Be Discerning

Lately, I have been watching Korean drama series that I have saved in my laptop for 2 years. I simply couldn’t watch them long time ago since I don’t know Korean and I just knew how to add subtitle. It’s just a silly simple thing that make me not able to watch the Korean drama.

I need the subtitle in watching Korean drama since I don’t understand Korean. But, the translator must be trusted one too; or else the stories will go weird. The translation must be the same as the real sentences in Korean.  If the translation is different then I think it might make a confusion to the one who use the subtitle.

The same as  the Bible or Holy books of other religions, I think we should add ‘subtitle’ when we read them. In other words, we need the preachers or teachers to ‘translate’ the teachings of the Holy books in our lives; so that, we can grow in the teachings of our beliefs. However, sometimes the ‘translators’ make different translation that confuse the ones who believe in the teaching. Therefore, we must beware of the false teachers as the false teachers will translate the Holy Words just as they please for their own benefits.

For example, there’s a case for about 2 years ago in Surabaya. A Christian fellowship was led by a female preacher. This fellowship was said based on the apostolic movement with the stressing on ‘prophesying’. The female leader was said to have the gift of a prophet and demanded the followers to divorce their spouses and married the members of the fellowship only. The worst.. they did that in the name of God. They took a part of Bible, modified it and presented it as a ‘truth’. There were some families broken because of that false teaching.

Why I put the case as the example? Because one of the members of that fellowship was the father of my student. He divorced his wife and married the leader.  He broke his family because he believed God said so. How on earth, the JUST and LOVING God who blesses the marriages also the one who breaks them? God never orders the divorce. There’s no teaching in the Bible that said ‘Ok, I changed my mind, you can divorce your spouse that I have united with you’. It’s absurd! My student has had a broken family because of that. He had to separate with his mom and two younger siblings and  have a stepmom just because his dad followed the absurd instruction. His stable world has crumbled because of irresponsible prophesy!

I remembered a part in the book of ‘God’s Chaser’ by Tommy Tenney that said that a Charismatic followers tend to believe everything that the preacher said without checking the Bible first; while the Lutheran are too busy to debate the words and forget about the miracles do still happen in daily life. Well if you disagree.. complain to Tommy Tenney. But I agree with his statement in his book. I used to be a very Lutheran. I used to say that the people who saw the ‘vision’ and prayed in tongue were ‘crazy’. I used to debate even with my fellow Christian how wrong they were. But one experience has destroyed my pride.

It happened in 1999. I was at my lowest point in my spiritual life. I felt that all the teachings that I learned was too complicated to be applied in daily life. I was frustrated since I was not a perfect Christian. Until one Sunday afternoon after debating God for many times, I was at Mawar Sharon Church. I didn’t really like the way they worshiped with the full band. I was about to leave the church, but something held me there.  I was standing at church during the praise and worship, but I was not there. It seemed I was taken above seeing the ‘other me’ at church. Then, I saw a white screen was pulled down. There’s a movie played there. The movie was about a crucifixion. I couldn’t see clearly the face of the man, but I knew he’s Jesus. Then, Jesus looked at me and said, “I have done this to you, would you surrender?” I remembered I couldn’t say anything but crying. Then, after the praise and worship, the sermon began. The preacher opened his sermon by saying “Some people here got the vision of the crucifixion. For those who saw it, God said surrender”.  I was speechless listening that. Well... that’s my first vision and the beginning of my journey in chasing God. I stop debating and chasing God.

Back to prophecy and teachings, every prophecy and every teaching must be checked and double checked. First, the true prophecy will be confirmed with other prophecy from other prophets.  If that was the one that God wants you to do, then He will use other people to say it too. Don’t be lazy to just swallow a ‘truth’ from a prophet. Prophets  are human. They are not God. They can make mistakes too in delivering God’s message. Second, true message from God is not against any words in Bible. If a message is already confirmed with other prophets, then check it again with Bible. Though some prophets (for example) tell you to divorce, but the Bible says no. Follow what Bible has said. The messages can be distorted or wrong translated; therefore we must seek the truth on its root, Bible.

The same as teaching, we must check the teachings that we have received too. I remember when I joined a Little Flock Fellowship, we did a Bible teaching in a small church. My friend said, “We can bear someone’s else burden or sickness like Yusak Cipto did.” I was shocked. First, there’s no Words in Bible that show human can do it. Only God can do it ( Isaiah 53:4) (Surely, he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted - KJV ) and 1 Peter 2:24 (Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed – KJV). Both of the verses refer specifically to Jesus. So, no way a human besides Jesus can bear our sorrows and griefs and heal us. Second, what Rev. Yusak Cipto has experienced might be different than what other people have experience, so we cannot teach someone’s experience as a truth, we must refer the truth back to Bible.

As a teacher, we must tell the whole truth to our disciples. So we can translate We have an obligation to train our disciples to seek truth by themselves. We have a burden to speak nothing but truth when we teach. As disciples, we also must have a wisdom to differ the right and false teachings. Don’t be a lazy disciples, be an active one. Read your Bible daily and start to grow in the knowledge of God. You and I are disciples of Christ. As the Light has shone on you, be the light for others too.


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