I'm Dating a French Model!
Have you seen that commercial? The one where the girl believes everything she hears on the Internet? Then, when the man she is corresponding with tells her he's a French model, she completely believes it. Even when she sees him, and he's OBVIOUSLY not a model,she accepts it as truth simply because she heard it on a source she completely trusts. Funny, huh?
I had a similar experience this weekend. I know better, and yet I fell into this one head first. It's a pretty easy thing to do, and something that is becoming more and more frequent as time passes. I had asked for a new reference to use in my Bible study for Christmas. Someone whose opinion I value had used it, and I took that as all I needed for a recommendation. I have used it intermittently and liked it. I even recommended it to a friend . Well, to make a long story short, this friend and I went into a Christian bookstore to purchase the item and were told they didn't carry it. I could tell by the lady's demeanor that there was a reason they didn't sell this item. I asked her why, and she showed me. She had very specific portions underlined that immediately convinced me that they were right in being concerned about its use. When I use it again, I will use it with open and much more discriminating eyes.
I tell you this story because it brings to light something we need to remember. I had a favorite pastor who one time told his parishioners to never believe everything he said at face value. He admonished us to always check what he said against scripture, because scripture is the final authority on everything.
A friend and I have had some discussion lately on discernment. Biblical discernment is the ability to to tell the difference between right and wrong, truth and error as it relates to biblical truth and living the life Christ would have us live. We came to the conclusion that discernment is sorely lacking among the Christian community. It seems many people fall right into what a preacher, television evangelist or other "authority" says, without giving things careful consideration .
The Bible admonishes us to be careful with this:
I Thessalonians 5:21-22 says: " Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." Although we may think evil is a strong word in this instance, going along with something that is not scriptural IS evil. Another passage says:
I John 4:1 : " Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many fake prophets have gone out into the world."
I don't know about you, but I think that as time passes we'd better get even better about testing what we hear. If we don't, what we end up with could be much worse than a "date with a French model"! I'm certainly going to be more careful about what I take as " gospel", looking to the REAL gospel for answers first. I never was too impressed with French models anyway .
I had a similar experience this weekend. I know better, and yet I fell into this one head first. It's a pretty easy thing to do, and something that is becoming more and more frequent as time passes. I had asked for a new reference to use in my Bible study for Christmas. Someone whose opinion I value had used it, and I took that as all I needed for a recommendation. I have used it intermittently and liked it. I even recommended it to a friend . Well, to make a long story short, this friend and I went into a Christian bookstore to purchase the item and were told they didn't carry it. I could tell by the lady's demeanor that there was a reason they didn't sell this item. I asked her why, and she showed me. She had very specific portions underlined that immediately convinced me that they were right in being concerned about its use. When I use it again, I will use it with open and much more discriminating eyes.
I tell you this story because it brings to light something we need to remember. I had a favorite pastor who one time told his parishioners to never believe everything he said at face value. He admonished us to always check what he said against scripture, because scripture is the final authority on everything.
A friend and I have had some discussion lately on discernment. Biblical discernment is the ability to to tell the difference between right and wrong, truth and error as it relates to biblical truth and living the life Christ would have us live. We came to the conclusion that discernment is sorely lacking among the Christian community. It seems many people fall right into what a preacher, television evangelist or other "authority" says, without giving things careful consideration .
The Bible admonishes us to be careful with this:
I Thessalonians 5:21-22 says: " Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." Although we may think evil is a strong word in this instance, going along with something that is not scriptural IS evil. Another passage says:
I John 4:1 : " Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many fake prophets have gone out into the world."
I don't know about you, but I think that as time passes we'd better get even better about testing what we hear. If we don't, what we end up with could be much worse than a "date with a French model"! I'm certainly going to be more careful about what I take as " gospel", looking to the REAL gospel for answers first. I never was too impressed with French models anyway .
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