Deception III: Who's at Fault

There is an ancient saying, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." When it comes to deception, that is a truthful saying. There was a question that was once posed to a general audience (a forum group) "when one is deceived who's at fault? The deceiver or the one willing to believe the lie without ever being the Berean & checking what they hear against the word of God." That is a good question, one that many people have philosophically asked, and had many lengthy midnight discussions about. So what does society say, and what does Scripture say.

Society teaches not to argue with authority. If someone of authority teaches you something, you should accept what they teach as correct. Society teaches that if something istaught wrong, then the fault lies within the teacher not the student. There is a hierarchy of student to teacher: minor student, advanced student, grad assistant, teacher, professor. (This isn't set in stone and there are multiple levels of hierarchy) You can teach the ones under you, but you can't argue with the ones above you. Because they have letters either preceding or proceeding their names, we give them a distinct honor and hold them, in essence, infallible. Therefore, if they falsely teach something, the fault lies within the teacher. But, who's going to point out the mistakes. This also lies within the church. How many pastors accept correction from a lay person, let alone an associate. Unfortunately, there comes a level of ego, that surfaces when someone with a degree is challenged by an uneducated person. (Before any body gets a hemorrhage ask yourself, am I like this? and be honest with yourself. No body likes to be rebuked even by a "commoner". At the same time, there are pastors who are open to rebuke, I'm generalizing as a whole, not saying all are this way, just most)

So what does society as a whole teach? They teach the fault lies within the teacher for misleading, but they can't mislead if they have the education. They are just teaching something different. What does scripture say as to where's the fault?

James 3:1 "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." (NIV) There you go, even Scripture shows that it is the teacher that will be judged more strictly. Therefore, it is the teachers fault. Not so fast, Slick. Let's look at another piece of Scripture. I John 4:1 "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, emphasis mine) Do not believe, but test the spirits. Why don't we test those that teach. In today's instantaneous, sped up, broadband, MacNews society, we want it now. We don't want to have to do the work, we expect the teachers to put in the time, therefore they should have it right. We want to believe what is given to us and not to question it.

When it comes to authority, who in the early church had the most authority? Paul would have to rank right up there in authority. What happened to him while he was in Berea? What does Scripture say? "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul taught was true. (Acts 17:11 NIV, emphasis mine) They examined the Scriptures and compared it to what Paul taught to see if Paul was teaching correctly. Did Paul rebuke them or get upset with them? It was recorded about their character, if you're upset with someone, you generally don't refer to them as noble.

So who's at fault for deception, the teacher or the student? According to Scripture, it's both. But, the fault for being deceived lies with the student. There are so many warnings not to be deceived, and to test everything. Test me, and when I'm wrong rebuke me. I will easily change my thoughts and teachings if I am shown the error of my ways, but there is a way to rebuke me. Show me in the Bible where I am wrong. If you show me a magazine article and say, "Dr So and So says this, and he proves you're wrong, therefore, Daniel you need to change." You'll have a battle on your hands. But if you use Scripture and say, "Daniel, when you taught this, did you think about this? I think this Scripture shows where you are mistaken." I will study and when proven wrong, I will change. I am also man enough to apologize to those offended and to correct myself in public.

"A wise son heeds his fathers instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke." (Prov 13:1 NIV)

Have a blessed week

Daniel Vandenburg