I am blown away by the Christians who are duped. They fail to see pastors who preach a wacked out theology. They fail to see people and/or organizations who promise spiritual growth… but all for a fee. They fail to see Christian leaders who use their position, authority, or power for their own financial benefit or to puff themselves up. Basically, they fail to see a counterfeit gospel. In fact, counterfeit Christianity is rampant today. So, what Christians need more than anything right now is DISCERNMENT. Discernment is the ability to tell right from wrong… to tell a fake Christianity from a TRUE Christianity. Sadly, though, discernment is hard to find in the church.
I think it’s worth our time to discuss this. Because you and I CAN walk in discernment but we must learn where it comes from and how to achieve it. First, Christians often think that having the Holy Spirit automatically insures we have discernment. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, the Holy Spirit does lead us to the truth but discernment needs to be nurtured. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, but none of us are given great discernment at the moment of salvation.
So, how can we achieve godly discernment? The psalmist asks for it when he writes: “Give discernment to me, your servant; then I will understand your laws” (Psalm 119:125). Of course, asking is always a good thing. James says basically the same thing: “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you” (James 1:5). Here’s the thing… I think the kind of discernment that’s needed today goes deeper than just asking. The writer of Hebrews says: “Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong” (Hebrews 5:14). This verse tells us two things… discernment comes from a mature faith. And mature faith comes from training. In other words, mature faith needs to be nurtured, trained.
From Acts 2:42, the early Christians show us three prominent ways we can become mature in our faith…
1) Study God’s Word! Don’t just read it but study it. I’m a strong advocate of Bible study. The early Christians devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. They listened and sought to obey God’s mandates. Get involved in a Bible study.
2) Community! Christian community helps us grow our faith exponentially. We learn from each other. We hold each other up in prayer and hold one another accountable. The early Christians devoted themselves to fellowship.
3) Nurture a relationship with Jesus! This is communication. Spend time in prayer and communing with Jesus. The early Christians devoted themselves to prayer. Seek to know Him more and keep walking with Him every day.
When we put these three things into practice, we will become mature in our faith and discernment will grow. And with discernment comes the ability to know right from wrong. We will be able to easily pick out those counterfeit gospels invading the church. Let this encourage you today.