Know What is Good

A person does not need to be a dairy farmer with decades of experience or have a master's degree in microbiology to know milk has gone bad.  Children who have been drinking milk from infancy would be able to realise milk is sour by tasting it, and curdled milk looks and smells different as well.  A similar dynamic applies when we hear teaching from God's word.  Even a child who is born again and has been taught the scripture can know when doctrine is off.  A Christian does not need a degree in theology to realise a doctrine is suspicious or strange, even though we might not be initially able to put our finger on it.

Elihu exhorted his hearers in Job 34:2-4, "Hear my words, you wise men; give ear to me, you who have knowledge. ³ For the ear tests words as the palate tastes food. ⁴ Let us choose justice for ourselves; let us know among ourselves what is good."  Elihu spoke to men who had knowledge of God, and he bid them to wisely listen to his words and test what he said--even as our palates taste food.  From a child we are able to distinguish the difference between sweet, savoury, spicy and sour.  God is the source of wisdom and has given us His word to teach us what is good.  God has established the objective standard for what is true and does not change.  While the tastes of the world change concerning fashion, morality, philosophy and religion, God's word remains internally consistent and eternally relevant.

When I suspect food or drink is "off," I am not always convinced because I could be wrong:  maybe the milk tastes funny because I just brushed my teeth or used mouthwash.  So after confirming the milk is in date, passes a visual examination and sniff test, I might ask someone else for their opinion given the facts because they also know what good milk tastes like.  This is a wise thing to do when we hear Bible teaching or read a book that seems off:  ask a fellow follower of Jesus who loves God's word.  The danger of drinking sour milk is relatively minor, perhaps resulting in feeling ill for a short time.  The danger of drinking in false or heretical doctrine is most destructive, for when it is assimilated into our framework of interpreting scripture it can undermine and distort God's truth and have permanent consequences for ourselves and others we lead astray.

If you find an author or preacher who majors in doubtful doctrines and speculations, I recommend not making their teaching a primary source of your spiritual input.  When I buy a dairy product that habitually goes bad before the "Use By" date, I stop buying that brand.  I do this because I want to avoid wasting money and risking the health of my family, and far greater is at stake spiritually when we heed false doctrine or are so caught up in obscure theological wranglings we miss out on the plain truth.  The Bible is what is good and has no "Use By" date because it remains the words of life forever.  1 Peter 2:1-3 is a fitting exhortation for all Christians regardless of your depth of doctrinal knowledge:  "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, ² as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."  Good doctrine goes to work on making us more Christlike and gives us a greater appetite for God's word.