False Teachers

Shaming

Fifty years ago culture taught women to hide any part of themselves that did not line up with what was “normal”. Women should (and would) be housewives who stayed at home, cleaned their houses, made dinner for their husbands, and wanted children. Any woman who did not fit into this mold was shamed into thinking there was something wrong with her. It was a culture of shame and fear that taught women to hide their vulnerability and fall in line as they “should” or be ostracized.

Comparison Trap

In response to this culture, women began to judge one another. What was worse, emotionally, than judging one another was that women began to compare themselves to one another. Each person had to be better than the next. The concept of “keeping up with the Jones’” became common thinking. When women found that they weren’t measuring up to the same standard as their neighbors, they found that they would be made to feel better than those around them if they simply talked about all of the things everyone else did wrong. If Linda and Lauren could agree that Lisa was somehow unfit as a wife/mother/sister/employee, they would feel like they were somehow more fit as a woman.

Gossip leads to hate. The Word tells us that, “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19).

It hurt me to read that and to write it.

Because I am guilty.

And I don’t want to ever do something that the Lord hates, because I love Him.

… then enters social media, and with all of the joys of reconnecting with friends from school and old neighborhood buddies came the platform that everyone always wanted. A platform to share our innermost thoughts about any possible thing imaginable. Blogs, tweets, snaps, and pages gave us the opportunity to put our self-important thoughts on display for all to praise us for.

We can be so easily deceived.

This social validation gave us everything we needed to make it a quick idol.

We’ve often heard the old saying, “time is money”. The Bible says, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21). Our treasure is often our time, also our money, but often our time.

So, what do we do every moment it gets quiet, or we sit down for a second, or stop at a red light? Every time commercials come on or we are put on hold? We scroll through social media.

No, I don’t think that social media is evil. But, like all things, it is what we make of it. Therefore, if we allow it to consume our time, when we fail to make time to invest in our kid’s lives or in prayer or reading the Word. Then yes, it can be evil.

Not only that, but it has become our platform… and everyone else’s platform, to share their opinions, their voice, their perspective on the world around them. It created the opportunity to voice our dissatisfaction with anything and everything, including our neighbors and their opinions. 

Social media gave us the chance to put our culture on display, and then the culture shifted.

Acceptance

Women stopped shaming and comparing themselves to one another in an act of solidarity and began to just accept people as they are. 

Acceptance is tricky because it disguises itself as love.

The truth about acceptance is that when we accept other people’s sin we easily let our guard down and start believing that what everyone else is doing is right.

Acceptance culture and social media platforms have created a home for false teachers.

False teachers

The Bible teaches us the difficult truth of being a teacher.

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.  For we all stumble in many ways.” James 3:1-2

In the past, those who taught were leaders. Those leaders were looked at with intensity. Their lives were expected to be perfect and to line up with their teaching. Scripture warns us about how difficult that kind of living would be.

Today, we are all teachers. We each have an audience of people listening and watching our every move.

The Bible says, “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us” Titus 2:7-8.

Based on this, as believers, we should be sure that anything we say in a forum where other people might follow it or glean from it, should be dignified and line up with the truth. The only truth I know is the Bible. So, if I teach anything that does not line up with that, then I am failing in my responsibility of being a sound teacher.

This includes when I tell someone that their behavior is acceptable when it is not.

A person who teaches something that is not the truth is called a false teacher. 2 Peter 2:1-3 says, “… there will be false teachers among you... and many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

This type of teaching is so prevalent in the world today. The current message to women is that sin isn’t sin as long as it makes you happy, because that is what God cares about.

God loves you. He wants you to be happy, but not at the expense of your holiness.

Anyone who teaches you that acceptance is love and that God’s will is that you be happy is not teaching the truth.

The platform of social media and the propensity of false teaching is scary. It is scary because there are so many people desperate to hear some sort of truth in their life, and when what they hear lines up with what they feel they have the tendency to believe that it is truth.

Paul warned us in Romans 16:17, “to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them”.

Maybe this means we stop reading the internet and start reading the Bible. Maybe this means we stop talking to our friends about our lives and start talking to God. Or at the very least, we start talking to our friends that love God and love truth. Maybe this means we invest less in what our neighbors are doing and invest more in what God has called us to do.

