Navigating the Theological Junkyard: Principles for Biblical Discernment

Navigating the Theological Junkyard: Principles for Biblical Discernment

This evening, we’re going to talk about being very careful what you take in spiritually. Now, many people today are already very careful about what they take in physically. They pay close attention to the foods that they eat, scouring labels for unhealthy ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and an excessive amount of sodium. Lots of people are even going gluten-free now so that many supermarkets have an entire section dedicated to gluten-free foods. Restaurant chains like Chipotle make their non-GMO foods a central part of their marketing strategy. I was on a road trip with some guys not too long ago, and they both had some hipster tendencies, and they only wanted to stop for food at places where they could get non-GMO food. So, needless to say, we ate a lot of Chipotle on that road trip. And I remember how one of the guys was a smoker, and so whenever we stopped for a meal, he would eat his non-GMO food, but then he would go outside and smoke. And I just thought to myself, “Something doesn’t make sense here with the way this guy is trying to be healthy. Like, are GMO’s really worse for you than smoking?” Now, in all fairness, he was a new Christian and trying to quit smoking, but I just thought the irony of -it was amusing. But that’s a good example of how careful many people are about what they eat. 

And in the same way, we have to be careful about what we take in spiritually. In fact, I think the stakes are far higher spiritually because we’re talking about eternal matters—issues that often have eternal ramifications. So, please turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 812. And last week, we went through verses 7-16, but this week, instead of going on to the next passage, we’re going to say where we were and take a closer look at verse 14. Ephesians 4:14. And just so we can get a feel for the passage, let me begin reading at verse 11: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, [verse 14] so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

So verse 14 is all about developing discernment. We need to grow out of the immature, childish state where we’re, as it says, “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” Kind of like a little dingy boat out in the tumultuous waves of the sea. We hear this doctrine so we’re blown this way, and then we hear another doctrine so we’re blown the other way. We’re not anchored in anything—we’re not anchored in the truths of the Bible—and so we’re left at the mercy of the wind and the waves. We don’t have discernment. 

Other biblical passages speak of the need for discernment as well. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 tells us to “test everything; hold fast what is good.” 1 John 4:1 tells us, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” And Jesus himself tells us in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.” So there are verses scattered throughout the New Testament that all talk about how essential it is to develop discernment when you’re listening to people teach about the Bible. And, in fact, we have reason to believe that many of the most popular teachers—the ones you see on TV and on the bestsellers list—will be teaching false things. Why would I say something like that? Well, listen to this, 2 Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” So in many cases, we can expect false teachers to be quite popular and smooth and easy to listen to. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone who’s popular is a false teacher, but popularity certainly isn’t any kind of assurance against someone being a false teacher either. 

So what should we do? To borrow a phrase from a pastor friend of mine, how should we navigate this theological junkyard in which we find ourselves? And hopefully it’s obvious to most of us that this kind of discernment begins with reading the Bible on a consistent basis on our own so that we can firmly grasp what the Bible teaches as well as what it doesn’t teach. That’s by far the most important thing. But I think it would also be helpful for me to lay out some principles that will help you navigate this theological junkyard. And I’ll state them in the form of questions. Four questions that help us navigate this theological junkyard. And, by the way, some of these questions come from a twentieth-century pastor named A. W. Tozer. 

• How does it affect my attitude towards God?

The first question that helps us navigate the theological junkyard is this: “How does it affect my attitude towards God?” “How does it affect my attitude towards God?” And this is actually probably the most important question. In Isaiah 42:8, God declares, “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” And in Revelation 4:11, God is praised with these words: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

So God is the only rightful center of the universe. The universe really does revolve around him. And so, as we evaluate the teachings and sermons we listen to, we always want to ask ourselves, “How does this affect my attitude towards God? Has it made me love God more? Has it helped me see more of his glory and beauty and worth? Has it magnified God and exalted God in my eyes? Or…has it exalted other things? Earthly prosperity, good health, the feelings I get when I worship God.”

You know, there’s nothing wrong with any of those things. Earthly prosperity is a blessing from God, good health is a blessing from God, joyful feelings are a blessing from God. But here’s the issue: focusing so intently on the gifts that we neglect to seek the Giver. The Bible calls us to seek the Giver before we seek the gifts. 

