Don't Believe Every Spirit

The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 3:24 – 4:1)

Last time I dwelt on the phrase here test the spirits. There are many important places in this passage where I see things that fill in just what is involved in doing this most important work and I want to explore them much more thoroughly. But first I want to revisit this verse and the phrase that caught my attention this morning, do not believe every spirit.

Lately there seems to be an amping up of the spirit of fault-finding and accusing in many quarters of the church. That this is happening increasingly in politics is to be expected though it is becoming very wearing. But within the body of churches who claim to be followers of the teachings and example of Jesus this is very disconcerting.

Recently I wanted to tap into resources that would provide ongoing news and information about some of the divisive issues swirling around in our church. I have spent some time in discussion groups on the internet and have at times engaged in various discussions as well as reading articles that have helped to give me broader perspectives. Many of the things I have read have helped to give me better understanding and some of them have been very inspirational and useful. But at the same time I have also been alarmed at the high number of people on both sides of these issues who seem to have little regard for the words of Jesus about the spirit that should be reflected by His disciples while they strongly assert that they are following biblical truth and have plenty of proof texts to support their rigid, inflexible beliefs.

Some of these people are ready to deride others who do not see things the way they do and apparently want to consign others to be lost based on which side of certain topics they choose to endorse. Yet the tone of their own comments is so strident at times that it makes me alarmed. But what concerns me even more is how easy I find it to respond in a similar fashion and make my own strong statements in reply to them. I find that I have to constantly pray for a more humble spirit all the time I am composing a statement to post in these discussions lest I discredit the very truths about God that are changing my own life and perspectives and freeing me from the very prejudices that I see in others.

What I am seeing – and this is certainly nothing new – are people assuming that if they just assert their own conclusions strongly enough that maybe someone else will be intimidated to change their opinions from the other side of some issue and join them. They seem to believe that truth apparently has to have more force behind it so that others will be convinced that it is true. Yet when I have pointed out that when often the real problem is faulty assumptions about the meanings of words or much deeper issues than the topics under discussion that are far more important and concern our fundamental attitudes and views of how God wants us to see things, almost without exception no one even notices.

I am not suggesting that I am feeling miffed because my comments are not appreciated. What I am saying is that I am baffled at times when people desire to argue endlessly using illogical reasoning or worse yet, depending on traditions passed down from unbiblical sources without any willingness to examine their own assumptions. I often see that many are relying on singular references to prop up their insecure positions on some subject while remaining unwilling to honestly consider the validity of their opponents line of thinking.

John here warns us about the danger of believing every spirit. But that is a curious way of putting it that we don't normally discuss. Our methods of testing almost without fail come down on the side of testing assertions based on the accuracy of how they fit our interpretations of key texts that we rely on to prop of our agendas. But I have seen very little attention paid, either from the people writing articles and especially among those engaged in vigorous debate after the articles, who are giving any weight to this instruction to test every spirit. I wonder if that is because we are so far removed from an intelligent awareness of what is going on in our own spirit that it is just easier to ignore this teaching. This results too often in freeing us from divine inhibitions so we treat others any way we feel like when they see things differently than us.

As I read these words this morning that I need to beware of what spirits I believe, I am reminded of the vital importance that our spirit has to our salvation. I am coming to realize that the devil has a very easy time keeping people distracted with intellectual sparring over issues that we feel are vital for the unity of the church while not noticing that the spirit motivating our own hearts is very often the real cause of disunity. It matters far less that we can successfully prove our positions on some topic than the spirit that we allow to control us while discussing them. What I am observing is that on the part of many there is little reluctance to accuse others harshly while insisting that everyone has to agree with their particular interpretations and think there is nothing amiss in their own spirit. Yet to me it seems rather evident that this attitude is more in line with the one that the Bible calls 'the accuser of the brethren'.

I am coming to see more and more that a far better method for measuring what is valid or safe for us to consider is the atmosphere surrounding the person in regards to their spirit. Deception is very easy to disseminate when it comes to facts, proof-texts, quotations and arguments. In addition, because there is such a wide diversity of meanings behind our words it is impossible to communicate with others without some level of misunderstanding. But too often our statements move beyond misunderstanding to intentional deception whether that happens consciously or without our conscious awareness.

To combat error, we can try to spend enormous amounts of time and energy trying to decipher what is factually true, untrue, provable or disprovable. But we will usually only accomplish taking ourselves and others into even greater confusion and deeper prejudices. We are surrounded with people eager to get us to believe their version of what they are certain is gospel truth. But what I have been learning is that much of what is being promoted as truth has very little if any real 'good news' within it. And many of these interactions contain large doses of intimidation, fear and threats that if we do not accept some particular position that we are endangering our souls for eternity.

