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Ditching
the Junk
By Jerri
Phillips
Here in Texas the
temperature has finally dipped below
sixty for lows, and the highs are staying
in the seventies, for the most part.
While that means nothing in some parts of
the United States, where we are weather
like that means it's time to start
sorting clothes, cleaning house, and
preparing for winter. And so I have done
just that. With two growing children, it
is a good idea to sort through clothes
seasonally anyway. Toys are another item
that need to be culled on a regular
basis. Children simply outgrow them, and
it is time to pass them on to someone who
needs them.
The children aren't the only ones who
make piles of necessary and not so
necessary. Rob and I do the same thing.
We go through and figure out what is
important, what is useful, what is still
in good shape, what is so worn out that
it needs to be thrown away. For us, this
is a time of sorting through and keeping
what contributes to our lives and getting
rid of what doesn't.
Periodically, such sorting is a good
thing. It keeps things from becoming so
cluttered that you cannot tell the good
from the bad. The Bible says to do the
same in your spiritual life.
Have you ever noticed how much spiritual
"stuff" is available today?
Your pastor tells you one thing. Your
cell group or small group leader tells
you something. Your friend of a different
denomination says something else. And
that doesn't include the radio,
television, or printed media. It is easy
to become bombarded by spiritual
"food" and information. And the
worst part of it is that often we listen
or read and soak it up as truth. I mean
come on. These are our spiritual leaders,
the spiritual big wigs. Surely they would
not lead you wrong, and besides, they
know oh-so-much more than you do, who are
you to question them? What right do you
have to question their wisdom or
knowledge? According to the Bible, you
have more than a right. You have the
obligation.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Paul says to,
"Test everything. Hold on to the
good." The word translated test is
"dokimazo". It means, "to
test, try, prove, scrutinize, discern,
distinguish, approve. It has the notion
of testing a thing to ascertain is it be
worthy to be received or not." In
this specific verse, it means, "to
determine the identity of something
through evaluation, distinguish,
discover, ascertain." To test
something means to determine the identity
or root, source of something. When we are
told to test everything, we are being
told to set it up against the truth of
God's Word and see if originated from
that truth or from man and man's
tradition. Instead of hoarding all the
information we are hit with and blindly
drinking it in, we are to sort through
it, determine what is acceptable based on
its originating with the Father in
contrast to what merely looks good and
feels good. Nowhere in scripture are we
told to follow blindly. Instead, we are
directed to lay everything by the Truth
of God and see if it matches up. If it
doesn't, we are to discard it. I don't
care who it comes from. If it is not of
God, it'll pass away as chaff, and those
who build on it will have no foundation
and will be found with nothing when they
stand before the Father to give an
accounting.
As the horrors of September 11, 2001,
filled our television screen, I received
numerous calls and emails from people
asking what I felt was happening
spiritually. Did I have any prophetic
words? Since that day, our world has been
inundated with prophetic words. In fact,
it would nearly make one's head spin from
the absolute opposition in tone and
statements. In 1 John 4:1, we are told,
"Dear friends, do not believe every
spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God because false
prophets have gone out into the
world." Do you get that? There are
false prophets. There always have been
and always will be. "For such men
are false apostles, deceitful, workmen,
masquerading as apostles of Christ. And
no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades
as an angel of light. It is not
surprising then, if his servants
masquerade as servants of righteousness
(2 Corinthians 11:13-15)." Demonic
servants masquerading as servants of God.
Lord God, help us.
Of course, we want to think that these
people are obvious. It'll be easy to
sniff them out, so we think. I am deeply
concerned by the people I have been
talking to lately concerning their church
leadership, either present or recent
past. I could honestly give you stories
of an alarming number of churches where
the leadership was deeply given to sin.
However, the one that sticks most clearly
in my mind is a man who called to ask
counsel concerning what to do with a
large number of people who were
considering leaving his church. First
question: why are they wanting to leave?
Oh, they have issue with the pastor, and
instead of submitting to him, they are
ripping the church apart.
Oh, yuck. I hate those kinds of problems
because there is always some deep sin to
be dealt with and usually people are
unwilling to do. Okay, second question:
what "issue" do they have? Oh,
the pastor was caught committing adultery
with a member's wife, and they are mad
because they feel he should step down.
I really try to never act shocked when I
hear things, but I have got to say, I
nearly choked. It was bad enough that
this pastor had so violated his position,
but for this person to be treating the
ones who were demanding this pastor's
resignation as the problem was, well,
sickening. Next question: and what do you
think should happen? Oh, I agree with the
elders and pastor. We've all sinned, and
we should forgive everyone all things if
we want forgiveness.
Oh my. Where does one start with that? I
started by giving the requirements of a
pastor and elder, which were obviously
not met. I then discussed forgiveness
versus irresponsibly turning one's head
and ignoring sin.