That is what it means for me.

Because I understand that we want to hear what we want to hear.

2 Timothy 4:3 says, “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”. 

The time WAS coming. I believe that the time is here now.

I am afraid for our world and our culture that we have stopped listening to truth because it is hard to hear and it hurts, and often requires us to stop doing what we want to do.

So instead we started listening for teaching that validated what we feel and what made us happy.

I understand that the very platform I am using to write this is exactly what I am warning against. I know that I am sharing my opinion while warning other people not to share theirs (without prayerful wisdom). I do so hoping and praying that it isn’t my words that are heard, but instead, the truth of the Word of God. I am praying that this message, that has been on my heart for several days now, somehow resonates. 

It really is a race.

This morning one of my girls and I went for a run. We layered up, stretched, went outside and mapped out our route. Half of the run is downhill and half of the run is uphill. The hills are awful because they last forever and zap your endurance. 

When your on the hill you want to stop. The higher it gets, the harder it is. The harder it is the more you want to stop. 

This is life. 

It really is like a race. 

When the Bible says "let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1).. it's talking about these days. This life that God has mapped out for us with all of its twists, turns, hills, valleys, and bumps, is our race to run. 

But, here's the thing. If you STOP when you are going up a hill, which we all want to do at times, because we are tired and feel we have nothing left to give, then we never grow strong enough to get to the top. It's the push that gives you the strength to face tomorrow. 

Because at the top of every hill there is the other side. The side that you get to run down. And the downhill is where you steady your pace, regulate your breathing and let gravity help you along. 

That's true in running and in life. Allow the "good" times to be an opportunity to prepare for the next hill. Regulate your breathing. By prayer and thanksgiving, steady your pace. 

Isaiah 40:31 says "But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."

Trusting the God of the path helps us to be renewed in our spirit and not grow weary in the run. 

This lesson was for me today. 

Make the bed

Life is so chaotic. Everyone experiences different seasons at different times, but I think that it's safe to say: life is so chaotic. Sometimes it's good chaos, sometimes it's a beautiful mess and other times it's nearly impossible to navigate.

I've started making the bed. I'm sure that I am a terrible woman for not making it regularly before, but I didn't see the point as a single person. Now, I rarely have time for something as simple as making the bed. But I do it. Every single day. Having the bed made makes me feel better. It's like a good hair day in the midst of 100 bad ones. It brings a tiny bit of peace to my life. The made-up bed doesn't hide the laundry that still needs to be put away. It doesn't make the toys strewn from one end of the house to the other any less messy, but it does remind me that the chaos is never going to destroy me.

It's a simple act that reminds me of two things.

1.) Peace often comes by active choice.

The Bible tells us repeatedly not to fear. Yet our lives are crippled by it.

We know that comparison is the thief of joy but we absent-mindedly do it anyway.

Striving only brings stress and anxiety but we continue to bring forth our best efforts of busy schedules to prove ourselves worthy... to ourselves.

We must choose peace. Just as I choose to make the bed regardless of the time I don't have.  The act of laying down all fear, striving, comparison and anxiety and putting on peace is exactly what God instructs us to do. His yoke is light and our burdens are heavy. He offers to trade.

2.) It's not all bad.

I love my children with an amazing amount of love. More than I dreamed I could love. I love my husband, I love my job, I like the puppy, and I enjoy school. BUT, boy is it hard. Life is chaotic, remember?

It is easy to become bogged down by the work of each day and forget the joy that's available in the little moments.

I look at the laundry, toys, dishes and paperwork and can become overwhelmed. Especially when crying toddlers are desperate for my attention. The made-up bed reminds me that I may not be able to do it all, but I can do one thing at a time.

I start with the bed. Some days I don't get much more than that done, but that's okay.

The small act of making the bed in the morning reminds me that God made me and despite all of the chaos inside, there is peace and joy available to me when I choose it.

I should mention, my husband could care less if the bed is made. This may not be true for everyone else. This is a great reminder to me that it isn't his job to bring me peace and joy. That's a burden that wouldn't be fair for him to carry. Yes, he does make me joyful, and yes, he does help with the chaos. But the big picture peace and joy can only be found in Jesus. I'm so glad that He makes me to lie down in green pastures and leads me beside quiet waters (Psalm 23:2).

