Daily Meditations from John N. N. Ng'ang'a: Week of Dec 27th - 2nd Jan 2011 correcting false teachings is ministry

Day 1

Titus 1:11 They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach-and that for the sake of dishonest gain

The devil is opposed to the progress of the gospel and hence we should not be surprised that there will be opposition even from within the church. In fact the most potent opposition is one from within rather than from outside .we cannot say that ignoring these brothers is a way of dealing with the opposition. Paul advises that they must be confronted however stealthily they are working. This will silence them.

Silence --- means--properly to check, or curb, as with a bridle; to restrain, or bridle in; and then, to put to silence.

It is, of course, implied here that this was to be done in a proper way, and in accordance with the spirit of the gospel.

The apostle gives Timothy no civil power to do it, nor does he direct him to call in the aid of the civil arm. We should not be taking each other to civil courts on church matters .All the agency which Paul specifies as proper for this, is that of argument and exhortation. These are the proper means of silencing the advocates of error;

The history of the church shows that the ministers of religion can be safely entrusted with no other type of authority and means of confronting error.

Are you listening to wrong teaching without confronting it? Even if you yourself does not end up in error, might you be allowing the ones teaching the error to get lost and lead others astray. If you care for yourself, the church, and the cause of Christ you will seek to search the scriptures for the truth then show them their error.

Day 2

Titus 1:11 they are ruining whole households ;

There is good reason why we should correct error. First if you leave them they may ruin whole Christian households .That is, they turn them aside from the faith by teaching things they ought not to teach

We can compare this with the message of Matt 23:14;

Matt 23:13-15

13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

Also ...2 Tim 3:6-7

V6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,V 7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.(NIV)

Since the person in error may be someone respected and who has been used by the church before to teach the truth how will the households know that he has moved to error. If you notice the error it should be your job to show it to them and tell others about if necessary.

But you can only notice error if you yourself are a perpetual student of the bible.

Day 3

Titus 1:11 and that for the sake of dishonest gain .

The second reason why you should oppose the error is because it might lead to financial exploitation of the congregation .The false teachers may have been led astray by interest in self enrichment causing them to twist the scriptures to fit their purpose. They also pick doctrines that will make them popular, and those that will give them access to the confidence of the people.

Thus they make it their first object to acquire influence as ministers of religion, and then abuse that in order to obtain money from the people. That is why you need to correct their error in good time . This they would doubtless do under many pretenses for example claiming the money is needed

for the support of the gospel,
or for the relief of the poor,
or perhaps for the assistance of distant Christians in persecution.
Religion is the most powerful principle that ever governs the mind; and if a man has the control of that, it is no difficult thing to induce men to give up their worldly possessions.

The seed faith doctrine is such a doctrine where planting a seed is not giving to God but giving to the MOG(man of God) directly if you want good return from his god. In the bible people gave to the church or temple but now pastors expect direct gifts rather than through the church deacon board. People then are even encouraged to take loans to give to the pastor. Nowhere in scripture did God expect people to borrow to give him. The Israelites were to give God out of the blessings he had already given them. Paul repeated this same message .Yet today we hear of pastors who encourage people to tithe out of their loans rather than out of the results of investments that you put the loans to

Day 4

12 Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons."

The other reason for error may be syncretism of mix up with your ethnic world view ..There may be weakness in your ethnic group which is unchristian and you still have the same world view .It seems in Paul's time to be a Cretan, became synonymous with being a liar, in the same way as to be a Corinthian, became synonymous with living a licentious life; Titus 1:12

Do you have a similar problem ?To mingle apparently contradictory qualities of wickedness in the same individual or people, is the height of depravity. Do you blend in the same mind apparently inconsistent traits of virtuous character?

You need to question some of the traditions as to whether they are consistent with the biblical principles. Like I argue in my book, a leaders' source of influence, discipleship is required over time to ensure that you no longer operate from your ethnic world view but rather have a Christian world view. Of course I agree there is danger that you move from your worldview to western rather than a biblical world view. This is not useful since all men are fallen creatures and their culture is not better than yours.

Day 5

13 This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith

world view is deep rooted in us and since it is the glass through which you interpret life, you are unlikely to see anything wrong with your own traditions .Paul therefore advises Titus not to be mealy-mouthed, but he was to call things by their right names, and not to spare their faults.

When men know what they are doing is wrong, we should tell them so in few words; if they do not know it, it is necessary to teach them, in order to convince them of their error.

To rebuke sharply means they will be left with no doubt as to what you think about what they saying or doing .If you yourself are caught in it, the first thing is to correct yourself .This will give you the moral courage to correct others. Also you must be clear your authority is the bible rather than your tribal or racial view of the issue.

Are you a Kikuyu Christian or Christian Kikuyu? It matters what you are first You should be Christian Kikuyu which means that only Kikuyu traditions that are consistent with the bible are followed and all others are thrown out even if it means they bring you into enmity with your clan,

Day 6 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. Although Christianity had a lot to do with the Jews , we are not to follow Jewish traditions that have no biblical basis.

Paul, who had been brought up amidst these superstitions, saw at once how they would tend to draw off the mind from the truth, and would corrupt the true religion. One of the most successful arts of the adversary of souls has been to mingle fable with truth; and when he cannot overthrow the truth by direct opposition, to neutralize it by mingling with it much that is false and frivolous.

Almost every denomination suffer from this mixture. We do things that set us apart from other denominations but if you were to question them they do not have biblical basis.

Many of the things we do in our weeding have no biblical basis yet when a couple want to change them the pastor is uncomfortable.. because that is the way we do things here. We need to check whether we are following some myths that have no spiritual value .

 

Day 7
15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.

We are encouraged to correct error but not to be witch hunting. Might it be that because you are so impure you seem to look for something wrong even in the best saint? You need to know that if your are a serious Christian and it is God's grace that has brought you this far , the same grace is operational in others and hence you should start by assuming that anyone who tells you they are Christians are serious about it.The unbeliever does not believe anyone is really that pure. Just because he is not pure makes him think even others are just pretenders.

But we must be serious in our Faith as verse 16 says

v16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

You should not profess that you know God, but in works deny him; Is your conduct such that it ought to be abhorred; are you disobedient to the plain commands of God?Is your character in respect to all that pertains to true piety disapproved by the truly pious, or even worse will be by God at the last day?

The saying that "The way to heaven is blocked up by dead professors of religion." Should warn us about verbal testimony that is not backed by purity in life