False Teaching

I am spurred to thought by my daughter's blog post.
Let me say first of all that I am not arguing with what she wrote; only pointing out some things to come to my mind upon hearing what she said this person was saying.
To spurn all teaching to ensure avoiding false teaching may be an effective way of doing so, but it is also an effective way of missing out on teaching anointed by the Holy Spirit.
First of all we need to look at some of the verses about false teaching. Check this out here. As you check cross references etc you will see that there are signs to look for in a false teacher. Now I ask you, why would we need to look for signs if we were to avoid all who claim to teach? The admonition itself implies that there are genuine teachers that we need to heed. I understand that in those times people did not have the whole of the Word of God. But I also understand that in this day and age there are so many versions of the Bible in existence and so many religions that claim the Bible as their foundation that we are in even greater need of sound Biblical teaching and exposition. Is this to say I agree with the whole of the way churches are run, no. Is this to say I think you are safe to pick up any Bible study you find in a store, online or wherever? Absolutely not! We must be very careful in how we choose what aids to use in Bible Study. Pray, inquire of more mature believers, and try to find out about the teacher; does his life bear witness to what he teaches?
As for attending Bible Studies and other services, I point you to Hebrews 10:25 says We need to meet in some fashion to lift one another up. Part of lifting one another is being taught from the Word of God.
I do agree with the idea that we need to stop depending on someone else to read the Bible for us; we need to be constantly in the Word in order to discern false teaching and also if we expect to hear from God, because this is the main way God speaks to us. However, relationships are imperative to our lives, relationships are God's pattern for us to understand how He wants to interact with us. In our imperfections His perfection is illuminated.
I am cautious of anyone who comes off dogmatic; I grew up with that and have seen the destructive nature of it. God's Word does not tell us to reject all teaching; in fact I find it contradicts that mandate. However, had I not read the Word I would not know this for myself. What I am saying is though this person's heart may be, I have no reason to doubt it is, pure, I can't agree with what I heard he said, and I think in some ways the things he said are a bit dangerous because they lend to thinking of one being an island or of cloistered living and that is not Biblical at all.

On a personal note, please pray for my sister, Lillie and she is undergoing hernia surgery at around 1 ( central time ) this afternoon. The hernia is quite severe and she has a shunt in her back making her a little higher risk as well as having Hepatitis. Thank you for praying.