I John 4:1-21
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. (v. 1) This verse caught my eye today – “…test the spirits to see whether they are from God”. I was trying to think of instances in my life when I have “tested the spirits”. A most obvious testing would be with respect to Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness beliefs, but I have never “tested” those spirits – I’ve simply taken the word of others whose positions I respect. For me the most “testing” that I have done has been with respect to liberal theology – in particular the upheaval in the Episcopal Church in 2003/2004 over the consecration of a gay bishop. There were many liberal issues that preceded this one particular item, but this consecration seemed to be the “straw that broke the camel’s back”. Tens-of-thousands of people in Episcopal churches left that denomination having “tested” those more liberal spirits, preferring instead our Bible-based, traditional, historical beliefs. St. Andrew’s people were part of that mass exodus.
Back in our church in Richmond we had a rector who said that he did not believe in Hell, that he could not believe that God would subject someone to eternal damnation. Although that rector moved on to another parish, the discomfort remained for Carol and me. Our difficulties had more to do with the national Episcopal Church than with that local body, but we did not see others in that body testing the spirits of that higher leadership and we ended up leaving that church and joining St. Andrew’s. Individually I/we found ourselves testing that more liberal theology in more personal ways, with our own disagreements with friends and relatives. We even lost dear friends (a married couple) over a stance that we took in direct opposition to where they were headed. But we’ve also seen strengthened relationship when our common bonds brought us closer together.
…test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
See also: December 23 / I John 4:1-11; December 24 / I John 4:12-21