Discernment That Leads to Excellence
I - Good, Better, Best
Das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten, is the German proverb purportedly
giving rise to the English proverb: Don't throw the baby out with the
bathwater. I see this being applied in
Christian circles in terms of the reality that none of us are perfect; there are defects in all our character, conduct and theology – but we don't have to
abandon a minister or ministry just because of these obvious failings.
One lady
I endorsed for many years was Beth Moore. Recent reports have surfaced that concern
me. When I discuss these critiques of
her ministry I often am faced with the rebuttal: don't throw the baby out with
the wash. I believe Beth Moore has
developed her ministry to the point she cannot be trusted.[1] Now this blog isn't particularly about Beth
Moore. I feel betrayed by her, to be
sure, but it's not about her. She is an
example of hundreds. Her proponents will
point to conversions, good studies and so on as a means of NOT throwing the
baby out.
So let's
talk about that. Is this proverb a
suitable response by godly people? Let
me be personal. If you could accurately
point out character or conduct failures on my part; or if you could point out
significant departures from Biblical teaching, are these issues to simply be
overlooked. Is it still valuable to
watch and support my ministry?
Or let
me put the question another way: At what point DO YOU throw the baby out with
the wash?
The idea
of not "throwing out the baby" essentially demands some level of doctrinal
triage[2].
At
some point we have to decide what issues we will live with and what issues are
unbearable. Secondly we have to clarify
our nomenclature. Words do have meaning.
Is Beth Moore (for example) a
false teacher (by definition); is Beth Moore an harmful teacher; or is Beth
Moore a good teacher that requires consistent Berean
scrutiny?
Recently (Summer/Fall 2015) we have been deluged
with fear and speculation regarding Israel, Syria, moons,
and the unveiling of the Shemitah. (All of
which amounted to nothing.) Is this false, harmful or faulty? An elder in my church recently reflected a
provoked spirit when seeing the purported revival of
manifested smoke and gold dust at a so-called church. Is this false, harmful or faulty?
I sat with someone recently in a fellowship who was speaking about some
of these motivational-type speakers
(my phrase) such as, Joyce Meyer, Joel Olsteen etc. Again this person seemed to be aware of some
of the criticism levied at these speakers, but all-in-all thought it was
uplifting and encouraging. Again what I
heard was don’t throw the baby out with
the wash.
Paul's prayer for the Philippian Christians was that “. . . your love may abound more and more in
knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best
and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of
righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9–11, NIV)
Some years ago I watched a home renovation program on television with the
host Shell Busey. He often rated
products and material with the categories of Good, Better & Best.
Paul wants us to discern what is "best." Some translations translate that Greek word (διαφέρω [diapher] excellent. It could be
translated "to be of more value". [3] " The Greek present participle means
literally to carry different ways to different places. Thus to test things that
differ, sift truth from error, discriminate the higher spiritual blessings from
the lower material blessings.[4]
Even when
it comes to "good" Bible teachers and ministries, isn't it incumbent
upon the believer to "discriminate the higher blessings from the
lower?" It's not just a matter of
false and maybe even unhealthy. Is it
not ultimately a matter of what is excellent?
What is the best?
I would
appreciate your comments.
Next blog
in this series: What is a false teacher?
[1] https://carm.org/beth-moore
[2] (in
medical use) the assignment of degrees of urgency to wounds or illnesses to
decide the order of treatment of a large number of patients or casualties. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triage
[3] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced
Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
[4] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2432).
Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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