Gullible or Grounded

     Gullible – If you are gullible, the joke is on you because you are easily fooled. It is thought that gullible might be derived from the verb gull, meaning “to swallow.” This would be a funny coincidence as gullible describes an overly trusting person who tends to swallow whatever hears whole.   https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/gullible.

     Scripture warns me (1 John 4:1-6). Rather than being gullible, the imperative is to “test the spirits.” Dad’s advice to me was similar, “Just because it is written on a piece of paper doesn’t make it true. The sheet of paper just lies there. A writer can write anything he chooses, true or false.” Pete E. Sanders 

  1. W. Tozer went much further in his article entitled “How to Try the Spirits” (adapted from, Moody Monthly[12/79], pp. 51-55). He provided probing questions for me to apply to any teaching. Just here, however, we are thinking specifically of the prophetic Word and our current study. Consider his advice:
  2. How does the teaching affect my relationship with God? Is He magnified and glorified, or   

                diminished?

  1. How does the teaching affect my attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ? Does it magnify Him and

                give Him first        

                place? Or, does it subtly shift my focus onto myself or some experience?

  1. How does the teaching affect my attitude toward Scripture? Did the teaching come from and agree

                with the Word? Does it increase my love for the Word?

  1. How does the teaching affect my self-life? Does it feed self or crucify it? Does it feed pride or

                humility?

  1. How does the teaching affect my relationships to other Christians? Does it cause me to withdraw, find

              fault, and exalt myself in superiority? Or, does it lead me to genuine love for all that truly know Christ?

  1. How does the teaching affect my relationship to the world system? Does it lead me to pursue the lust of

              the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life? Does it lead me to pursue worldly riches,

              reputation, and pleasures? Or, does it crucify the world to me?

  1. How does the teaching affect my attitude toward sin? Does it cause me to tolerate sin in my life or to

              turn from it and grow in holiness? Any teaching that makes holiness more acceptable and sin more

              intolerable is genuine. 

     Jesus warned His disciples of the same. Speaking to the prophetic questions they had just asked, Jesus answered, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many (Matt 24:4–5 NASV95). 

     Commentaries of whichever sort, written, recorded, or spoken, are not necessarily correct, presenting error, nor are they necessarily nefarious. So, how is the audience/the student to know? What protects me in my studies and search for the truth?

     The Holy Spirit is my Guide, my resident Tutor. It is He that “will disclose to you what is to come (John 16:13).” The Holy Spirit, the compiler of Holy Writ, is my singular, credible resource.

 

Mike Sanders is a member of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY, and teaches a men’s class there.  He is a former Church of Christ minister and retired UPS pilot.