Lord, teach us to pray...

It is interesting, that after years with Jesus in ministry, the disciples had one request of Him. They could have asked Him anything, for He had the power to do anything. However, they had one request.
“Lord, teach us how to pray” (Luke 11:1).

His disciples had witnessed that the power of God was rooted in this time that Jesus spent in prayer. They had seen Him take time away, to Himself to pray. He had fasted and spent time with God, and was changed because of it. Jesus is our example, and He perfectly displays to us the power and importance of prayer.

While prayer is something that we can do, it is also a gift that we have been given. Jesus recognized this gift and often made space in His life for prayer. I have no understanding of what the communication between Jesus and God would have been like, but I do know that it was important to Jesus to spend time with the Father in prayer. Because of the time they spent together, Jesus knew His Father’s heart and constantly had compassion on His people.

How do we implement this kind of prayer in our daily lives? Obviously we face schedules that differ from the ministry schedule of Jesus. Our needs are much different and we usually struggle to find time to pray.

We are called to move beyond. Move beyond what everyone else is doing… move beyond the chains that are holding us back from past struggles and hurts, move beyond what is normal in the world that we live in. Simply put, we cannot live a “normal” life and also love the Father and honor Jesus the way that we should. Our lives have to be set apart (Romans 12:2). God has called us to make a sacrifice that is difficult to comprehend. The sacrifice isn’t for our very lives, like Jesus’ sacrifice.

But it is for our lives in a difference sense. When we lay down our own lives and offer it as a living sacrifice, Holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1), we give up living a life that looks like everyone else’s. The sacrifice is that we choose to give our time, our devotion, our heart, and our motivations to God. The first step in this is simply prayer.

Prayer is an incredible opportunity that we have to communicate with God. All relationships thrive with open communication. It is easy to think, “God knows what I am thinking, why should I tell Him?”… But all relationships require communication to stay healthy, and to stay connected. Prayer is a receptive attitude… waiting on God. It is an openness to hear from God. If we don’t spend time communicating with, and listening to God, how can we stay connected to Him? The very goal, and ultimate desire of our lives is to know God and be known by God. It is a gift that we can serve Him, but it’s even more important that we KNOW Him.

Prayer is moving beyond focusing on ourselves to focusing on who God is and what He wants for us and from us.

Prayer is proof that we believe that God is real, that we believe He is here, and He is working. This proof isn’t for others to know what we believe, but to reveal to ourselves where we stand in our relationship with God.

1 Thess. 5:17 says to pray continuously. This isn’t a command, that we should feel guilty when we fail to do us, because then we would all carry around that shame. However, it is an invitation and a gift to stay connected with God in all things. He cares for you.

Drive-thru faith

1948 brought us the first drive-thru restaurant, where you could be "IN-n-OUT" in no time flat. This concept is a picture of how individuals want to live their lives. We want what we are craving and we want it quickly and easily. Immediate gratification. This is true for Internet speed, education, meals and more.

But it has been said, "nothing worth having comes easy".

It seems as though faith has become a drive-thru concept for our society. We want church made easy.. online sermons or churches we can get in and out of without being noticed. "We", as a people group, not necessarily individuals, look for authored Bible plans and scripted studies (yes, me too!). But faith is so much more than that. It's worth having and it's worth investing in.

I was an hour into homework that I did not want to do when I was instructed to complete word studies on a passage of my choosing. I chose words I thought could be important and once I got into the Greek I found the most incredible truth to the passage. Truth I would have missed entirely without this intense study.

I sincerely feel that God is calling us, calling me, to a more intentional kind of faith.

The difference between a restaurant and a drive-thru is the experience. So, we have to ask ourselves, do we want something quick, convenient and, possibly disingenuine? Or do we want to experience God?

Experiencing God means getting out of the car.

We have to be willing to commit our time, attention, energy, patience, emotions and resources to the experience. But the only way we will do this is if we really want it.

Rest

Sundays are crazy. Like, having a blender with no lid kind of crazy. At our house we have the “joy” of getting two toddlers fed, cleaned, dressed and ready in an hour. Less if we are lucky enough for them to sleep while we get ready. Most weeks we are also overseeing 6 other children getting up, fed, dressed and ready during this chaos. About ten minutes prior to leaving the house I usually start getting dressed and trying to make some sense of my hair.

