What's the use of faith? (3)

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will know them. Matthew 7:15-16

Christian faith involves content, substance. It’s more – a whole lot more – than just having a positive attitude towards life or believing for the best, good though that is.

That’s been the main point of my last two posts. We’ve seen how the early church, way back in the first three or four hundred years, composed creeds in an attempt to boil that content down into fairly few words.

I suggested that there are two main points of value in such documents – first, they knit us together when we recite them in worship, saving us from the danger of purely personal, “privatised” religion; and, second, they remind us that we are part of a long history. Christianity isn’t some novelty; no, as it’s sometimes put, we stand on the shoulders of spiritual giants who have gone before us and who probably know far more than we do.

But creeds have another use, which I haven’t so much as mentioned yet: they safeguard us from danger, the danger of being misled.

Both in the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels and also in the New Testament letters, there are warnings about false prophets and teachers who can very easily lead us astray. So, while the early creeds do not have the same authority as scripture, they serve a useful purpose in outlining the essential beliefs of authentic Christian faith.

We live in a world which is awash with cults and sects, and not all of them are obviously false. I mentioned last time some people I met who described themselves as “Swedenborgians”, a word which sent me scurrying to my encyclopedias of church history. I learned that Swedenborgians consider themselves to be Christians and lay great stress on Jesus and the Bible – but also that they have certain views which struck me as distinctly dubious. And, of course, we have all met Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons and, if we read the papers, we have learned about other weird and not very wonderful groups in various parts of the world.

In Matthew 7 Jesus warns his disciples about the dangers. Being Jews, they would of course have been familiar with the Old Testament prophets and the way they denounced false teachers, so they should have been on their guard. Jesus doesn’t go into a lot of detail, as he does when he warns them against the scribes and Pharisees (“you hypocrites!”, Matthew 23), but he points out the acid test of genuineness (“by their fruits” – that is, by their holy lives and Christlike deeds – “you will know them”).

The apostle John adds a little more. For him the acid test is, quite simply, Christ himself: “every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God…” (1 John 4:2-3). The truth of “God incarnate” – that almighty God himself has come to earth in human form - is at the very heart of Christian faith. So it’s only wise to tread a little carefully when we come across teachers or writers who seem to cast doubt on that central truth.

Perhaps there is another respect too where the early creeds can help us: they don’t worry too much about doctrinal niceties. Perhaps this is because the writers wanted to keep them brief and therefore trimmed them to the bare minimum. But when you think of the two thousand years which have since elapsed, of the thousands of books which have been published, of the arguing and disputing which have gone on, of the splits and factions which have splintered off from one another, it’s hard not to feel that there was wisdom in this brevity.

The fact is sadly unavoidable: the longer the church has existed, the more determined its various groupings have been to insist that their little grouping has been the correct one. Hatred has been engendered and wars have been fought in the name of doctrinal correctness. But the creeds can teach us that as long as the central essentials are held, little else matters.

I was nurtured in the “Baptist” tradition, in which Christian baptism is viewed as right only for those who are old enough to believe for themselves, and as being generally administered by total immersion. But I learned very early that there are plenty of Christians who don’t see it that way at all, and who hold to the practice of baptising babies and children. And I learned that however precious my “back-story” was, it really wasn’t worth arguing over. Why, some of these erring Christians were actually rather wonderful people!

And then, early on in my Christian life, I was plunged into quite heated discussions about what is meant by the biblical expression “baptism of the Holy Spirit”, and what place, if any, the gift of “speaking in tongues” has. Then there were debates about what precise method of church government was correct… Or when exactly we might expect the return of Christ in glory… Or whether we should still expect healings and other miracles today… Or how exactly God could be both Three and One… Or did God make the world in literally six days…

And I’m sure that all of us have puzzled over whether we should be pre-millennialists, post-millennialists, or just good old plain amillennialists… (What do you mean, you haven’t?)

If only a tenth of our energy over the centuries had been devoted to evangelism, prayer and social care instead of to such debates, how much more might have been accomplished!

From which emerges a vital truth… Focus on the essence: Jesus crucified, risen, ascended and one day coming back; and leave squabblings over other things to those who feel it’s something they must do. That way we can avoid fruitless debates and the dangers of self-righteousness, and simply enjoy our walk with God and seek to live for Christ.

Yes?

Father, I pray that I will never be misled from the essential truths of your word, and that I will never be guilty of misleading others by anything I say or do. Help me to hold fast to Christ crucified, risen and one day coming back, and not to worry too much for the rest. Amen.