True or False
Each Tuesday, we begin the same way.
The seven girls in my 8th grade class slowly wake up, get settled in their classroom seats, and pull out their Bible. Standing in the front of the room, dry erase marker in one hand and notes in the other, I prepare our hearts with prayer as we enter into a new school day.
In the six and a half hours to follow, we will discuss, debate, and stretch our brains to unfathomable lengths, but for the first twenty to thirty minutes, we intentionally dive deep into the Word. Before we can nourish our minds, we know it is equally beneficial to nourish our hearts.
Over the course of this fall semester, a full fifteen weeks, I have chosen for my class to pay attention to speech. We are attending to the ways we can choose to use our words, and are identifying what the authority of scripture says about why our words matter.
It is a humbling endeavor leading middle school girls. As a now 41 year old woman, I remember that year well, don’t you? A year spent searching for identity: trying out for teams, navigating social circles and longing to find a comfortable landing place of acceptance with a cool factor, no doubt. Cliques were forming. Boys began noticing. Labels started identifying.
As I glance around the room, I notice their bodies growing to match their ever-evolving emotions and levels of understanding. They are on the cusp of womanhood, and I feel honored to be one small piece of this year in their lives. However, I would also be lying if I said it doesn’t feel weighty.
Standing before them as a leader has forced me to do a deep dive into my life as well. Leading has a funny way of making us the learner, doesn’t it?
With these verses on the whiteboard, one by one the following passages are read aloud.
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth …”
2 Timothy 2:24-25 ESV
“In looking at these passages, what is one area the Bible speaks to regarding the use of our words?”, I ask routinely.
“They show us that we can use our words to teach,” one student replies shyly, uncertain of where I”m going with this whole discussion.
“Exactly!”, I confirm.
After some further discussion around teaching I throw out, “What is the inverse action of ‘to teach’?”
“To listen.”, another contributes.
“Precisely.” Then I inquire, “How do we know who to listen to?”
Silence.
I wait a moment, allowing the pause to become only slightly uncomfortable. Then I proceed with questions like, who are the teachers in your life? What kinds of teachers are there? How do you choose who to listen to and who not to? How do you discern wise teachers from false teachers? Which teachers do you give authority to and why?
See how fun this is?
After confirming we have many in our lives who are teachers, we clarify the fact that some are an authority on certain areas and others are not. For example, a dance teacher more than likely is not an authority over Latin and vice versa. Thoughts are thrown around the room like feathers delicately falling in various places, and it is made clear how critical it is as men and women, mothers and fathers, adults and children, teachers and listeners to discern false teaching.
I recently went through a study on the book of Jude by Jackie Hill Perry, and it opened my eyes to how pervasive false teachers are in our culture and how easily we allow false statements to inform our perception of God and his world.
In Jude 1:4, it says that “certain people have crept in unnoticed, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Then in 2 Peter 2:1-3, we read that “false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.”
In Acts 20:29-30, Luke warns the early church that after his departure, “fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”
Gulp. My heart starts racing just reading these words, and yet I firmly believe it is critical for those of us who call ourselves believers to identify false teaching even among those who are “in the church”.
Our discussion continues and I share this helpful quote:
“The way you recognize false teachers, is not their degrees, or their followers, but by their fruit.” – Jackie Hill Perry
As we seek to identify what is false amidst the plethora of ideas, ideologies and instantaneous feeds, may we be mindful to ask these questions:
What or who is my authority?
Is the fruit from this person’s message consistent with that authority?
If your authority is the Bible, then we must be intentional to weigh each culturally accepted philosophy and trendy quote against the unchanging Word of God and reject anything in opposition.
If your authority is in someone or something else, then may I encourage you to analyze the fruit from a life lived accordingly?
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. - Matthew 7:15 ESV
No matter what, it is more important today than ever before to help our children discern truth from lies, to identify falsities and fallacies, and to analyze the fruit of such beliefs.
The good news? There’s always good news.
You have a guide and an authority to help you each step of the way.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness… “ - 2 Timothy 3:16 ESV
Now, lets go dive deep.