Discerning Demons

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
(Philippians 1:9 – ESV)

Generally speaking, no one wants to do things the wrong way. As Christians we want to do what is right and do it in the right way. The problem can be pragmatism, however, when we want to do what works thinking that this automatically makes it the right way, and so therefore the right thing to do. Conversely, we can have all our doctrinal ducks lined up in a row and still not apply them to our lives properly, and nothing works at all.

The key is to be found where the flaw is. Is the teaching based upon a flaw in application or a flaw in the foundation?

In learning to discern these things, we can fall off the righteous road and into one of either two ditches to the side. The first is where we are too careless in our acceptance of things that claim the name of God, but are fundamentally flawed. We look at the beautiful building and all the people it has helped, but we don’t realize it is just a house of cards.

Now the other side of the ditch is where we are too critical about things that claim the name of God, and look for cracks by picking with our axe. Many seem to think grinding their axe is the same thing as wielding the sword of the Spirit. We use it to cut down others but we are really just committing spiritual suicide.

I don’t want to demonize people or programs but I do want to discern what is truly biblical and what is not, and to develop a truly biblical model and method to all that I do. I don’t want to just swallow everything that looks good and think I can eat the meat and spit out the bones, but I also don’t want to fall into the other side of the ditch, inflating and exaggerating every little problem and making it to be part of some conspiracy theory.

I believe that there are many people who are wrapped up in heretical teachings that are nonetheless truly saved. This would also be true of other movements that have some troubling theology, though not all errors can be reconciled. What we want is to be discerning, but we never want to turn ourselves into the “only discerning remnant” that has all truth by isolating the mind from rational thought and logical, biblical analysis of facts and texts.

We want to truly understand other positions and not simply make characterizations and mischaracterizations about them because this is intellectually lazy and biblically dishonest. We don’t need paranoia and feelings as if we are some persecuted remnant to turn us into some “us four and no more” type of cult. It is not about “us” and “them” but about what the text truly teaches, and we should be ever learning and discerning to that end.

No, we will never find any comprehensive teaching with absolutely no error, but yes, when we find teachings and discipleship models that are fundamentally flawed, we should go to other resources instead. There can be differing opinions on secondary issues, and different ideas about the implementation of biblical knowledge into our lives. I don’t want to discredit someone or something just because it isn’t done my way. However, it does discredit someone if they will not endeavor to do it the biblical way.

The biblical way is having an overflowing love, guided by knowledge and discernment.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©