The Month of Many Voices: Who Are You Listening To?

Intro

I’m calling the next number of messages a series because the only thing that is going to be consistent through February is the inconsistency.

Each week we will have a different speaker, and the only instruction they have been given is share whatever God has laid on their hearts. The scripture is their playground and they will each share a unique message.

But before we dive to far into this morning’s message, it is Super Bowl Sunday, which means there is really only one question to ask to kick things off:

Question #1: Who is going to win the big game today?

your options today are the Kansas City Chiefs, led by young upstart super star Patrick Malhomes, or the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, led by the seasoned veteran in Tom Brady.

For some, everything I just said means absolutely nothing, and that is fine. Everyone watching online, share your picks. Everyone in house, hands up for Chiefs.

Personally, I don’t know who to pick. Both teams have equal rights to this game, so it could go either way. Hopefully we are treated to a great game and that’s all anyone can really ask for.

The interesting thing about the Super Bowl is who the experts say is going to win. Depending on who you listen to and what stat they pull off the internet, either team could win. The only thing the experts can agree on is that the team they pick is going to win.

But the question is, how can experts, who are looking at the same data and watching the same games, come up with such different conclusions? It’s not just football, it seems to be every area of life. How can two people, with equal amount of education and equal access to all the same data, come to such varying conclusions?

The biggest thing that comes into play is everyone has a personal bias. No one is ever truly objective, everyone looks at information through a filtered lens, and that filter is based on upbringing, experiences good and bad, family influences, and the list goes on and on. All of us have a core set of beliefs that can be very hard to change, and the truth is that these beliefs influence everything we do without even realizing it

That brings us to 2 Tim 4:1-5

Scripture:

2 Timothy 4:1–5 ESV

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Paul starts chapter by reminding Timothy about the charge he has on his life. He charges him before God, judge of the living and the dead.

the always important reminder that one day, we will all stand before God and give an account of our lives. We will all be judged, not by how many times we read the bible, but how we lived it out. Matthew 25 talks about how we will be separated like sheep and goats. James talks about how not many people should strive to be teachers because they will be judged more harshly.

What is Paul’s charge to Timothy? To preach the word, to be ready in season and out of season. Paul means by that is there will be times when the things Timothy teaches will be well received, and there will be times when it won’t be.

To reprove, rebuke and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. Reprove is to convict of sin, rebuke is to verbally bring correction of sin, and exhort is to encourage to greater things, all the while being completely patient.

Why? Is TImothy to call out sin, and to preach the truth, even when it is tough? Because there is coming a time when people aren’t going to want to hear it anymore. There is coming a time when people will turn their backs on the truth and pursue teachers will tell them what they want to hear. They will find people who affirm they desires and passions, and use myths to support their teachings.

Paul tells Timothy that when this starts to happen. When people start turning away from the truth and leave the church to find preachers that tickle their ears and stop preaching against sin and start over emphasizing grace. When that happens, Paul tells Timothy to stay focused, endure the hard times that may come from people leaving, and fulfill the ministry that he was called to.

Remember a while ago we looked at 1 Corithians 11, and Paul talked about how there are factions that will happen in the church. He said that there will be a separation between the true believer and those that are not.

The time that Paul is talking about it definitely here. Everywhere you look, there are false teachers popping, presenting ideas and teachings that are contrary to God’s word. Some will even misquote the bible just to make their point seem more valid.

I’ve watched as promising young believers are sucked into these wayward teachings, led to believe things that simply aren’t true, but because it affirms a passion or undermines the severity of sin, it is easy to follow those teachers. It easy to follow someone who nevers sets the bar of life high.

Question #2: Have you ever sat through a teaching you knew wasn’t quite right?

How did you know something wasn’t right? There are times you can feel it in your gut, that what is being said isn’t true. The Holy Spirit will tap us on the shoulder at times to let us know that something isn’t quite right with what is being said.

Bridge the Gap:

So what are some ways to protect ourselves from false teachers? How can we know if we are being misled by someone?

1) Read your Bible

there is a disciple within biblical studies called hermeneutics. The basic idea is that there are themes and principles that flow throughout all of scripture. Every story and every thought can be backed up by another story or teaching found in the bible.

More often then not, a false teacher will ignore good hermeneutics and take things out of the context of the passage it is found in, and out of the context of all of the Bible. The more you study and know your bible, the less likely you will get duped by a false teacher.

2) Test Everything

1 John 4:1 ESV

Beloved, 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.

fact check. Did that person quote the bible correctly? Does what they say fit within the context of Scripture?

In fact, I encourage you to check everything I say. I’m not going to intentionally say something wrong to see if you are checking, but I want to know if you think I spoke incorrectly. That tells me you are doing your homework, and it opens up to opportunity for more conversation about what we’re talking about.

Plus, it keeps me accountable. I challenged my last church to check everything, and I had a lady in our church would message me after every message I did to ask me about something. Now I could either let it bother me, or it was encouraging to know she was listening and following up on me.

3) Listen to Different Teachers

find some teachers of God’s word to listen to. Make sure they are biblically based, and if you have concerns, let know me and I can help you with that.

By listening to other preachers, you begin to identify the difference between someone who is teaching falsely, and someone having a different perspective. There aren’t too many pastors out there who preach exactly the same style and mannerisms. You are going to see that over the next four weeks. Between our personality differences and different experiences, we will all teach the bible in a way that is God honoring, but no two people will do it the same way, and that is OK.

It is important to surround yourself with good teaching. I always think about the analogy of the bank teller. Do you know how they train bank tellers to tell the difference between real and counterfeit money? They don’t put fake bills in front of them to find what is wrong. A bank teller spends so much time looking at, feeling, smelling real money, that when a fake bill comes along, they just know that something isn’t right.

We need to have the same approach. We need to be so immersed in good biblical teaching and preaching that when a false teaching comes along, we will see it for what it really is.

Question #3: Which practice are you going to do more of this week?

Let’s Pray!