This past Sunday was no different than the rest. Equally crazy, caffeinated and rushed. During church my sweet friend’s baby was fussy and tired. She brought him into the service with us and my husband and I quickly fought over who got to hold him (because he is the sweetest little thing). I held him during the music portion of worship and while I swayed him back and forth he laid his little head on my shoulder and got incredibly still.

Two things happened in that moment. First, I wondered about why it is so incredibly sweet to hold a baby and rock him to sleep. Second, I thought about how much trust these little ones must have in us to be able to fall asleep while we hold them.

Both of these realizations brought me to a place of worship within that moment of worship itself.

This is a picture, I believe, of what God offers us.

He says to us, “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

I don’t know any person who doesn’t feel weary and burdened at times. Or all of the time. This verse is for us! He is offering us an invitation to rest in Him.

There are so many more Scriptures with this same sentiment. He gives us green pastures to lay in, despite the fact that we feel the scorching sun and lack of rain at times.

… and when we don’t take Him up on the offer of rest, we have this reminder from David, “Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you” (Psalm 116:7). We sometimes have to tell our own souls to be at rest. We have every reason to be confident in the fact that God is good and He takes good care of those He loves.

“God gives rest to His loved ones” (Psalm 127:2B NLT).

We can trust Him enough to find rest in His arms. Just like this sweet little one found rest in mine on Sunday. We can relax our bodies, our striving, our worry and our minds and just rest in Him and in His presence.

Imagine the joy is brings Him when we do. It is the sweetest thing. 

We went on a hike.

We went on a hike.

Now, you may be thinking “oh, that sounds so nice”… but that is simply not the case. Kyle and decided to go on a hike together to Tallulah Gorge. This has always been on my list of things I would like to do, so I was very excited. However, I had no idea what was in store for me.

First, they give out 100 permits to hike the floor of the gorge every day. This should have been a clear indication to me of what was to come. It was not until after the hike was over that I read the sign in the lobby, which listed the floor of the gorge as an “extremely strenuous” hike.

To begin, we walk around and look at some of the views from the overlooks. These will take your breath away. We are simply in awe of God and nature. Then you walk down a few steps, and by a few I mean something like seven thousand three hundred and eighty-six. You think that walking DOWN steps is easy… but, you are wrong. My knees are broken.

At this point we come to a beautiful platform overlooking a crashing river with a waterfall just behind us. This is where we see the sign “permit required to cross”. That’s us. The permitted ones. How lucky.

As we open the gate to cross the raging river we see a young girl crying on a rock. We ask her what is wrong and she explains to us that she has dropped her phone and it is lodged between a rock and… a snake. I am asking for a description of pattern and wondering how we can cross the river without actually using these rocks when Kyle steps up to the rescue. Now, my husband is wonderful. He is funny, smart, determined and absolutely loves to help people. He will be the first to serve others in their time of need. However, up until this day I had never seen him as much of an outdoors-man. He will occasionally hike, bike, walk, or on a good day – run with me. However, this is simply because he knows that I have a love and need in my heart for it. THIS DAY, he was Mr. Trail Guide. That girl must have thought God had sent her an angel. He grabbed a stick, moved the snake and picked up her phone like he was Crocodile Dundee. So, we are starting out well.

We then attempt to cross the river. You should know that we are crossing on what looks like boulders, twice my size and sometimes several feet apart. I am wondering if maybe we took a wrong turn on the stairs, but here we go…

We get across approximately three rocks and I start praying, “God send me an angel!” At this point a nice young man, who described himself later as a TRAIL GUIDE! Goes ahead of us and tells us where to place our feet in the water so we don’t… you know, fall and die.

We get across and our trail guide is in the far distance with nothing but one footprint showing us the way that he went. At this point I feel like we have definitely gone wrong. Not only are there no paths, signs, or worn walkways – there are rocks. HUGE ROCKS. Everywhere. The only way to get anywhere is to climb.

Now would be a good time to tell you that I am not much of a climber. I once went to a rock climbing facility with high hopes of enjoying the views from a much more elevated state in the future. HOWEVER, about three step holes up I felt like I was going to faint and I decided that it wasn’t for me.

