As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him
privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the
sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See
that no one leads you astray.” (Matthew 24:3-4)
With that long
journey “down the garden path” as I see it, I have been amazed at how many
times God’s word tells us to watch out for false teachers.
In fact, did you
know that when Jesus spoke about the deceivers on the wide road he used the
word “many”, and when he spoke of his genuine disciples on the narrow way he
used the word “few”? And yes, that means I shouldn’t be surprised by the
success of false teachers. They are the preferred leaders of the world and its
darkness.
My extra notes here
are for anyone who might be tired of being unpopular for trying to be vigilant
against people trying to lead us astray. My first counsel would be to make sure
that we aren’t going astray!
A big part of this
for me is to think of every issue as having three basic viewpoints. Two of them
are what I call the “pendulum extremes” that swing from one side to the other.
Sadly, these are the two views most commonly argued among church folk! One extreme
is typically of a legalistic kind where the teachers boast that they are absolutely
right on something that isn’t as clear as they claim. The other extreme tends
to be of the “cheap grace” loosey-goosey variety that assures everyone that we
really don’t need to take God’s word as seriously (and clearly) as it is
stated.
Between the two
extremes is the plumbline of “truth in love”. It holds to God’s word without
legalism, and it loves people with abundant grace without sacrificing God’s
word of truth. It is always seeking to live by what Paul called “the whole
counsel of God” without favoritism or partiality, and tries to avoid what he
called “going beyond what is written”.
If we have tested
ourselves to be sure we are neither truth-without-love or love-without-truth,
and we are seeking to follow what Jesus said about “See that no one leads you
astray”, then we must accept that we may be unpopular for asking clarifying
questions about what people believe why they believe such things. We never know
when our willingness to do the “see to it” part in the “Above all, keep loving
one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” kind of way may
save someone who is listening from “going astray”.
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
[1]
Brad Jersak’s book, “A More
Christlike Word”. You can follow my long journey down Jersak’s garden path on
my blog under the heading of “Countering Counterfeits”. I am presently working
on my summary conclusions and hope to be completely done in the next couple of
weeks.
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