Practicing Discernment in Your Inbox September 3, 2008
Posted by jasonlowe in Uncategorized.trackback
While I was driving to class tonight, I heard an excerpt from WAY FM‘s evening show with Wally. Wally is an interesting and entertaining character and he was joking about the email forwards that Christians like to send. His punchline was that “God doesn’t have a computer” which drew an afternoon laugh from me. However, the more I think about it, I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.
Ed Stetzer recently published a post on his website about Evangelical Gullibility, and he asks the question, “Does anyone still have a Bible and some common sense?” He then states that he wonders if Christians are just gullible. John MacArthur (and others) makes a similar point in the helpful book, Fool’s Gold? Discerning Truth in an Age of Error. He writes, “If you think everything you read or hear on Christian radio and television is reliable teaching, then you are a prime target for doctrinal deception. If you think everyone who appears to love the truth really does, then you don’t undertand the wiles of Satan.”
The Apostle Paul tells us how to practice discernment in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22: “test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” Using this text, MacArthur then leads the reader through the practice of discernment (1) in your local bookstore, (2) in your local church, and (3) in your daily life. I would like to add one more category: practicing discernment in your inbox.
I have received hundreds of emails over the years forwarded from Christian brothers and sisters which typically follow this outline:
- A statement in the subject that says something along the lines, “I’m not taking a chance on breaking this! No way!”
- The email then shares a nice little devotional, story, or cute sayings of children in church (some of which are quite funny!)
- It then closes the story with some type of prayer.
- Here comes the discernment warning: the email usually tells you to pray the special prayer found in the message and then forward on the email to a certain number of people in order to receive a special blessing from God (it could be financial, physical, emotional, etc.).
- The message then ends with a similar statement as that found in the introduction, “I need a blessing, so I’m not about to take a chance and break this!”
I’m sure if you are reading this, you probably can recall numerous emails similar to the one I just described. Chances are, you’ve probably forwarded them on (as I have in the past). But, when we follow the Apostle Paul’s teaching in 1 Thessalonians 5, we should exercise discernment and think twice about forwarding on those emails. While these emails may cheer us up and give us a nice break, we need to ask ourselves, does the Bible actually teach these things? Does the Bible teach that God can be manipulated in such a way to render a blessing on us just because we have forwarded a magical email or prayed a special prayer? Does the Bible teach that God is just a genie in a bottle?
These are serious questions that I’m afraid too many Christians don’t even think about. Still others may think about these issues, but don’t see the danger. In fact, you may even now be thinking, “Come on, how legalistic can you be? Lighten up. It’s all in good fun to cheer someone up. What harm can it do?” Similar logic was proposed in the Garden of Eden with deadly consequences. Remember the words of the Apostle Paul: “But test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” Christians must ask themselves, “In light of Scripture’s teaching on discernment, should I forward on emails that include teachings that are contrary to the biblical teaching on God or prayer?” That leads to one more question, “Are teachings that are contrary to God’s Word classified as good or evil?” I believe the answer is clear.
So, the next time you open your Inbox and find a forward from a Christian brother or sister, don’t just blindly forward it along. Take the time to read it, and ask yourself the question, “Is there anything in this message that contradicts God’s Word?” If so, don’t feel bad if you click the trash can. You can then share with the person who sent it to you why you chose not to forward it on. In this way, we are using God’s Word as it is intended in 2 Tim 3:16: “for teaching, reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
May we all practice biblical discernment in our Inbox!
I just received a forward with a picture of Jesus and the following message attached to it:
“The President of Argentina received this picture and called it ‘junk mail’, 8 days later his son died. A man received this picture & immediately sent out copies..his surprise was winning the lottery. Alberto Martinez received this picture, gave it to his secretary to make copies but they forgot to distribute: she lost her job & he lost his family. This picture is miraculous & sacred. Forward to 1O people.”
The sad thing is that this message was forwarded 7 times before it got to me with the sender adding the comment that they “couldn’t take the chance and not send it”.
Is the picture miraculous & sacred? No.
Is the person in the picture miraculous & sacred? Without a doubt!
Will people listen to this message and forward on the email? Yes, because it’s easy and it requires nothing from them.
Will people listen to the message of the gospel and confess Jesus Christ as their Savior and repent of their sins? Some do, but many won’t because it’s hard and it requires everything from them.
May we continue to pray for biblical discernment and may we take action in our churches to train disciples so that they can stand up against such faulty beliefs!