There was a song several years back that sang: “I believe I can fly… I believe I can touch the sky…” I trust the artist was speaking metaphorically – No one believes they can literally flap their arms and “fly away.” For those who do believe they can literally fly, we would be right to be very concerned not only for their mental health, but for their physical health as well. But many such things that would have seemed patently absurd in days past are now claimed to be reality by some people, and the rest of us are told that we should play along with them, and even affirm them in their psychosis. Some of these bizarre and wicked ideas have become so widespread that they have made their way into many churches. Rather than allowing the Bible to conform us, that we might be a distinct witness to the world – “Christians” in our day are seeking rather to conform the Bible to the world’s fantasies.
The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy to stand against such things. In 1Tim. 1:3 Paul wrote – “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines.” Leaders in the church ought to have been the men to oppose those who tried to bring the “strange” beliefs of the world into the church. They should have stood firm in the Word and said: “That wacky belief has no place here.” They ought to have named those who propagated such ideas in the church as heretics. Surely, this happened in many places – But sadly there were many more who were rather drawn into the madness. They ultimately capitulated to, and made room for, various heresies. This has happened to such a degree that the average Christian is no longer able to distinguish between that which is original and real, from that which has been added and made up.
It was for this reason that Paul continued in 1Tim. 1:4 – “Nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.” In our time there seems to be a new heretical myth every day. And we are invited to consider them carefully and told not to reject them outright. Even when they directly contradict the Scriptures, we are told we need to be more open-minded to other considerations. We are told that we have been blinded by our inherent prejudices and we need to progress beyond them. Well, no one wants to be thought of as prejudiced or ignorant, and so they “pay attention” to the myths, they reflect on them, they start discussions with others about them, which then “gives rise to” more “speculation.” O how many churches are built upon, and centered around, “speculations” rather than the truth!
In 1Tim. 1:5 Paul says – “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Speculative reasoning and attention to myths cannot produce these ends – Only genuine and devoted instruction in the Word of God has that power. O how many hearts have been divided, how many consciences polluted, and faiths ship-wrecked by the failure of the “church” to stand on the instruction of the Word alone! Pastors today want to seem clever, they want to be popular, and they want to be “relevant” so rather than “instructing certain men not to teach strange doctrines” they rather decide to “join the discussion.” As 1Tim. 1:6 says – “For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion.”
O what a trap! In our day you so often hear the phrase: “We just want to contribute to the discussion.” But what is this “discussion”? Is there not a holy standard in the Word upon which to stand? Has there not been one truth, one Gospel, one standard of life from the beginning until now? Are we not called to be witnesses and to proclaim what God has already clearly said? A “discussion” about it then, is really a veiled way of trying to skirt around what God has already declared. Such discussions inevitably lead to sanctioning heresy and divisions within the church. It leads to further fruitless discussion and to further unqualified and misinformed people who become emboldened to take up the mantles of teaching and leadership. As Paul concludes in 1Tim. 1:7 – “Wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.” Such men believe they can fly! But they have been corrupted in their minds by fruitless discussions around strange doctrines, and have bought into myths. They flutter about propagating the things they have heard and disrupt whole households of worship in their wake. Who will stand against such a tide? Who can see through the fog? Who can see the dangers of heresy? Let us never forget what happens to those who come to a cliff, and erroneously believe they can fly.
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