Shake that foundation
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world."(NIV) 1 John 4:1
Many people were born into different churches namely, Church of Christ, the Catholic church, Presbyterian church, Anglican Church, Methodist church and so many others. These churches have different teachings though they all use the same bible. Our foundation as Christians comes mainly from the teachings of these churches. Have you ever wondered why the teachings are different? Have you questioned the differences in the practices from one church to another and have you been answered using the bible?
I grew up in the Church of Christ because my parents were members. Along the way, I was so confused about our practices because they were different from the churches around us. So I embarked on a journey of asking questions and expecting biblical answers and not man’s thoughts. Daily studying of the bible and asking of questions continue to shape my foundation as a Christian. Many times, people get offended when going through bible studies with them, they find out biblically that some practices of their churches are not biblical. Why should that be the case? I think we should rather welcome biblical teachings and aspire to teach our churches the truth and if they are not willing to obey God, we discontinue fellowship with them and seek the church that wholly (not partially) obeys God’s word.
1 John 4:1 asked us not to believe every spirit but we must test to see whether they are from God because false prophets are in the world. It is obvious by the deeds of some prophets to outrightly see them as false but others are difficult to tell so we need to study our Bibles and be conversant with the word of truth and correctly handle it (2 Timothy 2:15). Do not just accept the foundation on which your Christianity is built by virtue of the fact that you were born to parents who were members of a particular church but rather shake that foundation and test if it is strongly and firmly grounded in God’s word. May God be your guide as you keep obeying His word. God bless you.