There is a war. It is ever-going and never-ceasing. You are in the middle of it. Often your mind and heart are at the epicenter. And the war is about the Truth.
My family and I live in North Africa. We have lived there for 12 years. Our first 7 years we lived off-grid in a village bringing the good news to the least reached. For the last 5 years, we have been in an urban setting leading teams among the unreached and discipling believers in Jesus from a Muslim background. We have learned a lot about loving people in their messes. We have learned to embrace that discipleship and community are mostly walking with one another in the mess—mainly the messes we make ourselves and/or together. Believers who come out of a Muslim background have a lot of spiritual (lies, false prophet), relational (transactional, social pressures), cultural, and emotional (shame/honor) baggage.
Let me tell you a story about Bishara. I met Bishara after he was miraculously freed from the hands of his father and brothers who tried to kill him for following Jesus. He was traumatized and reeling from persecution. Bishara showed a deep love for Jesus, a hunger for God’s Word, and a passion to share his new life with others. It was exciting to see. It was a joy to disciple him through the Old Testament along with a group of men all from different unreached tribes. Outside the room, many of these men might be enemies and rivals, but because of Jesus, there was a bond. Bishara struggled to love his brothers. He had a competitive spirit and he often tried to one-up others. We didn’t catch this at first. He also had a hidden life of lies that took a while to uncover. It came out that Bishara used funds for charity for personal gain, he was womanizing and got a girl pregnant, when confronted he denied and didn’t take responsibility, and when disciplined rather than being repentant he threw some of his brothers under the bus. He ended up leading some astray because of his dual lifestyle. It was so messy and heartbreaking.
In this context of 1 John 4, John writes to the church which was experiencing some messes too. At the time, the church had grown and expanded around the known world. Some teachers had claimed to have the corner on truth. John cautioned the church encouraging them to discern truth from lies. This is so helpful for all of us because no matter where in the world we live we need to discern what is truth from within us (in our minds; in our church) and outside of us (in our world/culture/society). We are bombarded with thousands of messages each day.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” —1 John 4:1-6
First things:
- We are commanded to test the spirits (beings) and test what we are taught/hear.
- Not every “truth claim” comes from God. There are false spiritual sources (teacher/demon).
- John gives litmus tests to discern truth and lies.
Three Litmus Tests to Discern the Truth (Jesus>Spirit>Word)
There are two uses of the term ‘litmus test’. The first is scientific and it is used to determine if a liquid is acidic or alkaline. The second is used linguistically to prove or indicate truth. I will use it in the later.
Jesus Test
v.2 confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.
In John’s day, some teachers said that Jesus didn’t show up in the flesh. They said that he was God but that he didn’t put on human skin. Sounds super-spiritual. Today people flip the narrative. They believe that Jesus came in the flesh, but that he wasn’t God. They will say that was just a good teacher, one of the prophets, or a moral man. Muslims say that Jesus didn’t die but was taken. So people take either extreme—they over-humanize him or over-deify him.
We believe in the doctrine of the hypostatic union, which is the truth that Jesus was both 100% man and 100% God at the same time (hypostasis—same—inseparable natures). He is perfectly and fully human and divine. There is no mixture or dilution of either nature. In other words, we believe that Jesus was God (always was God; John 8:58) before he became man, and when he became man he became fully human (John 1:14), — False teachers disguise themselves (2 Cor.11:13-15) and their message is a false gospel that is powerless to save.
Questions to consider: What has been added/removed about/to Jesus? What impact does Jesus have on our life/walk? What does their life produce? In what ways do our lives mirror Jesus in word/action?
Spirit Test
v.4, he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
In the world, there are many voices. Each voice claims to be true, but not all can be true. Not all truth claims have the same source. In the Garden of Eden, there was One voice. That voice walked among men and related to men. Then came another voice that questioned the One voice—to distract, deceive, disillusion, distort, cloud out, and twist the Truth. Consider the many voices you hear each day (i.e. podcasts, blogs, YouTube, TikTok). Each day you will see 100 text messages, hear 1,000 audio messages, and filter 10,000 advertisements. What are the chances that some of those messages will not be true?
