Be Aware of Red Flags

Remember the song, “Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear…. Be Careful Little Eyes What You See,”? Take that little song to heart even as adults.  

“Test everything. Do not take what any preacher says as gospel truth.” I heard this all my life starting at a young age. At my little church of about 25 on a good day, we had a different preacher every week. Brent came every first Sunday. Earle came every second Sunday. A local man, like my dad or uncle, spoke on third Sunday..and so on. I often remember the preacher admonishing us to search out scripture for ourselves; read, study and test everything. 

I think I took those words to heart more than I thought. It became natural to me to take notes and look up verses about the topics spoken about. That is evident in the amount of small notebooks I have on my bookshelf. When one is full of notes, I get another. There was a period of time when my kids were small and needed attention in church so I could not take notes and my heart ached.

I read a little bit of every thing and test it all with scripture. I have a great writing book that was written by a Buddhist. I don’t discount her writing advice. For all the times she mentions Buda, I replace it with the Holy Spirit and it works just fine. I’ve read Deepak Chopa, Jehovahs Witness’ magazines (when the sweet lady drops them off at my house), Catholic magazines and even learned about a cult because someone I know  was being enticed. I think I can do this because I always filter what I hear and see through scripture. I have also had some of the best conversations with others because I knew a little knowledge about their view.  

Are you one to test everything? Do you test anything? Do you filter everthing through God’s Word? If not, I admonish you to be careful. Don't take anything as truth or allow what you hear to twist solid Biblical truth you already have planed in your heart. Look it up yourself. God can reveal things to you that he won't reveal to someone else. God may show you something you need at that specific time that he didn't show the preacher or the author or the lady standing on your porch. God will speak to you uniquely. 

What happens when people don't filter everything through the Word (all of it) and character of God. What if they don't agree with some Biblical knowledge they heard because it is not what they have been taught or it is not what their ‘denomination’ believes? Some look up a verse to help prove their position. They take one verse out of context and say, “See, see!” That is very dangerous. Let’s take this verse for example: Peter said in 2 Peter 3:16, “Paul writes the same way in all his letters….His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” It has been written that Paul, because of this verse, cannot be trusted. It has been written that Galatians, because of this verse, really means the exact opposite of what it seems to teach. With this logic, all of Paul’s writings should be dismissed…all 13 books. Now, some red flags should have been popping up! When something I read essentially tells me to discount 13 books of the New Testament, I tend to study and read and pray even more.

Taking this logic stated above further and being consistent, we should also discount everything Jesus said in a parable too because they are hard to understand. Very illogical! I think, many things in the Scriptures are hard to understand because they were being written with the very Spirit of God. Also, we tend to put teaching into a worldly/physical context when it is referring to a heavenly/spiritual context. Who can fully understand that? For example, Jesus was coming as the king of his kingdom. Leaders thought that meant Jesus was supposed to be physically sitting on the throne with robes and crowns. But, He meant it as his heavenly kingdom. 1 Corinthians 13 says we only know in part. I take much comfort in that verse. We don’t even know everything in this world and we certainly don’t know or understand the heavenly realm. But, with the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ in our heart and our full surrender to it, we can know and understand so much.

I encourage you to test everything. When red flags go up in your spirit, listen, and do some studying to allow the Lord to speak to you. Don’t believe someone just because they have published a bunch of books or because it’s what you have always known or because your denominational rules say so. Be alert and search Scripture so you are not mislead. I read some writings, from a Christian no less, that urged people to stop celebrating the Savior. Red flag! Red flag! Stop celebrating my Savior??? Let's all celebrate our Lord Jesus and keep in-step with the Spirit so we can see the checkered flag!

Blessings and happy studying!!