I love the fact that I get to serve at a Christian school. Not only do I get to teach math, but more importantly I get to weave Scripture into everything I do in class. This past week was no exception.
I read part of Ephesians 4 in class, specifically highlighting vv. 11-15. In the context, Paul reminds us that we are taught the Word of God for several reasons: the equipping of the saints, the work of the ministry, the edifying of the body of Christ, the unity of the faith, the knowledge of Jesus, the growth to a perfect man in the fullness of Christ, and more. I focused on v. 14, which tells us we grow in the Word so we will not remain as children, tossed about by false doctrine and the tricks of men. Rather, because of the Word, we are able to speak the truth in love and grow up in all things in Christ.
I shared with my students that the only way they can trust what they are hearing is to filter it through the Bible. I gave several examples of this, including the movie "Catch Me If You Can". The story is about Frank Abignale, Jr., a true story about a man who made counterfeit checks and stole money from several companies. He was eventually arrested and served time in prison. However when he had served his time, he was hired by the FBI to help with identifying conterfeit checks. In fact, he was so good at his job that someone asked him about it, wondering how he got so good at spotting fake checks. Frank's response was that he had studied real checks so much that it was easy to spot the fake ones.
My message to my students was simple: you'll only know truth if you've studied the only truth so well that you can easily spot something that's fake. There are too many things in this world that sound almost like biblical truth, but they fall short in some way. Some fall short in a big way, usually in terms of their view of Jesus Christ. The only way you can know for sure is to line it up against God's Word. If it fails the comparison test, then it's a fake.
I saw this revealed again this morning. I've been able occasionally to watch some preaching on TV on Sunday mornings before church. Today, I watched two TV preachers. One was Dr. David Jeremiah, and I can tell you I trust his teaching. He did an awesome job today with Philippians 2. Then I watched another TV preacher, who's name I will not use, but he is a very popular preacher of a very large church. The second preacher largely encouraged his congregation in the complete opposite direction of what I believe the Bible teaches about serving one another and relationships. The first guy preached on how Jesus was the ultimate example of a servant, coming to earth as the God man. The second guy preached on how we should cut off those people who drain us and we should focus on our own destiny, using no Scripture to back up his words.
God does not want us to be confused. That's one reason we have the Bible. It's our textbook for life. But more than that, it is truth. I encourage you to apply Frank Abignale, Jr.'s idea to the Christian realm. Know the Word of God so well that you can easily spot what is fake. Let the Holy Spirit affirm it in your heart and give you the power to live it in your life.
Pastor Randy