You have an enemy (“he who is in the world”) and he has many helpers. He goes by the name deceiver and accuser, tempter, and father of lies. These are his names and descriptors. He is against (anti-)Christ and his spirit is already in the world. Demons don’t get enough press in the church. Instead, we hide them in a box in the attic because we don’t know what to do with it, and we are at risk of ignoring the excluded middle.
In C.S. Lewis’ famous Screwtape Letters which depicts a conversation between two demons named Tempter and Wormwood there is a statement on one of the ways they try to deceive, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”
Remember that “He who is in you is greater.” You who have the Holy Spirit are indwelled. He is known as the Helper, Comforter, Guide, and Truth. Your heart is the garden. You can hear the One voice each day, everywhere you go, he goes with you. Yet you and I face the temptation with so many voices (outward and inward) to draw you away from the Truth and snooker your attention to anything other than Jesus.
Questions to consider: Who’s voice is feeding this wisdom? What does the Spirit within me say? What is the substance of the wisdom?
Word Test
v.6 Whoever knows God listens to us.
Who is “us” in this verse? It is John and he references the other eyewitnesses to Jesus. John challenges us to measure all words against their words—the words written in the Word of God. You will know counterfeits by studying the truth. Any banker will tell you that to spot a fake you must first know the genuine article.
Questions to consider: How does it weigh against the Word? What is the source of the claim? Do my/others’ words mimic the words of the Prophets, eyewitnesses, and Jesus? Who do the teachers submit their lives to?
Approach and Posture to Testing
There are a few ways we can respond when testing the messages we hear. We can attack, be active, or avoid. We can attack as heretic hunters and consider ourselves the sole guardians of truth. This approach might seem appropriate, but it might not be from a posture of love for your brothers. We can be passive followers of the Person of Jesus and avoid interacting with false messages. This approach might be the easy way out, but it also might not be from a posture of love for your brothers. What are the common ways you see others around you approach and respond? What way do you want to approach and respond?
“Truth matters. It matters not just in our relationships, in what we say to others, but inside each of us. We lie to ourselves every day, multiple times a day, when we tell ourselves things that are inaccurate, distorted, untrue, irrational, mistaken, and most important, unbiblical. The lies we tell ourselves cost us dearly. They cost us good relationships with others, a sense of meaning and purpose, emotional health, well-lived lives, confidence that we have worth, and an intimate relationship with the God of the universe, who created us in His image.” — The Lies We Believe, Chris Thurman
Three Arenas the enemy uses to deceive and accuse: And a sampling of sayings.
1) Ourselves (identity/performance)
— I am useless/worthless. I am what I do. I am who I am. (or the opposite)
— I am enough (I have what it takes). I can do it all. I am in control. I am awesome.
2) Our World (life/culture/society/media)
—People are good. Life should be easy and fair. You can have it all. You deserve the best.
—Everything is awesome! We can take on the philosophy of the Lego Movie, “You are the most important, most talented, most interesting, and most extraordinary person in the universe—you are “The Special”
3) Our Relationships (God/others)
—Trust no one. Do it yourself, if you want it done right. Stay yourself (never change). You will fail me. No one cares. I need no one. I am not lovable/forgivable.
—God isn’t…good/kind (or anything that calls question to His character).
Which of these arenas do you feel the heat of the enemy?
Consider Jesus—the True One—who also faced accusations and attacks.
—He loved God, people hated him. (the same will happen to those who teach the truth)
—He sought to please God, but people were not pleased with him.
—He said hard words and truths, but people rejected him and made it hard for him
What I learned from Bishara’s story? I was able to look into the mirror—it could be me (it caused me to guard my heart). It was sad and that was okay because so was the Holy Spirit. I will focus future discipleship on the fruit (maturity) and seek heart-level change. Discipleship is messy.
Remember you are at war. Your mind and heart are the battlefield. The war is about Truth. Test the Truth by the life of Jesus, His Spirit, and the Word of God. Approach the way you respond from a posture of love. Look to Jesus as a way to guard yourself from the accusations and deceptions of the enemy. We are stronger together!
spreading the fame 