"Aberrant Theology"

 

Aberrant

adjective

Deviating from what is considered proper or normal.

Deviating from what is typical for a specified thing.

Wandering; straying from the right way

There is much work being done today in the Christian Church to expose the heretical teaching of our time. Much of this confusion can be traced to some aberrant theology that found its way into a congregation and began the trek off the orthodox path and out into the unknown. It is genuinely subtle in the beginning and produces a gradual move from orthodoxy, but if not detected and addressed, the result will ultimately be a state of confusion or heresy. Aberrant theology does not necessarily make one a heretic, but it can lead a sincere Christian into error and disillusionment. 

I have found and been guilty of it myself, that in the west we have a tendency to be lazy Christians. America is a wonderful place of freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility. Responsibility is not something we are necessarily good at, and its neglect many times finds us in trouble. 

We like promise box Christianity, hey, I've had several myself. I loved pulling out that promise for the day and reading with the assurance of God's blessing. It was Christian life here in the United States. Life was good, provisions were plentiful, our homes were comfortable and our lives busy. Lest we misunderstand that statement, it is to be salted with the fact we have all had difficulties, sicknesses, and the effects of sin upon our lives even living here. But all must admit, a great opportunity was before us, and very many of us have had a life very well lived here. It is those blessings and comforts I fear that have put many of us to sleep in our Christianity.

We depended on our promise boxes during the week and our Pastors and Sunday School teachers on Sunday to sustain our spiritual life. However, the promise boxes promised soft promises and our Pastors and teachers gave us moral lessons and self-help. This in turn left us unprepared for unsound and even aberrant teaching when it arrived and arrived it did. We trusted it as we did our promise boxes and our Pastors and teachers, we knew not how to study the Scriptures for ourselves or the work required in defending the truth. The result today is a Christian Church in America that is weak in spiritual fortitude and full of self and personal ambition. We are not ready for the reality of life in a fallen world.

There are many examples to cite, too many for a short blog post, so I will point out only one. This is one that found its way into my understanding many years ago. It came with a train of other aberrant teachings, for when the train comes in, it brings all the cars with it. It was presented in the form of scripture, it was a promise from God, spoken in the words of Jesus. Let's take a look.

Mark 11:23-24 ESV

(23)  Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.

(24)  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

That is indeed a wonderful passage of scripture, but how are we to understand it? The aberrant teaching that found its way into my life came in the form of the Word of Faith teaching that is so prevalent today. It finds acceptance among Christians by way of our desire to be healthy and live comfortably in our world. It has taken on the form of the God-given American dream we have come to believe God desires for us all. That is not to make light of all our blessings in America, but the American way of life has provided an open door for a distorted view of life in a fallen world. We were all too ready to believe whatever we asked, would bring health and comfort into our lives, if we would only believe, it would be ours! It was the American dream and God had promised it!

The practice took root and our churches and they began to fill with testimonies of God's truth, ministries published wonderful testimonies of healing and prosperity miracles in their reports. The reality was, everyone who believed did not receive. Adding to their disillusionment, they were told it was because they did not believe, if they just had enough faith God would have given them their request. They were left to conjure up their faith somehow, or believe they somehow had displeased God and he was withholding his promise. Some have abandoned the faith altogether. A large portion of the Church today has lost sight of the Gospel and the wonder of Salvation, they are bogged down in the weight of their disappointments or distracted by the achievement of their successes. The actual Gospel has little effect on their lives. That is a major departure from the Christian faith, very destructive to the Christian Church, and it all stems from the aberrant teaching of two wonderful verses in the book of Mark. 

What about the verses in Mark 11? They simply must be understood correctly, which is achieved by applying some Bible Hermeneutics. It is something the Church at large simply has not been taught. Even when we read our bibles we have never been taught how to read our bibles. Someone can tell us some aberrant teaching based upon the fact it is in the Bible, and any good Christian will believe it. That is what Christians do, believe the Bible. 

I asked a missionary one time that we were supporting if he had a creed or statement of faith he held to. He replied somewhat offended saying the only creed he had was the Bible. The problem was, I didn't know what he believed the Bible actually taught. We eventually stopped supporting him, we could not define what he actually believed, thus what we were supporting. It is a necessity we know somewhat how to read our Bibles. 

One helpful hermeneutic to apply to our study is that scripture is to interpret scripture. Does Mark 11:23-24 say what it appears to say? Let's look at what scripture as a whole has to say. 

James 4:3 ESV

(3)  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

We just read in Mark whatever we ask if we will just believe we will receive, it will be ours. Here in James, we find we ask and don't receive, because we want to spend it on our passions. So we immediately discover some qualifications are in place. 

1 John 5:14-15 ESV

(14)  And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

(15)  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

Now we discover that when we ask as Mark indicates, John tells us it must be according to his will. So Mark must be read with the understanding whatsoever we ask (according to his will) believing we shall have. You might be told, it is always God's will to heal you, however, that is a statement no scripture ever makes. 

Another good hermeneutic to use is to look for the practice in scripture. Do we find anyone in scripture praying in the way we are told Mark prescribes? Of course, a little reading reveals the practice is found nowhere in scripture. When we find the Church praying we find quite the contrary. 

1 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV

(10)  as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

The word Paul uses for "pray" (δέομαι) means to beg (as binding oneself), that is, petition: - beseech, pray (to), make a request. Clearly, Paul is humbly requesting God to grant his petition leaving the determining factor upon God's will and purpose. 

Paul in Thessalonians was praying most earnestly night and day to be able to see them, yet it was a request based upon a desire in hope that God would be pleased to grant. Paul did not say "I am believing I have received my request", no, like all our prayers, we appeal to the great kindness of our father who is well pleased to care for us. 

1 Timothy 5:23 ESV

(23)  (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)

When instructing Timothy concerning health issues relating to his stomach, Paul did not tell him it was always God's will for him to be in health. He did not instruct him to just believe he received his healing, and if he would hold on to his faith his healing would be his. With just two simple tools of interpretation, we can correctly understand Mark 11:23-24. Without the knowledge of those tools, the false teachers have come in and led a multitude of people away. Let us not only read our Bibles but learn how to read them so that we might know what to believe and not be drawn away by every wind of doctrine.

I hope this was helpful,

David