I may be stepping out on a limb by making this statement: Your spiritual leadership and the teaching of Doctrinal truth that you receive needs to be coming from your local Church. If you are a believer in Christ you need to be involved in a local Church that will help protect you from every wind of doctrine. If you are a woman and love to go to all the latest conferences-with all the super-star Christian women teachers out there-you need to check her teaching with your Pastor and Elders first. There are dangers and deceptions abounding-and we need help. That is why God gave us Pastors and leaders. The Local Church is God's idea and we need to be under that Spiritual care, Heb. 13:17.
Eph 4:11-15
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
ESV
2 Tim 4:3-5
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
ESV
Ladies-I am to the point where I wonder if we should attend these events that are happening outside of our local Church. The bible makes it so clear that women are more easily deceived than men spiritually, 1 Tim. 2:14. Have we ever lived in a more dangerous environment for truth than modern day religious America?
May I ask for your thoughts on this? If you decide to comment and you disagree with me-please explain why-Biblically.
May I recommend 2 very good resources that you should add to your library to help with discerning truth?
The Truth War- by John MacArthur
The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment-by Tim Challies
It's very popular to dislike the local church today, and I understand because I've been very close to abandoning it myself. I would add to your list, Why We Love the Church by DeYoung, Victoria. You're speaking the truth in love, and I offer a hearty "Amen."
ReplyDeleteAmen, Victoria. I am also concerned for sisters who have a steady diet of books and messages only by women. It's so easy to go off if you don't consider the whole counsel of God and the whole framework of scripture, which is why we need to listen to godly men who can rightly divide the Word.
ReplyDeleteAnother Amen here. I totally agree. Although, let us keep praying for more sound churches! My hunch would be that most of these women are encouraged to go to/read these things by the leaders in their church.
ReplyDeleteThank you ladies fro your comments--I know that there are local churches out there that contribute to the problem-I know because I was in one. We just need to pray for faithful men to lead faithful Churches. I almost gave up on the Local Church myself, Tricia. I managed to hang in there until the Lord made a way for me to join a Church that was committed to truth and men who would lead and direct. I understand that not everyone has that option. I thank God that now I do.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you. In fact, I would go even further and say that sometimes the women's bible studies in solid churches need to be examined closely by the men in leadership in the church. There must be followup and accountability in these studies. I've personally always wondered why it was the women who were studying the bible regularly instead of the men?
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to understand why the men would need to study the Bible - they teach, lead prayer in church, lead worship and preach. Yet in alot of churches (most?) the men as a group do not study the Bible. As a result oftentimes they get up to lead worship or pray and are tongue-tied. They can't find the words, and the things they say do not sound particularly biblical. Or they always say the same things. It doesn't sound like they have picked up their bibles in years. If asked about something biblical they can't answer beyond a few words.
But go to these same men's wives and they are able to understand or explain biblical ideas. They are able to teach, pray or give good counsel. It is a real puzzle to me....
My problem with what you've said is that there are very few solid local churches, at least where I live. Churches today regularly compromise with the culture. I am all for submitting to the leadership of a local church, however, my ultimate pastor is Jesus Christ, who gives me discernment through His Word.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill
ReplyDeleteI understand that there are few really good local Churches in this country. I have been in a few bad ones myself. I am blessed to be in a very good one with strong teaching and healthy leadership. Having read your background I know that you are in a much stronger position for discerning truth than the average believer or the new believer. I am most concerned about that group of people. I am concerned that for the most part the TV preachers and the para-Church teachers that many of these folks listen to-are not good sources of truth at all. I am not sure what young believers are to do when they are in bad Churches with no alternative. There are very few people if any who come to an understanding of the Doctrines of Grace without help from good teachers. There are many good reformed teachers-almost all that one can name are involved deeply in a Church.
My special concern is for women who are being mislead by some of the popular women speakers. If I name those speakers(and eventually I may need to), I am going to have to start moderating my comments.
Thanks for the thoughtful response, Vicki. I agree that discernment is difficult. But like every Christian, I didn't start out knowing too much! When the Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on my door when I was 16 trying to convince me that there was no such thing as the trinity or the Mormons tried to get me to rely on the feelings of my heart to discern the truth or when a Christian teacher tried to convince me that knowledge was the ultimate goal of the Christian life, all those things occurred in my teenage years and I doubt if I was in a great position then in terms of discernment.
ReplyDeleteHere are three verses that have helped me. First,John 10:4-5: "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”" I knew Christ's voice because I belonged to him and I knew the Scriptures were the place where I would hear his voice.
Second, John 7:17: "Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own." I knew, because of this verse, that so much of being led in the truth had to do with my own willingness to submit to God's will. If I was unwilling to submit to his will, there was also a good chance I would not know it.
Third, Acts 17:11: "Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." If even an apostle's words must be judged against the Scripture, then how much more our pastor's and elders?!
Discernment is difficult and I'm not sure there are shortcuts. It requires regeneration. It requires confession and repentance. It requires submissiveness to Jesus and his Word. It requires reading and study. But most of all it is about knowing him.
In the garden, Mary, a woman, recognized his voice. We have to get to know him so well that we know his voice, and then it becomes easy to turn away from strangers or even friends and pastors who are giving us "strange" advice.
Anyway, that's how I view it.
All I can say is a hearty Amen, Bill!
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