My own father was caught up in this vortex of intensity and became very bitter and combative for a number of years. He, like many I encounter today, was sure that his salvation depended on the accuracy of his beliefs while largely ignoring the condition of his own spirit. He believed like many do that truth is solely in the arena facts, doctrines and cognitive beliefs and that the spirit is just a topic somewhere down the list to be considered as another item to study.

But over the years God has been convicting me that my spirit and my attitudes are the main issue, not a peripheral side note. This truth can frighten many who are highly dependent on carefully crafted arguments to support their dogmatic positions and they usually reject such suggestions out of hand. But the more I open myself up to receiving insights from God's Spirit in the context of His Word, the more I cannot avoid that God seems to be primarily concerned with this area of my life while all the other facts and proofs and discussions are mainly supplementary for conditioning my spirit in preparation for integration into a society of holy, joyful beings.

Satan's greatest decoy is not to confuse us on the accuracy of what day is the Sabbath, what happens to people when they die or who we should ordain. Satan's most effective weapon to keep us in deception is to get us to obsessively study facts about doctrines in order to attack others in an accusing spirit. Just because I may gain a broad grasp of factual and doctrinal truth in no way is assurance that I am experiencing a saving, transformational relationship with God. If Jesus tried to teach anything it was this point. The Jews in His day were similar to many of us today who are confident that we know the truth from our study of the Scriptures while oblivious to the condition of own own spirit.

It takes special watchfulness to keep the affections alive and our hearts in a condition where we shall be sensible of the good that exists in the hearts of others. If we do not watch on this point, Satan will put his jealousy into our souls; he will put his glasses before our eyes, that we may see the actions of our brethren in a distorted light. Instead of looking critically upon our brethren we should turn our eyes within, and be ready to discover the objectionable traits of our own character. As we have a proper realization of our own mistakes and failures, the mistakes of others will sink into insignificance.

Satan is an accuser of the brethren. He is on the watch for every error, no matter how small, that he may have something on which to found an accusation. Keep off from Satan's side. {TMK 181}

When I hear comments that are forceful and have a sharp thrust to them, I realize that the intensity of the writer is intended to push others to agree with them and come to believe that what they have to say is the truth. But John here is saying that truth is not necessarily found by intellectual investigation but will be discerned by first paying attention to the kind of spirit that is present in the medium of delivery.

This of course indicts me along with everyone else. I am keenly aware of how often my own spirit becomes defensive, combative and at times even accusing. I am far from consistently reflecting the spirit of humility that I am beginning to see marks the character of God. It still seems like an oxymoron to view God as being extremely humble, especially God the Father. Yet I have to stick with that conclusion because Jesus and the Father are exactly alike and Jesus clearly was the perfect example of humility. Thus it only follows that the most likely sources of God's kind of truth will be those who most closely reflect the spirit of Jesus rather than the spirit of the accuser.

So what happens when a person might have 'truth', factual, biblical, verifiable doctrines, and yet delivers these ideas utilizing methods and attitudes more reflective of the accuser? Am I to attempt to separate the information away from the person, or will that only cause me to become infected with the highly contagious virus of criticism by interacting with them at all? Do I have to embrace factual truth from people who are unwilling to be molded by the gentle spirit of Jesus, or might I be better off drawing back a bit from them and waiting for God to send someone more in tune with His ways to share with me where I might be doctrinally misinformed?

I am not taking a hard position here but am wrestling with real questions that remain partially unanswered in my own mind. Given my own track record of discouraging others by coming on too strong with 'truth' at times, I wonder how people should relate to me when I am on the delivery end of this issue. Either way, it seems that clearly there is a serious and pervasive problem in the body of Christ of ignoring the state of our spirit while putting far too much weight on winning arguments and trying to force our beliefs on those around us. I find myself having to turn away from some of the debates in order to quiet and rejuvenate my own spirit by dwelling on the beauties and attractiveness of God in His presence in order to regain my own perspective and peace. And I long to be completely free of the aggressive edge that too often creeps into my own interactions with others when I seek to share with them what I have been learning about God.

So I come back to the clear instruction of John that I must learn how to test every spirit. I am reminded that this includes testing the right spirits as well as the wrong ones. God's Spirit along with all those who reflect His Spirit in their own lives, are never afraid of being tested, for their value does not come from what others think of them but from God alone. On the other hand, every false spirit will be afraid of being challenged because there are always elements within them that might be exposed as fraudulent when increased light is brought to bear.

The light that I must learn to use to examine every spirit must be light received from the only reliable Source of truth. That means I must maintain daily a close connection in my own spirit with the Spirit of truth in order to have enough light in me to discern whether a spirit is of God or whether it is otherwise no matter how factually accurate someone may be. I am learning that the more important part for me is to make the choice that Mary did when she broke all the rules and chose to sit with men at Jesus' feet instead of remaining in the role that everyone expected her to play. Marinating in the presence of Jesus is the only way I know to absorb more of His spirit and mindset so as to be better prepared when I encounter a need to test another spirit.