False Prophets, Evil Spirit, and One Pastor’s Confession
Abridge Worship Provided By: Rev. Jacob Shaw
(Please note that this is not a verbatim account of our Sunday morning worship, but rather a condensed version for those at home to study and enjoy, Blessings)
Opening Prayer: Lord, we know the world is riddled with wickedness. We also know the world is full of your beauty, creation, and love. Help us to share your glory as we encounter both. Help us reflect well this day, to strengthen our faith in you. Amen.
Scripture Readings:
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits, and they obey him.” News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
We give thanks to God for the Scriptures and ask God to have these words inspire our hearts and minds.
Reflection:
Our readings today have a common thread, though the expression of this thread is slightly different. In Deuteronomy, God wishes to speak to His people, but because of the immense dichotomy, in all ways, between God and humanity, God uses prophets to lighten the force of God’s word upon people. Kind of like, wearing sunglasses on a bright day. So, God promises a prophet. This is not an uncommon theme overall, God has always called upon people to do his will, whether they are prophets, priests, disciples, or everyday people called to do miraculous things for the glory of God.
Now the challenge with God saying, hey, I will speak through prophets, is that anyone can claim they are one. So, God notes some criteria, he will send one like Moses.
Moses has some historical characteristics which could function as a rubric if you will, for the people to judge a prophet by. Moses for example was an advocate for the people to God, but at the same time was obedient to God, in short, Moses was merciful and just. So, if a prophet arose and they were not merciful and just, then you could assume that they were not from God. Moses also was part of the process of revelation of the Mosaic Law, so if the prophet contradicted the law, then one could assume they were a false teacher and prophet. God also gives very specific things to watch out for, like advocation for false Gods and or contradictions to commandments.
So, from this, we get this stark truth that some people will claim to be for or from God but are not, and those people might even use that deception to gain power and influence. And here is the kicker, God places a level of responsibility on the church and individuals to identify these falsehoods.
There is a lot to unpack here, but let’s put this on pause, and jump to the Gospels.
So, in the Gospel, we see a man in the synagogue, a house of religious study and worship, who is possessed by an impure spirit and is freed as the spirit is cast out by Jesus. Now this exorcising of the Spirit has many layers to it, and some dense theological discussion. But what I want to focus on is this impure spirit’s location before the exorcism: this impure spirit is in a man who is in the synagogue. This impure spirit was not out hiding in the shadows, it was not in the redlight district of the neighborhood but anchored in a person within the house of worship.
See, the common thread is that, unfortunately, evil often takes root right in the heart of where humanity tries to respond to God. Sometimes evil will be present as another spectator, and sometimes it will try to claim authority like a prophet. But regardless evil doesn’t rest when humanity seeks God, sometimes evil gets involved.
And this makes strategic sense, what better way to take a ship off course, than to get on board and try to subtly steer it the wrong way, often unseen and unheard?
A.W. Tozer said, the Devil is a better theologian than any of us and is a devil still.
For those here who might not be accustomed to this kind of discussion, this spiritual warfare-like discussion, this might feel a bit alien, or like Rev. Jacob is trying to frighten us with the boogeyman or something. Whether that be true, I think enough of us have come across the headline in the news, which tells us again and again that corrupt people will use positions of power and authority for their gain and their twisted motivations, and the church is no exception. Those who have opposition in their heart against God can see ministry and theology as a way of influencing the populous against God or God’s command.
From the scripture, and throughout Church history, we can see this is not a new problem, the ancient Israelites knew about this reality, in the early Christian church, we have letters talking about the strict requirements of religious elders, bishops, teachers, and the like. Trying to create a fortification against this internal destructive tactic of evil and darkness.
So, what can an individual do, what can a church do to fortify themselves against this sort of reality?
First, God has written the moral law upon our hearts. It is in everyone, not just Christians or Jews, but everyone, it is one of the foundational compasses which allow us to navigate right and wrong, and what is of God and is not. But our hearts are flawed, and our minds are tempted, so we often get our moral convictions confused.
Second, God grants some rubrics to us in the scriptures, which we have already spoken of. He gives us archetypical life stories of prophets and disciples which give us a great resource to see if people are living a live that reflect discipleship. Now that doesn’t mean people will be perfect, remember Jonah was a prophet and he had to be eaten alive before he smartened up.
God also granted us Jesus, God made Himself flesh to teach us what following God should look like, and how our perfect image from Christ articulates into the world. So, we have that rubric as well. Through Jesus, we have a rubric of perfection, and a guide to help us in our imperfections, and a salvation for when we stumble.
We also have the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If a person produces these and increases in these then it is a sign.