Kyle is gone. Up and over like he was born for this. I begin to feel a little weepy and get going.

I am not afraid of heights.

Or, let me put it this way… I have never really had a fear of heights before Tuesday morning. NOW... I think it is safe to say that I am afraid of heights.

We have climbed down the gorge, and down and down. Over rocks, using trees to pull ourselves up, over more rocks and then.

I would like to pause here to gather the thoughts that surrounded my COMPLETELY PETRIFIED disposition as we pull ourselves over a rock to see the scariest rock face known to man (or at least THIS wo-man). I would liken the angle to… the pits of hell. That is what it was like. Seriously, my shoes are SO slippery from the water and this rock points straight to the river, which runs to a WATERFALL four feet away. My entire body is shaking.

About that time three college-aged girls come racing through as if they were headed to a party. THEY WERE SMILING.

But did I also mention that they were barefoot?

Just as soon as they appeared, they were off. Kyle seems to have no trepidation whatsoever, although I recall him telling me a few times before that he was afraid of heights. I am shaking and wondering how I can crawl across the rock on my knees and elbows when he lovingly tells me to suck it up.

I took my shoes off (what? College girls are smart). And I crossed. It was terrible.

We continue on our path and Kyle is taking pictures and enjoying the scenery and beauty of the moment. I am still shaking and wondering if I am going to die out there.

We get to the end of the hike, which cumulates to a GIANT rock with a waterfall running over it, aptly named “Slippery Rock” which you can slide down into a pool of water to swim.

Kyle wants to do it.

I think he is crazy.

Then he convinces me by saying that I would regret not going down after we had been through all we had been through to get there.

We slide down and the water is so cold I cannot breathe or think or swim... apparently. As I am grabbing Kyles arm and trying to pull him down stream with me. He pushes me towards the rock to CLIMB OUT. Of “SLIPPER ROCK”, might I add? Not fun.

The trail guide is there swimming with his gal. He looks at my distress and just as he starts to come towards me to lend a hand, I manage to make my way out. At this point Kyle slips and slides BACK into the water, only to climb out again.

There are leaches on me.

We rest, relax and dry out.

We now have two options.

Go back the way that we came (which was awful), or cross the slippery rock and go up the other side (70 degree angle for half of a mile). I decide that there is no way on earth that I will attempt anything more difficult than what we have just been through. Simply because, I know we got through the path once and I almost didn’t make it.

So we (I) decide we should go back the way that we came.

I am still barefoot because, turns out, those girls knew a thing or two about hiking the gorge floor, and I didn’t die.

We go back, cross the rocks, turn around a few times, climb, jump, pull ourselves over and then reach the rock face again. I cannot move other than the trembling that has taken over my entire body. I had no idea I would react this way to fear, but low and behold, there I was.

I’ve been praying this entire time, but at this point I begin to think about the Proverbs that speak of God keeping our feet on the right path.

In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths (Prov 3:6).

Your Word is a light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet…

My favorite… “The Lord will be at your right side and will keep your foot from being caught” (Prov 3:26).

I am asking God to direct us and protect us. Kyle is slightly impatient with me as I tell him I just don’t feel ready to cross yet.

He turns around, holds my hand and walks with me.

These are the lessons from our day.

First, we got a great picture of the importance of having a husband as a leader and being a wife who trusts and follows.

Without Kyle I would still be sitting in the gorge crying.

Also, it reminded me of how danger is ON EVERY SIDE of the righteous path. If we considered the dangers of our thoughts and actions as we would if there were a waterfall underfoot, it might be more serious. The danger IS that serious. God desires for us to stay on the right path. He leads, directs and guides us in the ways that we should go. In love, He provides helpers to us. Even one foot that goes astray can land you in deep water.

In the end I crossed the rocks... all of them. Got to the river crossing and held on for dear life to the rock ledge right where the snake once laid. I didn’t care. I just wanted to be done.

I thanked God for bringing us out safely… and then climbed 7,386 steps back to the top.

So, that was our experience. The take away is this… I am glad we did it. I WONT EVER DO IT AGAIN. However, I am grateful God gave us these lessons while surrounded by beautiful scenery. 

And I am grateful for my rugged, outdoors-man of a husband who literally kept me alive out there!

PS. I could barely walk for two days afterward.