Who Do We Trust?
How do we balance caution with the need to learn from others?
May, 2022
Christian believers are called on to listed to godly wisdom, and hear the advice of wise people (Proverbs 11:14). What's difficult is knowing which people are wise, and which are not. Human beings often let us down. Major figures in our lives betray our trust. "Celebrity" believer are sometimes called out for sin or error. How do we know which "teachers" to listen to, or to ignore?
A crucial perspective is that all people are fallible. There is a real difference between "the message" and "the messenger." Nice people can pass along untruth, and immoral people can tell the truth. Even more pertinent is that we, ourselves, are also subject to errors and mistakes. We're also prone to sin, ourselves. It's not that repute and legitimacy have no connection, at all. Rather, we need to be appropriately skeptical of what we hear, regardless of the source. We shouldn't be complacent about the lessons of a reliable teacher; we shouldn't be overly resistant to someone new. Instead, everything we are told should be gauged against truth, not reputation or popularity or personal preference.
The common-sense first step is the "eye-test" filter. What's the common public information we can find about this person? Are they connected to truthful doctrinal positions? Do they have a good reputation? Is their attitude and conduct in keeping with Scripture? Are they associated with people that can hold them accountable? Do they support, critique, or encourage teachers who are known to be true, or false? Do people with good discernment approve of them? These weed out those more likely to be false teachers or improper leaders.
Once we decide to assess someone's material, we should do just that: constantly compare it to the Word of God (Acts 17:11; 1 Corinthians 4:6), and to the statements of other teachers (Proverbs 11:14). We need to consider it prayerfully and carefully (1 Corinthians 2:14). We must accept that our prior views may be wrong (2 Timothy 2:15, 24–26), so we avoid the temptation to merely ensure the teacher agrees with us (2 Timothy 4:3). We should let others inform and guide our spiritual growth, but they cannot take it over entirely (Hebrews 5:11–13). Maintaining that balance makes it less likely we'll be led into strange beliefs or errors.
We should also avoid treating spiritual leaders as "all or nothing" decisions. It's possible to approve of most of a teacher's ideas, but not all of them (Romans 14:1–12). If those disagreements aren't on something very important, or very fundamental, that's OK (2 Timothy 2:23). We can accept their "good" teachings and not those which we think are mistakes. Of course, if the teacher is outrageously wrong about something, there are good reasons to question their overall approach. If they seem to be wrong on a lot of things, there are better options to pursue.
That approach explicitly separates the person from their message. Ultimately, all truth belongs to God, not to the people who preach it (1 Corinthians 2:13). It's obviously better to learn from, follow, and quote those who have a good reputation (1 Timothy 3:7). However, just because someone has sinned—publicly or in secret—does not meant their views are false. An error in one area, or doctrine, does not mean all their work is poisonous.
Moses sinned to the extent that God did not let him into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 4:21), but his words about God should not be ignored for that reason. David was an adulterer and murderer (2 Samuel 7–9). Peter struggled with cultural issues even after he was saved (Galatians 2:11–14). Learning about some teacher's moral failures might change our view of them, but we should never have put blind trust in their teachings anyway. We can be sad that they've sinned, but we don't need to invert everything they've ever said or done.
Even hypocrisy, bad as it is, does not change truth. Some medical doctors are overweight. Some smoke tobacco, or abuse alcohol. That doesn't mean their warnings to us about those issues are wrong. We don't want to excuse sins, or errors, or mistakes, of course. If the pattern of someone's life is unbiblical, that's a warning sign. But merely being able to point out where someone has sinned, or fallen short, does not mean every word they have spoken is untruthful or worthless.
We should carefully judge someone's words, and gauge everything they say and do, against Scripture and the collective teaching of faithful Christians. If we do that, keeping a sensible separation between what is said and who said it, we're properly focused on truth, instead of celebrity (1 Corinthians 1:10–17). That will keep us from being taken in by false teachings from a charming person. We'll be less stubborn about correcting or critiquing our preferred leaders. It should encourage us to be humble about our own weaknesses and fallibility (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Especially important, this approach avoids one of the reasons some suffer a crisis of faith. When we live long enough, it's almost certain one of our spiritual mentors or role models will suffer a fall, failure, or even be found to have lived a lie. Our faith needs to ultimately be in Christ, and His Word, not other people. All these other ideas are just practical applications of that basic concept.
-- Editor
