Blog

by Charlie Wolcott

When engaging in battle, one of the most important things any general must have is knowledge of the enemy. To accomplish this, one must employ spies. Many of us love the classic spy thriller. James Bond, Ethan Hunt, and even some of the kid spies such as Spy Kids or Agent Cody Banks. We love the suspense of the agent sneaking through high tech security rooms to get the critical data tape that can save or destroy the world. However, we have to recognize that we are not the only ones using spies.

There are many different types of spies. Some act as simple informants. They are locals that know the status of the city/nation. Some are infiltrators where they try to get inside the government of the organization/nation to know what the leaders are thinking. Some are double-agents, where they were sent out as a spy, but then worked for the enemy while still pretending to be a spy. But there is one type of spy I want to address, because this type is the one we as Christians see the most: the false teacher.

The false teacher is a type of spy that works for an enemy and pretends to be a valuable person to us, but their goal is to teach and to spread misinformation, or worse, to gradually turn the people against the leader. Remember my post last week about the Moral of the People. It is difficult for a leader to accomplish what needs to be accomplished if the people don’t support him. These types of spies will get into all sorts of professions, preferably influential positions. Today, such positions include educators, government officials, business managers, athletes, and Hollywood stars. Now, before I go a step further, I must clarify that not all of these people are spies. Most of them are legit, but for a spy to come in and influence the people, those are the positions they would seek to fill so they could be trusted and believed.

What really gets hairy with these types of spies is that because of their influence, those who listen to them will follow them and go along with the teachings. These false teachers cannot simply state an outright lie about the leader or the people. If it is too distinctly different from the cultural norms, anyone with half a mind will quickly catch on and figure the spy out. Instead what they do is a very gradual pull, little by little. Often the subtlety is so slight that no one recognizes when they have completely strayed off the path. And the best way to do that is to remove any concrete standard from the minds of the people so they cannot tell when they are being duped or not.

Used virtually worldwide today is a methodology called “Dialectic Thinking.” It comes from the same root as the word “dialogue.” The basic premise is this: Start with a current standard accepted by the society (SYNTHESIS), then bring in a different idea or standard (ANTITHESIS) and then have the two sides dialogue until they come up with a consensus (SYNTHESIS). This SYNTHESIS then becomes the new THESIS for the next generation/iteration.

Dialectic thinking is the same thing as “open-mindedness” and “tolerance” as they are being used today. They are open to anything and everything... except that which says there is a standard of right and wrong. And it does not take long to find out which group is making a stand and saying there IS right and wrong: the Bible-believing Christians. The dialectic process is a slow fade away from having any standard except that which the state declares, and it has been the opening of Pandora’s Box. This process has removed individual rights and voice in the name of “unity” and it is in the process of removing both the parent’s right to direct and discipline their children, but also the children’s respect for the authority of their parents. One current expert willing to step up and voice the issues going on here is Dean Gotcher. This link with his name goes to the first part of a seminar he gives on the Dialectic Process. But suffice it to say, we have a society today that refuses to acknowledge any standard of right and wrong and will vilify any who dares to suggest there is.

How did this happen? Through the use of false teachers. Spies who came in, proclaiming themselves to be the experts and convincing the masses that they need to take their word for it because they are the experts. These people are in the core of the education system, they are in the seminaries, and they are in the pulpits.

So here is the issue we have to address: who is telling the truth and who isn’t? And how do we tell? First, we have to recognize that every single person on this planet is fallen. We’ve all sinned, and we’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. Every instructor we sit in front of, with the exception of Jesus Christ, is one fallen head instructing another fallen head. They can claim to be the experts all they want, but that does not make them right. Paul said it clearly in Romans 3:4: “Let God be true and every man a liar.” Now this passage was referencing how despite the fact that we all sin and cannot carry out the Christian life on our own, God will still be faithful. But this also tells us that we need to check everything out with Scripture. This is the art of having a Berean spirit. Here is more on that.

We have to check out what everyone says with Scripture. The Bereans did not take Paul and Silas at their word. They checked them out, and found them to be legit. How many of us do that today? One does not need a PhD to tell if a science expert is blowing hot air or not. One does not need a Masters of Divinity to know if a pastor is speaking offenses against the Word of God. Nor does one need that to tell if they are speaking the truth. If you listen to the Holy Spirit, you will know when something is wrong or not. You may not know what, but you will know if something is wrong. You can have all the experts in the world telling you that you are wrong, but if you stand firm on the authority of Scripture, you can stand in confidence that God will come through. Do not fear the world, because Jesus has overcome the world. Here Jesus is talking about the worldly system. This includes the Dialectic Process. This includes Evolution. This includes political agendas. This includes emergent church thinking, and “social relevance.” This includes the “prosperity gospel” and the love of riches. Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this world and will not be merged with this world’s system. If Jesus beat the system, why join it?

Any time someone, no matter their credentials, speaks anything ill towards the Word of God, you can know where it comes from: the pit of hell. It was the lie from the beginning: “Hath God really said?” Beware of the false teacher. The list of Scriptures on this is long. Here is a sampling. 1 Timothy 6:20-21. 2 Timothy 3:15-4:4, Colossians 2:8, Romans 16:17-18, Philippians 3:17-19. And here is the freaky part of all these false teachers. They come from within our midst. They don’t come from these foreign lands and speak a strange message anyone could spot. They come from among us. They are wolves dressed like sheep. Mark them. Identify them. I understand no one is perfect. I understand no one on earth, except Jesus Christ, is ever going to have it all figured out. I’m not talking about perfection. I’m talking about those who speak ill against God’s Word, who cause confusion amongst God’s people, and ultimately who deny the authority and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Beware of the deception. Know the truth, and the truth will set you free. The way a treasurer can tell the difference between a fake dollar bill and a real dollar bill is by studying the real thing in such detail that any fake will readily stand out. We need to have that same mindset to know the Truth, God’s Word. When we know it, any fake, any false teacher will be easily spotted. If we don’t, we will be easily swept away.

This is a detailed introduction to my next post where I will address the goal of having such false teachings in our midst. Yes, the enemy is planting false teachers and lies among us, but why? What is he really after? It’s all part of a bigger plan. I’ll expose that plan next week.

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