Wrong Reason (4)

One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans arealways liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true.Titus 1.12, 13

Can you believe it?
When Paul said, “This testimony is true” he was not confirming the ludicrous assertion of the Cretan philosopher Epimenides. He was really saying something more like, “I know, that’s completely ridiculous, but I’m not kidding, some people are teaching this and many are lapping it up. No joke.”

Why was Paul so astounded that such views should receive a hearing within the household of faith, in the house churches on the island of Crete? Because this view, as we shall see, is completely nonsensical. It is mistaken, and the reason supporting it is wrong. It can provide no meaningful guidance for how we ought to live; indeed, it can’t even be made to make sense within itself.

It sounds cool, and maybe even persuasive, but it’s dead wrong.

Wrong reason in the churches
In the churches today many are listening to reasoned and persuasive arguments which are, in the end, simply wrong. Some Christian pastors are making a reasoned and persuasive case for the idea that the Gospel is mainly about finding happiness and prosperity here and now. Yes, we’ll go to heaven when we die; but God’s main concern is that we should be healthy and wealthy in this life. If we’re not, it can only be because we have a faith too small.

That’s very appealing, but it’s just wrong.

Other pastors make a case for a kind of Christianity without doctrine. Christianity is about relationships, not doctrines. It’s about accepting one another, making room for lots of different interpretations of what it means to be a Christian, and not judging one another just because our views of this, that, or something else are not the same. Christianity, these preachers insist, is a process of becoming one with Jesus, and we have to accept all kinds of human foibles, follies, and differences in the process, being content to leave the sorting out to God.

Yeah. No.

Now I know that preachers who make these arguments can sound very reasonable. This is why people flock to their churches, publishers sell their books by the millions, and their devotees defend them passionately. They may be very persuasive, but the premises of their teaching are informed more by the unbelieving spirit of the age than the unchanging Spirit of God. And because they have taken their particular premise as an established fact, they select their teaching topics accordingly and keep arriving at the same conclusion week-in and week-out.

Only when someone points out the folly and irrationality of their positions are they – and their myriad followers – likely to wake up to the truth.

The folly of Epimenides
Like the people on Crete: Some believers there were actually beginning to accept the glib but absurd teachings of Epimenides, which were finding their way somehow into the teaching ministry of the churches, and causing great upset.

Paul was astounded because even the barest analysis of such teaching reveals its folly. Since Epimenides, a Cretan himself, was saying that all Cretans are liars, then that must mean he’s a liar, too. And if so, then that means he was lying about Cretans being liars, and all Cretans are, therefore, truth-tellers. Because if they are, if all Cretans, including Epimenides, are truth-tellers, then he’s not mistaken about all Cretans being liars. They’re all truth-telling liars.

Obviously, such a view is absurd, mistaken, and untrue.

The subsequent confusion which arose from this admixture of Christian teaching and secular philosophy cast doubt on the authority of Cretan elders to govern the churches of that island or to insist on anything as final and unchanging truth. Which is why Paul’s solution to this confusing situation was to exhort the elders to stand on the facts of God’s truth and to refute the wrong reason of those who were seeking to undermine their authority and their teaching.

And the same thing is happening today. Today’s false teachers blend Christian theology with secular worldviews – whether materialism or postmodern relativism – and, in the process, they confuse the faithful, cast doubt on the grand tradition of Christian doctrine, and rob thousands of the genuine article of the Gospel of the Kingdom. They are very reasonable and persuasive in their arguments – not to mention oh so winsome, personable, and glib. But though their reasoning may be perfect, their premises are false and their conclusions are wrong. They are mistaken about Christianity, just as they are mistaken about their unbelief.

And as Paul would say, they must be confronted, exposed, and silenced (Titus 1.11).

For reflection or discussion
1. In what ways have secular worldviews invaded the teaching and ministries of today’s churches?

2. Why do you suppose, generation after generation, Christians continue to give in to the allure of unbelieving worldviews, and try to patch them into their Christian faith?

3. How might Christians guard themselves against this tendency? How can they help one another?

Next steps – Conversation: Take a few minutes to jot down the “basics” of your own Christian faith. Share these with a Christian friend, and invite your friend to add to the list. Then, together, document each of those beliefs using Scripture alone. Now ask yourself: Is my Biblical case for what I believe adequate? And how do I know whether or not I’ve included in my basic beliefs everything that should be there?

T. M. Moore

Each of our “next steps” exercises is tied into goals and disciplines involved in working your Personal Mission Field. If you have not yet identified your Personal Mission Field, watch the brief video showing you how to get started right away (click here). Then click here to download your Personal Mission Field worksheet. Learn how to work your Personal Mission Field by finding a friend and signing-up for our Mission Partners Outreach.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.