At Sunday Night Firesides last night, we were discussing how we can discern truth from error, where false beliefs come from, and what part the church can play in helping us to be more discerning. This is all the more important as the culture around us becomes more pluralistic, as technology progresses, and as ‘almost true’ begins to look more and more like ‘actually true’.
We are right to be concerned about what we see going on around us. Yet, there is an even greater danger which lurks in each of us: our own hearts.
In a look at the theology of Motörhead lyrics, Pastor Joe Thorn observes this:
Jesus also pins the origin of evil in the heart of humanity when he corrected the religious leaders of his day who were obsessed with external purity. He told them, it’s not what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes out: “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person” (Mark 7:21-23).
This is why we so desperately need the gospel each day of our lives. If we are prone to error in our own hearts, then we need help from outside ourselves.
This is why it is such good news that God gives us the good gifts of his word, access to him in prayer, and fellowship with one another. As a church family, we are placed together by God to grow up together in love for one another and in a right knowledge of the truth. That means we need one another to correct us. That means that an essential aspect of our discipleship is the imitation of others.
To help us with this, we’ll be continuing Sunday Night Firesides through the autumn with occasional breaks for special events. We’ll be starting a new discussion series on 6 September called “A Closer Look”. More on that in the coming weeks.
In the mean time, consider today how you might seek God and his help to discern truth from error in your daily life. Perhaps you’re reading this and you haven’t yet placed your trust in Jesus, the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. If that’s you, we’d encourage you to consider this Jesus. You can watch this short video or you can meet with Pastor Dan to talk about these things.
Notices
Join us for Tuesday Night Prayer at 7:30pm in the Side Hall. Over the last couple of weeks, we have prayed specifically for those in our church and for the work being done in various churches in our community. Coming up this Tuesday (18th), we’ll get an update from Good News For Everyone and pray for the work they are doing to make God’s word accessible to everyone in Inverclyde.