people, let’s take a moment to ask the question – why exactly are there errors in Christian teaching?  Why don’t we all just believe what God says and see it clearly?

One obvious reason is sin.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that a teacher is intentionally trying to mislead you (although sadly that does happen).  But more commonly, sin can blind us to a part of the truth, or make us see things in an unbalanced way.  And who sins?  You got it – everyone.  So don’t be hasty to judge.

A teacher may be a nice person, just like you, who actually wants to serve the Lord and help His people – but who still makes mistakes.

Here are some related/unrelated reasons why we don’t get the truth right:

1. Bad interpretation:  We simply don’t understand what the Bible is saying.  Simple as that.  Happens to the best of us.
2. Inconsistency:  To not see the overall picture.  These are those things that seem to make sense until we actually take them to their logical conclusion.
3. Imbalance:  This is when we “emphasize” one doctrine so much that it ends up changing and contradicting another truth.
4. Traditions:  Everybody has these.  We say things or teach things that we think are in the Bible, but they’re not.  We’ve heard them so many times that we think they’re true.  But upon closer examination, they’re not.

None of these are necessarily intentional, or a direct result of sin.  Sure, they’re not good, but they’re also a sign that we haven’t totally grown up yet.  And that won’t happen until we reach Heaven’s gates.

The main point here is not that we need to label every false teaching.  The point is that these things are so common that you and I do them.  Yes, we should make every effort not to.  And hopefully as we grow and learn and rely on the Holy Spirit, these things will happen less.

But we need to be very cautious before we judge motives, or gasp in horror at something our pastor says, or leave a church, or stop speaking to someone.

Next time we’ll talk about three key words that will help us avoid a lot of fights and misunderstandings and divisions.  Our goal should be to grow together in the truth – not to tally up a list of errors that other people in our church make.