We also have through the apostle Paul and his letters within the Bible guidelines for what a church and elders, and how leaders should carry themselves in the community. These structures are taken with a variety of seriousness depending on the denomination, but they are a good rubric resource nonetheless, as they are still scriptural.
And finally, we have what we call the Gospel, the Gospel is a metanarrative which is from Genesis through to the end of Revelation, but ultimately revealed to us in Jesus and the four books of the Gospel. It tells us of God’s solution for sin, and to restore his beloved creation from death, and how he does all this because of his eternal love for his creation. If someone teaching, prophecy, or life deviates too much from this understanding, there may be a red flag.
So God has given us many ways to help us flush out the darkness and the evil which resides close within our religious circles. But remember Tozer’s statement about the Devil is a theologian, and he will often take these rubrics and trick us into using them as weapons against each other, we take these rubric and turn them into blunt object and strike down opposition we do agree with, and as a result, we fail to see that we have become the impurity in the house of the Lord.
So then what can we do?
The best thing we can do is before we use these rubrics against others, we should be willing to use them against ourselves. It is easy to see the spec in another person’s eye and ignore the one in our own. But if we can come to see it in ourselves, without fear, but with transformative faith in God, we can be like the man in the synagogue, we can be cleansed; we can begin to heal for the darkness which longs to pull us from God. But to hold ourselves accountable is hard. To say outwardly, I’m broken, I am a sinner can be challenging.
So, to set a good example to this effect. I will today, before all of you, I am going to address the specs in my own eyes, and speak to the ways I am impure, and how I may be false. Not to beat me down, and not to project a false humility, but to be raw and human in my pursuit of God with you.
Rev. Shaw’s Confession
Alright, the time has come for me to lay it all out.
Firstly, I am human, I am a sinner, I am flawed, I am often weak, and I even intentionally fall into sinful behavior occasionally. My heart feels guilt and remorse and I have been known to respond to that in a good way, but like many people, I often postpone my repentance for an easier time, or until I forget it is needed.
I often let fear and anxiety get the better of me, either into overthinking or complete mental shutdown. I can be prideful, and I have idols that I often struggle to avoid worshiping time, money, success, luxury, ambition, and affirmation.
I often am too quick to judge, and often find myself seeking more mercy for myself than I would extend to others. I like the realm of the mind more than the heart, which is great, but as a result, I can often be blunt and insensitive. I often struggle not to tease and poke fun at friends and family, I’m the guy who historically takes the joke too far.
And, self-control is not always my strong suit, I can be very impulsive, and I stumble giving into temptations, especially self-destructive ones, like eating food that causes me illness.
I’m not a prophet, I’m a struggling, broken, and sinful leader in a denomination I often feel foreign in,
My lifeline in all this is a strength that comes from the Lord and not me, the only reason that these characteristics of mind have not destroyed me is the grace and the love of God, and that Godly people in my life have, over time, instilled in me an impulse that when I am weak, He is strong and when I fall, He Rises, and when I am tempted by the darkness, God is the light which shines into the darkness.
I will make mistakes, I will make errors, and I will sin as a Christian and as our pastor, but by grace and through faith my soul seems to want to transcend those limitations, and it is in trust of God’s faithfulness, mercy, and love that we all overcome my limitations and all of yours. A new heart, and new creation, a new and restored me awaits, and I long for that, and because of the cross and God’s transformative love, I can feel this new me more every day.
My offering to God, and to all of you, is all that I am, broken, cracked but desperately faithful me.
Now saying all this, I hope that by witnessing this confessional if you will, like me as a child absorbing insight from Bob Ross, you too can begin to adopt an appreciation and maybe even a practice of humbling before God, to protect yourself and community from which that seeks to destroy.
Homework:
Look at your life as a person of faith, and ask yourself, if suddenly Christ healed your life to a state of purity, what impurity would be exorcized out of you? This is not to say you have a demon or an unclean spirit but to think about the sins we harbor inside which can stray us off our Christian pathway. Once you have reflected upon this, spend time in prayer asking Jesus to liberate you from these impurities, seeking restoration and love, so that you can walk more enthralled in His grace.
Closing Prayer:
God of Purity; our God who is true. Help us recognize the tactic of evil in our world, but also in our hearts. Help us not only to spot the evil that causes people to stray but also seek a ministry of Christ to confront and liberate God’s creation from that which seeks to distort and destroy. May me begin in our hearts, so that we are fully rested in you, as we engage with the wider world.
Meme of the Week
Thank you for joining us this week. If you have any thoughts, feelings, or prayers, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. Please be respectful of others’ posts and make room for all those joining us.
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