Pure Devotion To Christ

3. know those who labor among you.... I think this is a very important protection against deception. As we noted, inevitably there arises a question about whose interpretation to trust. Now, this doesn’t excuse us from learning how to interpret scripture for ourselves, but you must realize that it’s a relatively new phenomenon in the church that we have all these private interpretations of scripture.

When a congregation only had one Bible, which was usually true until after the invention of the printing press, interpretation was a corporate exercise, based on sound interpretive principles, and guided by godly leadership. It was never just me and Jesus. The question was never, “what does this mean to me? But the question was, what does this mean?

How do we discover it’s true meaning – that there is, in fact, one true meaning to be learned. When there’s a question about which interpretation of scripture to trust, who are you going to trust? Some TV or radio preacher? Some guy on the internet? Some author with a best-selling book?

Now, any or all of those may be absolutely trustworthy. There are certain authors I really trust. They have a track record with me.

But what about the leaders whose lives you’ve watched, whose sermons you’ve listened to, whose character you’ve witnessed up close and personally...here I go again – credentialing myself and the leaders of this church – being a fool like Paul.

So as Paul asked, I ask you to bear with me. I would submit that those are, at least in part, credentials you can rely on....that’s why Paul was boasting in 2 Cor 11... so let me do some foolish boasting.

If I have a question about one interpretation of scripture versus another, I’m going to trust one or more of my fellow elders. I’ve seen their lives, I trust their character. I know them. I respect them. I don’t think they know everything, and we might actually disagree on some peripheral issues.

What’s more, I know that when they don’t know something, they’ll say so. But when it comes to Christian doctrine... I’m going to start with the Word of God, and search the scriptures daily, as my ultimate standard, like the Bereans, and then if there’s a question, go with who I know.

This relates to the opening verse of scripture from 2 Cor 11 we read, where Paul felt the need to boast. You know what Paul was saying? Paul was saying to the Corinthians, “why would you listen to these guys?” “These so-called Super Apostles?” Why don’t you listen to me? Haven’t I invested in your life? Haven’t I earned that much? Don’t you know me well?

In verse 4, he mentions the welcome they gave visitors, who came proclaiming a message other than the gospel that they had embraced, the gospel that brought them salvation.

It was as if Paul was saying: Surely you should show your father in the faith at least the same degree of respect, that you would show a newcomer, someone you don’t know like you know me.