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As so often happens, my mailbox blesses me immensely – or rather, the contents do. Lately, I have been receiving many questions regarding discernment. Here are a couple that I found insightful, along with my replies.
Reading with discernment
Q. Have you by chance read [book]? It was recommended to me by a trusted mentor. However, I am finding myself very concerned with the content. I’m a firm believer in learning how to chew and spit in today’s culture (read something with a biblical lens, consume what is truth, and spit out the gristle)! But is it wise to continue to power through when the first two chapters appear to be straight gristle?! A.k.a. no truth at all! I would so love your wisdom on this…
A. I don’t know that book, but will share these observations:
- The time to serve Jesus now is too short to read junk.
- I learn better and more when reading something that is straightforwardly heretical. Sounds odd, but it’s true. I can listen, laugh and learn. Admittedly, I laugh at them mostly, but sometimes at myself as I gain perspective from how they view me.
- When the book purports to be biblically sound but is full of gristle, I stop reading. I have found that if I continue, I will only become a curmudgeon toward an author who probably is my brother in Christ. Better to wait. The problem may be my immaturity, in which case I will be better able to hear him later. On the other hand, his nonsense may be to blame, in which case I’ll be glad I didn’t waste time. Either way, I put the thing down.
Is this the end?
Q. What do you think about Christians who are tying COVID to some kind of New World Order, Great Reset, population control, etc? I really feel like there are only two options: a) those churches are 100% right and we are choosing to be blind about the Antichrist, or b) they are so far off that they are causing great damage to those who have honest questions about events. Any guidance on this? I am a well-educated believer in Jesus, and I am confused.
A. No kidding. During the last great plague in England, the churches got just as wildly predictive, maybe more so. Weird eschatological heresies like 5th Monarchism gained huge traction. They declared that such high levels of death and societal control had to be the work of the particular Antichrist described in John’s Revelation. Obviously, they were mistaken. Of course, had God chosen that era to unfold His eschatological promises, those events could have fit 2 Thessalonians and Revelation. The same is true now. This could be prophecy unfolding, though it may not be. Certainly nothing is gained by ‘newspaper exegesis’ and trying to force events to fit one’s understanding of the Bible. In other words, we could receive our blessed hope today. But the same was true in 1620…and 1920…and 2020. Should Jesus tarry, I pray my grandkids will wisely say the same in 2120 – “It could be today! But it certainly doesn’t have to be.”
God bless,
Wayne