Have you ever been to a church where the people just nod their heads and say “amen” to most everything the preacher says, without ever having a disagreement with him? If you live on Planet Earth, the chances are you have. It seems that very few Christians question their teacher's beliefs. If they do, it tends to be because they want lower moral standards to live by than what the Bible demands. But many believers are just that, mere “believers,” who eat everything that's fed to them without giving the message a second thought.

The Value of Studying

     In Acts 17:11 the Bible says that the Bereans who Paul and Silas ministered to were noble in character, “for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” This is the way we ought to be. We should be eager to listen to sermons and prophesies, but diligent to always check and make sure what we are being taught lines up with the Scriptures. That means we don't just look at the verses our teachers give us to back up their beliefs, but we look up all we can find on the topic and make sure that our leaders are interpreting the Bible in the right way. This is what it means to be critically-thinking, a skill many of us have neglected to use in the community of faith.

     The Bible commands us in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to show yourself approved to God, a worker that does not need to be ashamed, who rightly divides the word of truth.” That means God wants us to be able to prove what we believe is right, and be able to point out the difference between true ideas and false ones. Many Christians do not like to devote themselves to this kind of lifestyle because like the verse said, it requires becoming a “worker.” It takes time and mental labor to get involved in intellectual pursuits, but this is part of the first law Jesus gave for Christians to follow, “Love the LORD your God with all your...mind!” (Matthew 22:37). God did not only make us spiritual beings, but also mental creatures. We should use our minds to “test all things,” as the Scriptures exhorts, and like eating a fish, be able to chew up the good meat but spit out the bones.

A Humble View of Ministers

     Just because a minister has a degree in theology, has led a million souls to Jesus, or walks in great supernatural power, does not mean that all their teachings are safe and true. They may study the Bible for hours a day and be best friends with the Holy Ghost, and still have errors in their doctrines. All people are still people, no matter how smart or spiritual they are. No body is perfect, so we should never trust a man to have all the answers. As the middle verse of the Bible says, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man,” (Psalm 118:8). God alone is all-knowing, and when we get to Heaven we are sure to find out that we all have wrong ideas. We are imperfect, and so are our leaders who God uses to communicate to us through.

A Balance is Needed

     Now, we must be careful not to be too individualistic, and remove ourselves from the oversight of all spiritual leaders. God wants us to have people over us for accountability, to make sure we do not develop heretical, cult-type beliefs. We've got to be careful that we aren't manipulating the Scriptures to mean something that they don't say at all, and also that we do not over-emphasize any one doctrine over another. This is why there is strength in numbers, and why the Bible says “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens the wits of another.” We challenge each other's thoughts, and therefore help one another find a balanced view on different issues. And, without the council of our oversight, we may miss out on a lot of wisdom that they have.

     The thing is, no matter how spiritually mature our elders are, God will always be giving new revelation to His people until the Church is ready for Jesus to return. Our fathers in the Faith may lay the foundations for what we believe, but they might not receive the fresh insight God gives us as we grow. For this reason there will always be disputes among Christians, but if we work to maintain the unity of the Spirit, we will be able to keep healthy relationships and avoid breaking off from Christianity into some extremist organization.

Conclusion

     I'm not encouraging you to put every church leader you know under heavy scrutiny. I'm simply saying you need to have the ability to check their teachings against the Word of God, and to notice when they are off track. This requires for you to become a bit of a theologian yourself, and to have a well-rounded knowledge of many topics. Then you can listen to a message without being limited to accepting everything that is said. Just because your pastor says miracles are not for today does not mean you have to,believe that, and just because he says you can't be a good minister without using miracles doesn't mean you have to believe that either. Whatever the doctrinal consensus is in your church, you do not have to agree with it to be a member. You only have to believe what God tells you through the Bible and the Holy Spirit.