In the end, the pastor retained his
position. It wasn't long before he was
once again caught in the act of adultery,
and sadly, it became known that this was
not a once or twice fall but rather a
habit with several women in the church.
The church did split. In fact, it
ultimately disintegrated. How did it get
to that point? Simple. There was not
enough testing done. Blind following
leads to devastating results.
How do we avoid that? How can we know the
Truth as opposed to being duped by good
sermons and best-selling books? It really
isn't too hard. "Do not conform any
longer to the pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God's will is—His good,
pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2).
My friends, I am here to tell you that
your pastor will never renew your mind.
Your mentor will never renew your mind.
Your Sunday school teacher, your mom,
your dad, your neighbor will never renew
your mind. If you want your mind renewed
so that you can test and approve God's
will, you have to go to God Himself. You
have to seek His revelation in prayer and
through the Spirit. You have to be more
than familiar with the Bible. We are
being called, always have been called to
pour the Word into our hearts. As far
back as Deuteronomy 6 the Lord has been
saying, "These commandments that I
give you today are to be upon your
hearts. Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home and
when you walk along he road, when you lie
down and when you get up. Tie them as
symbols on your hands and bind them on
your foreheads. Write them on the door
frames of your houses and on your
gates." Why do we still not
understand the importance of knowing
God's Word? My dear ones, if we do not
know the truth, how do we know when we
are being fed a lie?
Recently, I had cause to deal with a
woman who was angry with someone who
called friends of hers in leadership to
account for some ungodly choices. After
ascertaining what had been said that she
was angry about, I asked if the
"prophetic words of repentance"
were on target. She assured me they most
certainly were not. However, after
speaking at length, I began to suspect
that they were. Finally, I asked,
"What do you know about the terms
and references that these people
used?" She finally conceded that
she, in fact, had no idea what they were
referring to, nor had she researched them
in order to find out. I then asked,
"Do you honestly want to know what
those references mean?" She sort of
ho-hummed a little before saying that she
did. When I told her, she was stunned and
began to cry. Not only was the truth
obvious, but also it had already affected
her best friend's family and nearly
resulted in divorce.
Again, I tell you that we cannot follow
blindly or believe ignorantly. We must
realize that even our godly leaders have
blind spots and imperfections. They will
make mistakes, not because they mean to
but because that is what humans do. It is
not our job to try to catch them and hold
their feet to the fire, but it is our
responsibility to know when they are not
speaking truth or walking in truth in
order to protect ourselves as well as the
corporate body of believers. We cannot do
that without searching the Bible and
meditating on it. It has to quit sitting
somewhere in the back of our minds and
become the first and only filter through
which information passes.
The Bible says that the one who stands
until the end will be saved (-- --). How
do you know what to stand on if you do
not know the Rock from the chaff, and how
can you know that by reading a few verses
or chapters at night before you doze off,
not giving them a second thought, or
worse, basing all your information on
revelation and scripture you read years
ago? God is a God of today, and I don't
care what you do or how much time you
have spent in the Bible, you don't know
it all, and yesterday's truth won't keep
you where you need to be.
Just yesterday I had the joy of
discussing some deeper stuff with a
friend of mine. She shared with me how
God was spurring her on to be bold, which
was fascinating since I have been
receiving the same direction from Him. We
talked quite a bit, and finally, it all
boiled down to one question: What is
godly boldness? Both she and I had been
obnoxious and overbearing in our
"boldness", which was really a
means of covering up our insecurity, and
we didn't want to go back there again. We
knew that was destructive and a lie. We
wanted to know what it meant to be bold
in the Lord. Neither of us knew what that
meant. Suddenly, I realized there was a
hole. I had no standard against which to
determine truth, so I did all I knew to
do. I got out my concordance, and I began
looking up every verse I could find about
boldness. I'm still studying, but I'm
sure I'll share that with you another
day.
The point is I didn't know the truth. I
had no firm foundation, so instead of
going to someone I know, I went to the
Source I know. I didn't waste my time
getting opinions. I got the Authority.
We are living in a time when prophetic
words abound. We can drown in the sea of
opinions and advice. However, we can also
make some ungodly choices based on man's
interpretation of the events occurring
around us. Modern technology makes it
possible for us to hear preaching or
spiritual teaching twenty-four hours a
day sometimes from multiple sources.
Granted, those men and women may have
good intentions, but good intentions are
not a firm foundation. We are called and
expected to test everything. The only way
to do that is to have a standard we hold
things against. God has provided the
Bible as that standard. It is our
responsibility to know it and use it to
discern His good and perfect will. If we
choose not to use God's standard with
wisdom, then we allow ourselves to be
victim to whatever whim of leadership or
media comes along, and it leaves us
teetering precariously on the hope that
those we hold in esteem and look to for
spiritual guidance are telling the
absolute truth with no human frailties or
faults being sifted in. Prayerfully, they
are, but what if they are not? Would you
know the difference?
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