As a child, I remember watching commercials for Kool-Aid with the Kool-Aid man. He was basically a big juice pitcher with hands, feet, and a smiley face who offered Kool-Aid to kids after breaking through a wall. As he walked away he would turn to the kids and exclaim, “Oh yah,” as he saw that their thirst was quenched.
-
In the innocence of my childhood, I was encouraged by the Kool-Aid man to drink Kool-Aid, but when I became older, I often heard the warning, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.” So why would people warn against drinking Kool-Aid when the commercials of my childhood showed it to be such an effective thirst quencher?
-
In 1978, a preacher by the name of Jim Jones convinced his followers to drink Kool-Aid that had poison in it. Over 900 people were so loyal to Jones that they ended up dying after drinking the poison Kool-Aid. After that event, the phrase, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid,” became a warning not to blindly follow any human leader.
-
Jesus gave warnings about false teachers long before Kool-Aid ever hit the market. He said, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15 NKJV) "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” (Matthew 24:11 NKJV)
-
The Apostle Paul gave similar warnings when he said, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” (Acts 20:29-30). He also sent this warning to a young pastor named Timothy, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” (1 Timothy 4:1-5 NKJV)
-
Around the same time that Jim Jones was feeding his followers Kool-Aid, another false teacher name Bill Gothard was gathering followers. Instead of bringing them to a commune like Jones did, he sent them back to their local churches. Many of those churches became divided as people had to decide whether to follow Gothard or the Bible. Many pastors quickly recognized Gothard as a false teacher as he began to impose dietary restrictions and discouraged marriage. Still he gained loyal followers.
-
Today Bill Gothard is an old man and does not travel around to seminars like he used to do. Still he has much influence through the ATI home school curriculum that he distributes. In the 1980’s he briefly stepped down due to a scandal involving young ladies who where volunteering at his ministry. A short time later, he returned to lead the ministry after replacing those who would have held him accountable. Sadly however many of his followers have continued to defend him no matter how much false doctrine has been exposed or how much evidence of ungodly behavior has been presented (34 different women have come forward).
-
The examples of Jim Jones and Bill Gothard should remind us as Christians that we must be followers of Christ, not of men. It should remind us as well to study the scripture and really find out if what we have been taught is correct and then reject false teachers, even if it means we have to swallow some pride and admit we were wrong for following them. For further questions or comments, please contact southtownbc@yahoo.com
Friday, February 21, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
Conditioning is not Repentance
All of our boys love playing in water. The problem is, that apart from the bathtub, their earliest experiences playing with water involved another bathroom fixture. We quickly set forth to condition them that playing in the toilet was unacceptable behavior. Eventually they learned that it was easier to leave the toilet alone than it was to suffer the consequences.
-
As they grew older, we began to notice that there was a difference between their conditioning to avoid certain behaviors and a genuine concern over doing what was wrong. We could train them to do what we expected of them, but that did not mean that their hearts had actually been changed. In other words, they really did not understand that there was anything wrong with playing in the toilet, they just knew that they would be scolded if they did it.
-
We could explain all the details about germs and messes, but our 2 year old simply was not able to understand. On the other hand, it was encouraging when our 4 year old realized he had really hurt his brothers feelings and went and told him he was sorry with genuine concern in his voice.
-
Although having concern for our fellow man is a good thing, when we sin we should have an even higher concern. We should be concerned that our sin has offended a holy God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23 NASB).
-
Sadly, too many people are more concerned about the consequences of their transgression than they are about sinning against God. The Apostle Paul had to write a letter to the Corinthians to confront their sin (the book of I Corinthians in the Bible). After being confronted, the Christians there were really sorry for what they had done. Paul then writes another letter to them where he says, “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10 NASB).
-
As we include God in the picture, we understand that the issue is more than just having sadness over our actions or avoiding the consequences of our sins. The issue is understanding that our sin is wrong in God’s eyes and thus turning from our sins to instead obey God. That is what repentance is all about.
-
Let me ask this question: If you could steal a large sum of money and never get caught and no one would know about it, would you do it? For many the answer would be “yes” because they are only concerned with the possibility of punishment or the stigma of being called a thief. Godly sorrow, however motivates us to understand that our sin is wrong regardless of whether or not we are caught. Remember God knows about all our sins. A truly repentant person wants to avoid sin because he wants to serve God.
-
God will ultimately hold us accountable for our sins, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a) But He loved us enough to pay for our sins by sending His Son to die on the cross, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b)
-
That is why it is so important that we repent and believe, not just condition our lives to avoid sin.
-
As they grew older, we began to notice that there was a difference between their conditioning to avoid certain behaviors and a genuine concern over doing what was wrong. We could train them to do what we expected of them, but that did not mean that their hearts had actually been changed. In other words, they really did not understand that there was anything wrong with playing in the toilet, they just knew that they would be scolded if they did it.
-
We could explain all the details about germs and messes, but our 2 year old simply was not able to understand. On the other hand, it was encouraging when our 4 year old realized he had really hurt his brothers feelings and went and told him he was sorry with genuine concern in his voice.
-
Although having concern for our fellow man is a good thing, when we sin we should have an even higher concern. We should be concerned that our sin has offended a holy God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23 NASB).
-
Sadly, too many people are more concerned about the consequences of their transgression than they are about sinning against God. The Apostle Paul had to write a letter to the Corinthians to confront their sin (the book of I Corinthians in the Bible). After being confronted, the Christians there were really sorry for what they had done. Paul then writes another letter to them where he says, “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10 NASB).
-
As we include God in the picture, we understand that the issue is more than just having sadness over our actions or avoiding the consequences of our sins. The issue is understanding that our sin is wrong in God’s eyes and thus turning from our sins to instead obey God. That is what repentance is all about.
-
Let me ask this question: If you could steal a large sum of money and never get caught and no one would know about it, would you do it? For many the answer would be “yes” because they are only concerned with the possibility of punishment or the stigma of being called a thief. Godly sorrow, however motivates us to understand that our sin is wrong regardless of whether or not we are caught. Remember God knows about all our sins. A truly repentant person wants to avoid sin because he wants to serve God.
-
God will ultimately hold us accountable for our sins, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a) But He loved us enough to pay for our sins by sending His Son to die on the cross, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b)
-
That is why it is so important that we repent and believe, not just condition our lives to avoid sin.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