When I was kid, I had a best friend whose name was Ryan. And Ryan and I would do a lot of fun things together all over the neighborhood—riding bikes, building forts, probably causing some trouble. But one of my favorite things to do with Ryan was play with his Super Nintendo. We could play that for hours. And I really liked it because I didn’t have any video games myself. My family wasn’t really able to afford them. But I really liked playing with Ryan’s.  And I remember one time, I went over to Ryan’s house to see if he was there, and his dad opened the door and said that Ryan had gone somewhere with his mom. And so I said, “Oh okay. Would it be alright if still came in and played Ryan’s Super Nintendo?” I was probably like 8 or 9. And his dad looked at me kind of strange and said, “Uhhh, no.” And it was kind of awkward. And I didn’t really understand why it was awkward at the time, but now I look back and it makes more sense. You don’t do that. You’re supposed to hang out with people because you like them, not because you like their stuff. And even if you’re operating in a worldly mentality and become friends with people because of what they can do for you, you’re still not supposed to make it so obvious. 

And it’s the same way with God. He calls us to seek him who for he is, not just for the gifts and the blessings he gives. And, of course, we can’t fool God, can we? Because he knows the motives of our hearts even better than we do. Some of you may be familiar with the so-called “Prosperity Gospel,” which is really no gospel at all—at least not the biblical gospel.  The Prosperity Gospel basically says that God promises everyone that they can be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous in this life if they’ll just follow Jesus and claim it in faith and “sow a seed” by donating money to the televangelist’s ministry. And like many false teachings, has just enough truth mix in it to make it believable. They can even quote a few Bible verses that sound convincing at first. God does promise that if we’re faithful in giving financially that he’ll provide for our legitimate needs. He does sometimes choose to heal people. But when we start seeking the gifts above the Giver, something has gone horribly wrong. That’s not biblical Christianity. That’s pagan idolatry baptized with Christian language. And this Prosperity Gospel is just one example of a whole slew of teachings in our society that don’t pass this test of exalting or magnifying God for who he is. 

A.W. Tozer says it like this: “The big test is, What has this done to my relationship to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? If this new view of truth—this new encounter with spiritual things—has made me love God more, if it has magnified Him in my eyes, if it has purified my concept of His being and caused Him to appear more wonderful than before, then I may conclude that I have not wandered astray.” 

• How does it affect my attitude towards the person and work of Christ?

Number two, the second question that helps us navigate the theological junkyard is this: “How does this teaching or sermon affect my attitude towards Christ—specifically the person of Christ and the work of Christ? Colossians 1:15-18 describes Christ in this way: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” So Jesus is supposed to be preeminent, the One who’s over everything else. 

And not only should our attention be directed towards the person of Christ but also the work of Christ as well—commonly known as the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” Did you hear that? This gospel about the work of Christ is a message “of first importance.” That’s why, whenever we hear a teaching or sermon, the second question we should be asking ourselves is, “How does this affect my attitude toward the person and work of Christ?” “Does it draw my attention away from the person and work of Christ in any way?”

For example, Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement have exploded in the past hundred years, celebrating the work of the Holy Spirit and the gifts that the Spirit gives to the church. And I think there’s a lot of good things happening within the movement, and a lot of groups associated with the movement show signs of experiencing genuine revival. However, there’s also something that troubles me about many of the other preachers, ministries, and churches that would be considered Pentecostal or Charismatic. They seem so preoccupied with the Holy Spirit and the “showy-ness” and the grand display of these miraculous spiritual gifts, that they don’t really talk very much about Jesus or about the gospel. Do you know what Jesus himself said about the Holy Spirit. He said in John 15:26, “He will testify about me,” speaking of the Holy Spirit. “He will testify about me.” That means, if it’s really the Holy Spirit at work, he’s going to be testifying about Jesus. The spotlight will be on Christ. And in some Charismatic churches, I believe the spotlight truly is on Christ. But in probably a majority of them, the spotlight unfortunately seems to be elsewhere. And if the thing that’s most noticeable in a church is “the show” and “the display” of gifts rather than the gospel message of who Jesus is and what he’s done—then it’s probably not the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is like a sign in the desert, pointing the way to where we can find water. The whole purpose of the sign is to direct our attention to the water, not attract attention for itself. The sign might be a really nice sign, but how ridiculous would it be if we “oohed” and “ahhed” over the sign but never looked past the sign to the water. I find it very hard to believe that the Holy Spirit continues to be actively involved in ministries that only pay attention to the sign. And therefore, I strongly suspect that many of the things going on in those ministries isn’t from the Holy Spirit at all. Because if it were, the spotlight would be on Jesus and what Jesus has done for us in the gospel. 

• How does it affect my attitude towards myself?

