Before we go any further into this conversation, I need to let you in on something. I do believe that we should not freely accept every form of preaching, every sermon ever delivered, or every teacher that comes our way. This is what John is teaching the church in the 1st century and I do believe it merits consideration in our churches as well. However, just because someone preaches or teaches something different from what we believe does not mean they are an apostate or that they are in error.
When you read the Gospel accounts of the life & ministry of Jesus, you will discover that He offended the religious mindsets of His day. In fact, He did it quite often. I guess when you are the embodiment of the TRUTH then it's going to happen. The problem that this posed for the religious leaders in the NT is that they were unable to hear what Jesus was saying & they could not recognize the anointing the Father had placed upon Him. The Pharisees led the people in the rejection of their Messiah. We read about it today and wonder how this is possible. We immediately think that we would have accepted Him, embraced His teaching, and followed Jesus wherever He went. If you have ever thought this way then keep on reading.
How do you handle people teaching something that is different from your understanding?
How do you respond to a sermon that teaches love, grace, and/or the finished work of Christ that goes against your own theology?
The sad truth for many Christians is that they don't handle any of these things very well. The slightest variation of "truth" will send many evangelicals running for the door and looking for the first person that will handle their complaint. I actually had someone say that a good friend of mine was "of the devil" because He read the Bible from an app on his phone in the pulpit rather than carrying a bound book. REALLY?!? Is this how far we've come in our faith?
To understand where I'm going, you must understand the context of 1 John. John is dealing primarily with Gnostic beliefs that have infiltrated the church. These beliefs cause people to question the validity of their faith. Since most Gnostics don't believe that anything holy can dwell in the flesh, they questioned whether Jesus was really God or was He really a man. This type of questioning would also lead them to believe that there is no way Christ dealt with sin at the Cross because people were still sinning today. Sound familiar? How many people in today's church question whether or not God truly dealt with the nature of Adam? How many today question whether or not God truly dealt with sin through the death, burial & resurrection of Jesus? Could it be that some Gnostic beliefs have actually been accepted by the church? The point is that when we begin to accept things that go against the basic understanding of the Gospel (Jesus Christ come in the flesh to redeem all of humanity) then we are in danger of falling away from the TRUTH.
WAIT...I told you that I would address some of the issues that come from those who take John's warning to the nth degree. Here goes:
1) They can only accept teaching/preaching that comes from their particular denomination
2) Heretics/Apostates now come in the form of those who teach something contrary to their opinion
3) They refuse to accept any of these people on the basis of their faith in Christ and therefore are unable to recognize the Lord at work in them.
4) It creates an us against them mentality where the church rails against the church
5) It gives us a sense of superiority rather than allowing us to remain teachable
I could list more issues but I think you get the point. While John's warning to the early church is important for us even today, the way we handle it isn't through denominationalism. What he encouraged the church to do then still works for us now: Test the spirits. He tells them to not believe every one. That's some good advice. I think we have that down (for the most part). However, the testing part of this equation has kept us from accepting a lot of truth over the centuries. When the only voice we will hear sounds just like ours then we never have to test. And that my friends is how most churches handle this particular problem. We eliminate error through indoctrination. We never validate the beliefs of others. We never expose ourselves to thinking outside of our own. But what we do not realize is that because of this we do not grow.
I'm grateful for the upbringing that I had in my faith. I have sat under a lot of good pastors through the years. I have heard a lot of sermons and listened to a lot of quality teaching. However, just like flowers are never meant to spend their entire existence in a greenhouse, we are not meant to be nursed for the rest of our Christian lives. Ever wonder why the writer of Hebrews expressed the need for the believers to mature in their understanding? Ever wonder why the Bible clearly tells the church that they should already be teachers? What blows me away is that I read about these things as it relates to the 1st Century church. Is it any wonder that we have the same problems within the church today? If your faith is never tested then how will you know the validity of it? Exposing our lives to the teaching of others can challenge our faith in healthy ways. In fact, it should be the norm of our lives. The Holy Spirit within us will guide us in all TRUTH. We don't have to worry about being carried away if we allow Him to lead us. I have learned a lot of valuable Kingdom lessons by exposing myself to those who were outside of my denominational lines (not that my denominational lines are as fixed as others). What happens in this process is that we learn how to read the Bible for ourselves. We learn how to remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit. And we learn how to accept God's anointing upon the lives of others.
So how will I know if someone is teaching false doctrine?
My simple answer is this:
***Pay attention to how they handle the Deity of Christ. This was the litmus test that John used so I think it will work for us as well.
***Trust the Holy Spirit. He is way more capable than you are in sniffing out error. He is the Spirit of Truth.
***Learn how to eat the meat and throw out the bones.
All of these tips will help you to walk in love with any person that thinks differently than you do about spiritual matters. It will also keep you humble, teachable, and eager to learn.
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