Scattered across the pages of the New Testament, we find several passages admonishing believers not to fall prey to clever sounding arguments.
“…I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments that sound reasonable…” (Col. 2:4; cf. 1 Cor. 1:17-25)
The Greeks sought ‘wisdom’ and the Athenians, in particular, “used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to something new” (Acts 17:21b). In some ways, our culture reminds me of this. I am amazed at some of the subjects that have scholarly articles written about them. I just finished perusing an article about a book, whose subtitle is “The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships.” Is this guy reading the same Bible I’m reading? My Bible says:
“For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Rom. 1:26-27)
Now, before people begin labeling me as hateful (which is our culture’s agreed-upon title for anyone who is daring enough to point out this truth), let me pause and say that: 1) I am NOT saying that we should find our same-sex neighbor and stone them, which is the attitude that some Christians take and thereby earn a label for the rest of us. 2) I AM saying that homosexuality, according to the Bible, is a sin. You don’t need to be a scholar to figure that out. However, we are still supposed to love those people, and I don’t mean ‘love’ in the sense of condoning their actions. Real love seeks what is highest and best for the person. In this case, the best thing would be for the person to get saved, or, in the case of a believer, to repent of the sin and be restored to fellowship with God and the church.
If you pay attention, you will begin to notice how these ‘new’ teachings are an attempt to blend the values and beliefs of mainstream culture with the Bible. And apparently, some have deceived themselves into thinking that these things are what the Bible taught all along, but we are just now being enlightened by modern culture. Our culture affirms that mainstream Christianity is okay, just as long as you’re not one of those “fundamentalists” who actually believes what the Bible says.
Another hot-button item that often creeps in is evolution. Yes, you can easily find hundreds of articles written by scholars and scientists who espouse the teachings of evolution, and some of them are Christians. Such Christians are on the unstable ground of trying to fit modern cultural ideas into the Bible. You may find a clever way to make it fit, but try asking yourself, “Is that really what God meant when He inspired the Scriptures?” Otherwise, who am I to say that Noah wasn’t just the first environmentalist, as portrayed in the movie, Noah?
These days, there is a movement often called the emerging church. Trying to define it is like trying to grasp a wet, slippery fish, but from the little reading and studying I have done, it seems to encourage people that it is okay to undermine the authority of Scripture. Since it seeks to be open and accepting of all, it takes many different forms. Sometimes proponents incorporate eastern mysticism, environmentalism, or try to redefine uncomfortable things like hell and condemnation. Unfortunately, not everything in the Bible makes us feel good. I can’t stand the thought of millions of people from all eras of history suffering an eternal torment. However, that is the teaching of Scripture.
“Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death – the lake of fire. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:14-15)
I have noticed that all these issues are not often isolated from each other. If someone begins to accept one of them, usually it eventually drags the other ones along with it. Unfortunately, I know a dozen or so people that have gone down this path, and it breaks my heart. Some have decided they are now atheists. Many of them have had the same training as me and are more intelligent than I. If you are headed in that direction, I beg you not to let your intelligence get in the way. I’m not saying “don’t think.” I have had my own share of doubts. However, I have come to realize that there will always be things I don’t completely understand. I am finite. But just because I don’t understand something doesn’t make it untrue.
“So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching…” (Eph. 4:14)