There is no way I have false teachings in my life... Oh crap! 1

I am a lifer.  One of those christians that has spent their entire life in the church.  Sundays.  Wednesdays. Private christian education. Youth group.  You name it I have been there, done that.  I have had doctrine poured into and over me as long as I can remember.  I’m grateful. 

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that I had brought false teachings into my own home and was even using them to teach my children.  I mean, if anyone was qualified to hear and recognize false teachings it would be me. Ask me what is off in the many popular religions out there and I can tell you, no problem.  The Apostle Paul and John, the Apostle that penned the book of I John would be proud.  Or would they?

Honestly, I should have know better. The enemy is crafty2, he doesn’t walk around with a poster board of Buddha trying to trip up us “lifers”!  Oh no, he holds out Jesus, slightly modified, carefully disguised as to not call any attention to the false teachings he presenting and the way he is misrepresenting the Gospel.3 

In fact, it can sound so inviting.  An invitation to be more spiritually mature. But, Paul said in Galatians, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and you are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all.  Our first thought is to think, “My my, what were those Galatians up too? A different gospel?  That sounds serious, I would never.” 

Really? Turns out this lifer was very much a Galatian, turning to a different gospel.  For the people in a Galatia, it was trying to earn God’s grace.  Yep, you read that right.  They weren’t worshipping idols, they were simply working hard to follow all the rules so that God would approve of them... love them.  Oh, we could spend some time here, but not today.  

So , what is the Gospel.  We must first know what it is, so that we can recognize if there is a “different gospel” in our lives.  Let’s look at I Corinthians 15:1-4 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.  Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

I wonder if maybe some of you turned your “reading speed” to turbo through those verses.  Oh I get it, I’ve heard that so many times before I can just skip over that or race through it.  Like I said, “been there, done that.”  

Let me cut to the chase.  Jesus warns us “Watch out that no one deceives you.”4 I am not one to ruffle feathers, I like everyone to just be happy; but it was the courage, of a godly woman, to say something, that showed me the false teachings that I had allowed in to my own home. That was about 8 months ago, and since then I have seen over and over again how this one little book has permeated so many christian homes. 5 In fact, when my dad died, a man from the church came to encourage and pray with us.  In his hand he held a leather bond book with gold leaf pages, no doubt a Bible.  But, when he opened it, it was not the word of God it was this same book, a different gospel.  Hear me when I say, I know this man was truly believing that he was bringing the word of God to us, and that is the part that makes me shutter.  Satan is so crafty, he has wormed his way into our homes, into our churches and onto our Facebook pages and we don’t even know it!

Sometime ago, I read a book6 that helped me to uncover some of the false teachings that are in our church today.  I have to admit as I started reading I was very confused so many of the things they talked about made me say “What on earth is wrong with that? That’s sounds like a good thing.”  Things like prayer journaling7, listening, automatic writing, contemplative prayer8, getting off by yourself in the woods and experiencing God, going on a spiritual quest, seeking God’s presence9 etc. I mean come on, all those things sound awesome!  I want to grow, be more, have more and these all sound like really awesome ways to get there.  But I was desperate for truth and so I prayed for wisdom and discernment, I grabbed a journal and pen and wrote down all my questions and things that confused me and I went in skeptical, how could there possibly be anything wrong with any one of these things.  But here is what I found at the end of that exercise.  All of these things sound amazing and super spiritual and must haves for the mature christian, but they are really just man’s attempts to reach God and that is absolutely a different gospel.  

What was the Gospel again? Christ died for our sins, he was buried and raised on the third day.  We can not reach God, it is by his mind boggling grace that he reaches down out of heaven to rescue us. 

I can almost hear some of you saying, “Geez, Cija.  What is the big deal? I know all that, I am just trying to grow, have a deeper relationship with God. I think maybe you are over reacting.”  Yes, I thought that too.  But it turns out I am not. 

There is a really good example of men trying to reach God in Genesis 11:4 “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we can make a name for ourselves.”  But, God would have none of it. Why? Because we can not reach Him! It was a deception!  Satan was fooling them into thinking that they could do anything to save themselves or reach some higher knowledge of God on their own.  It’s a lie, we can do nothing on our own! Only he can rescue us! Only he can draw us closer to him. It was a false gospel then and it’s a false gospel now.

I get it.  I want a closer and deeper relationship too.  But there is only one way, and that one way is Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us.  He is the author and finisher of our faith10.

The Gospel is simple. Jesus died for our sins, he was buried and raised on the third day.  Now we watch 11 and wait 12 for Him to return and while we wait we are to go into all the world and preach the Good News, the Gospel, and  follow the example of the early church in Acts 2, devoting ourselves to biblical teaching, fellowship, communion and to prayer. This is how you grow. 

Colossians 1:9 - 14 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.  And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  

I am grateful for the woman who had the courage to say something, it would be be wrong of me to not turn around and do the same for the people I love and care about.  XOXO Cija

¹ Sorry to many episodes of “Reba” and “Everyone Loves Raymond”

² I Peter 5:8, Gensis 3:1

³ Genesis 3:1 Did God really say…

⁴ Matthew 24:4

⁵ “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young.  I know! WHAT? No way!  I read it the whole thing, bought the children’s version and read it to my kids, and bought several other copies for my friends!  I did not believe it, there is no way!!  But, I encourage you to take time to read the self penned forward in her book and how she came to write it. One of the most frightening statements to me was “I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more.” What? More than the Word of God? Did he forget something??

⁶ Castles in the Sand by Carolyn A. Greene

⁷ Prayer Journaling/Listening/Automatic Writing/- this is not writing your prayers in a journal.  “In your journal, you write down your prayer or question to God. Then, focusing on Jesus, you listen for the Holy Spirit’s answer, and write down what you believe He is saying. I find that the Holy Spirit’s ‘voice’ usually comes as a series of light, gentle impressions. I need to tune in to these to hear what He is saying.”  Umm... all the answers to need are in the Bible. 

⁸ Contemplative Prayer - this is not thinking while praying.  Contemplative prayer begins with “centering prayer” a meditative practice where the practitioner focuses on a word and repeats that word over and over for the duration of the exercise. The purpose is to clear one’s mind of outside concerns so that God’s voice may be more easily heard. After the centering prayer, the practitioner is to sit still, listen for direct guidance from God, and feel His presence. Although this might sound like an innocent exercise, this type of prayer has no scriptural support whatsoever. Prayer is comprehendible communication with God, not an esoteric, mystical meditation. www.gotquestions.org

⁹ Seeking God’s presence is not necessary, he is omnipresent and said “I will never leave you!”

¹⁰ Hebrews 12:2

¹¹ gregoreo - to watch, give strict attention to, be cautious

¹² qavah - to wait, look for, hope, expect