Valerie Rae Hanneman
September 10, 2004
1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (NIV)
Before we get too far into this writing I want to make two important points. First, Fawn is now 21 and seems to have survived having me for a parent. Second - I have never said that I was anything but a sinner saved by grace.
One day, when Fawn was in the fifth grade, she was helping me feed our dog, Rikki. Rikki, a large-breed dog, was at the screen door leaping into the air, trying to turn herself inside-out, in joyous anticipation of being fed. “Rikki really wants her food! She’s acting crazy!” Fawn said to me. “That is because dog food really tastes good.” I answered. “How do you know?” she asked, “It doesn’t smell good.” “Oh, I have eaten it before and I like it.” I lied. (Remember - sinner saved by grace) Fawn, that bright little child, gave me a very skeptical look. “Fawn,” I said, “Rikki’s dog food is made from the same cows that McDonald’s hamburgers are made from - and you like those don’t you?” (I failed to mention that they were made from different parts of the cow.) She nodded in agreement. “Rikki likes to eat your food, so she must like the same tastes as you do and look at how much she wants this food! The only difference between dog food and our food is that they add more of the vitamins that dogs need to the dog food. Why don’t you try it?” There was still a touch of wariness about Fawn. “Does it really taste good, Mom?” she asked me. I looked into the innocent china-blue eyes of my precious daughter and said, “Oh yeah, Fawn. You’ll like it! Here, have some.” And then I served my daughter a spoonful of dog food. Now for those of you who are thinking what a terrible parent I am - don’t worry - I got my comeuppance. That dog food stayed in Fawns mouth less than a nano-second then she spit it out all over the floor and me. Needless to say - she was quite upset at me and it was awhile before I got all her ruffled feathers smoothed down. (I think the price tag included a trip to Baskin Robbins to wash the taste of the dog food out.)
Sometimes people will tell us things that are not the truth. Sometimes they do it on purpose because they think your reaction will be funny. Sometimes they do it innocently because the incorrect information has been given to them. Sometimes they don’t know what the truth is and so they will tell you something to divert you, and sometimes they don’t tell the truth because they purposely want to get you off-track.
This is true in life and it is true in the church as well. I remember attending Sonday School as a child and hearing the story of how Adam and Eve ate the forbidden apple and because of that they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. How many of us have been taught that? It is a “traditional” thought. One small problem - the Word of God does not say that. The Word says that they were forbidden to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now I personally think that this fruit must have looked absolutely unique because God would not want there to be any confusion about which fruit they were supposed to keep their lips off of. (Imagine Eve saying, “It was an honest mistake LORD. It looked just like an apple to me!”)
But this apple thing is not a soapbox issue for me. I don’t know - yet - what that fruit looks like. Who knows maybe it does look like an apple but what the fruit looked like doesn’t effect the truth of the story of the fall of man.
But there are other things that are being said in the churches today that do effect the truth of the story of the redemption of man.
Fawn took that mouthful of dog food because she trusted me to tell her the truth. Only I didn’t. Within the churches these days are leaders that are telling their people things that are not true. “Jesus is our way to God - but maybe not the way for all people.” “We listen to Holy Spirit speak today and that takes precedence over the Bible.” “Jesus was a son of God.” “It doesn’t matter what you believe - as long as you believe.” There are countless numbers of people sitting in the pews that are smiling and nodding their head in agreement because they are trusting their leaders to tell them the truth. They are being fed dog food and they don’t even know it.
How do you know when you are being fed dog food? You make sure that you know the difference between sirloin steak and Purina dog chow. I love to hear Pastor Willie preach - Father uses him to teach us great truths. But on occasion he will say something that makes me wonder. Maybe it is something I haven’t heard it before - or I’ve heard it taught differently. For whatever reason it puts a question mark in my mind. I write that question down and when I get to my house I pull out my concordance and my study Bible and I find out for myself. I test for myself what he has said and I make sure that it is consistent with God’s Word.
Rest assured - Willie has never said anything that is not absolutely consistent with God’s Word, and my full confidence and trust in him says that he never will. But it is my job - my responsibility - to find out for myself.
The bottom line is that I do not want the foundation of my faith in Jesus to be built on what Willie knows from the Word. I want the foundation of my faith in Jesus to be built on what I know from the Word.
The only way I can know the Word is to be consistently in it, studying, learning, making it just as much a part of me as my next heartbeat or the breath I take. Then when the smooth talkers come around trying to pass off the dog food as steak I will see through them and send them packing.
LORD Jesus, I want to know You more intimately. My heart’s desire is to know You as my Savior, my King, my God, my everything. Thank You that Your desire is for me to know You. Help me to know You better.
Contact Valerie at valerie@fresnofirst.org
Posted by Valerie at September 10, 2004 01:21 PM