Third question, picking up our pace: “How does this teaching or this sermon affect my attitude towards myself?” “How does it affect my attitude toward myself?” In John 3:30, John the Baptizer says, referring to Jesus, “He must become greater; I must become less.” And Psalm 115:1 states, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” So here’s what I mean by asking, “How does this affect my attitude towards myself?” I mean, “Does it encourage self-promotion, self-love, self-focus, a high estimation of our own self-importance?” The Bible encourages us to think higher of God, not higher of ourselves. The secular world says, “People are the measure and the end of all things,” but the Bible says, “God is the measure and the end of all things.”

Have you ever wondered what happens to balloons that area released into the sky? Where do they go? What becomes of them? Physicists actually tell us that they eventually pop. Because, as the balloon rises and ascends in altitude, the pressure outside the balloon grows weaker and weaker. But the pressure inside the balloon stays the same. And so eventually, the pressure inside the balloon is so much greater than the pressure outside the balloon that the balloon can’t take it anymore, and it pops. 

And in a similar way, there’s a self-exalting tendency in every one of us. And if it’s left unchecked, that self-exalting tendency will cause us to rise higher and higher in our own estimation until, ironically, our pride eventually leads to our own destruction. And there are a lot of teachings that seem harmless enough and even help us feel good, but they actually feed into that pride. Psychology calls it self-esteem. And there is a sense in which self-esteem is appropriate since we were created in the image of God and are also loved by God, but there’s also a very real danger of excessively emphasizing self-esteem so that it actually becomes a form of self-worship. Good teaching, biblical teaching, will affirm you intrinsic value but at the same time cause you to think less of yourself and more of God. 

Again, A. W. Tozer: “A good rule is this: If this experience has served to humble me and make me little and vile in my own eyes, it is of God; but if it has given me a feeling of self-satisfaction, it is false and should be dismissed as emanating from self or the devil. Nothing that comes from God will minister to my pride or self-congratulation.” 

• How does it affect my attitude towards sin?

And finally, question number four to help us navigate through the theological junkyard: “How does this teaching affect my attitude towards sin?” “How does this affect my attitude towards sin?” A good sign of a false teacher is that he will always tell you what you want to hear. Biblical teaching, on the other hand, will often encourage you but will also challenge you many times. It’ll make you feel uncomfortable, it’ll make you squirm in your seat a bit. Sometimes, it may even feel like it’s cutting you, much like a surgeon will make incisions for the patient’s own good. And by the way, if you’re truly a Christian, that’s something you should desire. After all, that’s God’s way of rescuing you from the sin in your life. Jesus didn’t come to rescue us from our low self-esteem and negative emotions and unhealthy habits in our lives. He came to rescue us from our sin. Unfortunately, it’s about as popular to talk about sin in our culture as it is to talk about how hot dogs are made. Nobody wants to hear that stuff. So we don’t talk about it. Most television preachers, KLOVE on the radio. Did you ever notice how there’s one topic in particular that’s always strangely absent? Now I still listen to KLOVE sometimes, but I do notice things like that. And I notice their slogan, “positive and encouraging.” 

Let me ask you this. What would you say about a doctor who sees clear signs of cancer in a patient and from different tests he does on the patient, but he doesn’t ever say anything? And if you ask this doctor why he never says anything, he responds, “Yeah…I don’t really like to talk about cancer. I just like to be positive and encouraging.” I’d tell him, “You know what would be positive and encouraging for me? If I could identify the cancer early enough to do something about it.” And when you think about it, you really shouldn’t want a preacher who will always tell you what you want to hear any more than you want a doctor who will always tell you what you want to hear.

Conclusion

So those are the four questions that help us navigate through the theological junkyard that all around us. How does it affect my attitude towards God? How does it affect my attitude towards the Person and work of Christ? How does it affect my attitude towards myself? And how does it affect my attitude towards sin? If you ask those questions of every teaching you hear, you’ll be doing well. And use your pastor as a resource. Hebrews 13:17 describes pastors as those who “keep watch over your souls.” If you’re involved in a healthy church, God’s given you a pastor for your spiritual protection, as a kind of umbrella of protection, keeping you from dangerous teachings. That’s part of his job description. 

And as I mentioned before, it’s critical that you have the habit of reading the Bible yourself on a regular basis. And as you read the Bible, pay special attention to who God is and what God has done for us in Christ. Study these topics of God and the gospel so diligently that when anything less is presented by a preacher, you can tell something’s not right. It immediately strikes you as hollow, shallow, and empty. Kind of like someone moves something in a room you’ve been in a number of times before. And you walk into that room again, and you can just tell something’s different. You may not know what exactly, but you know something’s different. Pursue a biblical vision of God and develop a deep understanding of the gospel and develop such an appetite for those things that you’ll never be able to be satisfied with lesser things again.