Test the Spirits

My son and I got into a conversation a couple days ago about a DVD about marriage he was thinking about using for his small group's Bible study. It was from a large and very popular church, with a hip, modern, charismatic pastor. As I looked on I was struck by how 'with it' this man wanted to be and how 'current' he wanted his message to be. At one occasion he made a reference to a Bible story that seemed to illustrate his point about marital relationships.

"Hey, guys," he said, "Ya gotta learn how to be, not just do. It's important that ya just learn to hang and not always be tryin' to accomplish stuff. We're too plugged in. We gotta learn to unplug and be present with one another.

"That's how Mary was," he continued. "She learned the important thing was to be with Jesus. She wasn't like Martha who always wanted to do something to prove that she loved him."


After that he called upon us, his audience and anyone else looking in to stop and talk with our spouses about this important teaching about marriage.

As I reflected upon all that I began to wonder if that was the point Jesus was making when he said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10).

Was Jesus really talking about the importance of developing relationships rather than trying to prove your love by doing something? That is, admittedly, a significant problem in many marriages, as well as in our culture. We are often self-centered, focused on accomplishments rather than upon relationships. But again, is that what Jesus was talking about? What was this 'one thing' He said was needed?

Part of the answer has to be in the context of that chapter. Right before this story Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan who showed mercy to His enemy. And immediately before that story is the story of the seventy-two who went ahead of Jesus to announce His coming. Those who welcomed this news were indeed be blessed. And the blessing? To know and love Jesus, the Son of the Father, sent to reveal the Father's love by His life, death and resurrection (Luke 10:21-24), something promised for long centuries through the prophets and kings who wrote about the coming Messianic King.

Back to our hip pastor and his talk about relationships, man! As important as those are, he twisted the Scripture to his own purposes. He deliberately pushed past the point. He jumped over the teaching. He put Mary simply in a position where she wanted to know this man Jesus by talking with him while her sister Martha was busy serving him supper.

But the passage from Holy Scripture is not about about mere human relationships. It is certainly not about the marriage relationship. It's about being with Jesus, listening to Him speak to us, growing in our love for Him, learning His will and His plan for our lives before, while and after we serve Him. And who is Jesus? To us Christians He is God's Son, true God and true Man, sent to be the Savior of all.

All that leads me back to a quotation by the Apostle John:

"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. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood" (1 John 4).

I'm not going to reveal the name of this particular teacher. My point is, however, critical. The Scriptures can be, have been and often will be used for purposes other than intended. I do not give a hoot about how hip a man may be. If he misuses God's Word and fails to give a clear witness to Jesus in his talks or teachings about marriage, relationships, our lives or whatever is his topic, then I'm going to have to reject what he says, because he is failing to glorify the only One whose love cleanses and purifies all our relationships. I'm going to have to test his teaching by asking questions about what he believes and teaches about Jesus. Thousands of teachers talk, write and proclaim something about Jesus, but that does not make them Christians in the Biblical sense of the word. They have become part of the spirit of the antichrist, the spirit of falsehood.