“We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we did not send them!”
Acts 15:24 (NLT)
The council in Jerusalem cared enough about these new Gentile believers to send a letter and trusted leaders in Judas and Silas to deliver it. The council of apostles and elders didn’t just protect doctrine, they protected people. They wanted the church in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia to know they were one family, one Kingdom, one body.
And they pointed out the problem plainly. Some men from Jerusalem have troubled you. They upset you with false teaching. But we did not send them. This is a reminder that not every teaching we receive in the church was sent from God. We’re not called to just accept every teaching as true from the pulpit, from a ministry, from a message, or from another believer. We are all broken, sinful, and fallen. So we have to discern if the teaching is true, if it’s for us, and if it’s been applied correctly.
This teaching wasn’t bad just because it troubled them and upset them. Good teaching may do that temporarily when we learn that we’re wrong or that we’re sinful. Good teaching helps us see the path forward but it doesn’t always feel good. And good teaching is supported by good abiding. We must use the resources God has given us to prepare for the teaching, discern the teaching, and implement the teaching.
The two primary tools we have to test the teaching we receive are the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. We must abide in Him, make ourselves available in quiet time, and read the Word for ourselves, so that the teaching strengthens what we’ve already read instead of replacing it. Today, I’m challenging myself, and all of us, to be prepared and to discern what we receive, then put it into practice in our lives, by the leading of Holy Spirit.