Readings for today: Daniel 11:36-12:13, 1 John 4, Psalms 123, Proverbs 29:2-4
Discernment is a lost art. The ability to determine right from wrong. Truth from falsehood. Good from evil. In fact, recent studies have shown how challenging it is for people to identify fake news, debunk conspiracy theories, and identify propaganda. The crisis is compounded by the rise in online warfare as Chinese troll farms and Russian bots weaponize social media to sow seeds of dissent and confusion in societies that value free speech. All this is made possible, of course, by post-modern philosophies that started taking hold late in the 20th century where truth was intentionally relativized, individualized, and marginalized. The results are not good. We are more depressed than ever. More anxious than ever. More dis-integrated than ever. The social fabric of our culture tearing apart at the seams.
Over and against the prevailing winds come these words from the Apostle John, “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. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:1-6)
The Graeco-Roman world was a lot like our own. People did what was right in their own eyes. It was a culture that showed little to no restraint. People were encouraged to engage in whatever behaviors felt good and right at the time. John is writing to Christian believers who are trying to remain faithful to Jesus in the midst of all the mess. He wants them to be able to know right from wrong. Good from evil. Truth from error. So he offers them a roadmap as it were. A decision-making matrix that will allow them to find the godly path.
Test #1: Does the thought, attitude, or action align with Jesus? Does it reflect the ethics of the Kingdom of God? Does it bring honor and glory to His name? Will following the “spirit of the age” lead one to confess or deny Jesus?
Test #2: Resist temptation. Once one determines what is good and true and noble and right and godly, one must resist the very real temptation to go the other way. To listen to the false prophets. To follow the ways of the world. It’s tempting to think we are at the mercy of our feelings. Trapped by our biology. But these are lies from the spirit of the anti-Christ. John promises that in Christ we have the power to overcome temptation because greater is He that is in us than is in the world.
Test #3: Hold fast to your identity in Christ. No matter what challenges may come. No matter what difficulties you may face. No matter how much stress and anxiety and fear you may endure. You are from God. You are in Christ. Your heart has been transformed and renewed by the Holy Spirit. Listen to God’s Word. Obey God’s commands. Trust in His will and His way for your life.
Readings for tomorrow: Hosea 1-3, 1 John 5, Psalms 124, Proverbs 24:5-8