THE

UNTEACHABLE:

the truth, half-truth & nothing like the truth; so help us god

 

&

(observations from a sheep’s eye view)

 

You may find this hard to believe, but there was a time in my life when I should have been wearing a t-shirt with the word unteachable plastered across it. I know, some of you are holding your heads in your hands in disbelief. Surely not! Well, it’s the truth. Back along, I was more interested in being right, than I was in being righteous. There is nothing quite like catastrophic failure to bring one down to earth. I didn’t enjoy it at the time, but it delivered a sobering dose of reality to me. There are those among us who genuinely think that they are above & beyond submission or instruction. They are disruptive, rebellious & lawless. This is true of those who dominate pulpits, as well as those who occupy pews; if God cannot teach us, He will not use us; but He will judge us.

I wasn’t sure how to begin this article, so I thought that the best place to start would be with myself. Being unteachable has been the bane of my life, because even though my pea brain worked pretty well, my deceitful heart had pride & arrogance constantly vying for pole position within it, while my ignorance waited for its turn. The Lord has been patient, kind & longsuffering with me in this regard & for that, I can never be grateful enough.

So, there I was back in the 1980s, thinking that I was too cool for school at that time, because I had read through The Bible. Once. With the little money that I had, I bought books. Lots of them. I sat in my room & I would read & read & read for hours. This is still one of my better habits. No one had put their arm around my shoulder & warned me to watch out for a subtle case of superiority & egotism. In these things crept, ever so slowly, but ever so surely.

I did not realise that after a while the only voices I was listening to, were those who claimed an exclusive & special relationship with The Lord. Through prophetic dreams; open visions; God’s audible voice; angelic visitations & personal appearances by The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, some had propped themselves up as spiritual authorities on God’s Word. They said that they were walking in revelation knowledge as opposed to mere head knowledge. As such, they set about redefining fundamental doctrine. We had heard it said by those of old time, but that stuff was rubbish, apparently. The traditions of men had made The Word of God ineffective.

We were taught brand new interpretations to millennia old, established orthodoxy & this came direct from heaven; from God’s lips to our ears. Start with a truth, layer in a half-truth & then introduce something that bears no relation to the truth at all. Subjective experience had now somehow surpassed objective learning. It was quite a thing.

¹³ And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children (Isaiah 54:13).

This was a favoured verse used by many who were self-proclaimed teachers in The Church at large, as well as another well beloved, but shamelessly twisted classic Scripture.

¹⁰² I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me (Psalms  119:102).

Who needs stuffy old reference materials, it was said, when God Himself is your teacher? Isn’t this how cults are started? Start with a truth, layer in a half-truth & then introduce something that bears no relation to the truth at all. Of course, they brashly butchered the words of Paul; ‘For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 1:12). Read Galatians 1 in its entirety & you will see that Paul was speaking about The Gospel, not pathetic drivel. These claims accompanied a devilish attribute in these self-appointed revelators; an unbridled megalomania. Nutcases are always above & beyond correction.

These individuals will happily compare themselves to Moses, Elijah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Paul & even The Lord Jesus. Legends in their own lunchtime. They may not have marched out onto their respective platforms, demanding unquestioning obedience, but there was a definite undertone of implied ascendency about them. The Lord showed them or told them something that He hadn’t revealed to anyone else. In order for us to tap into this exclusive stream of heavenly truth, there were some simple steps to follow. Buy their transcribed books. Listen to their sermons. Attend their conferences. Believe their message. Start with a truth, layer in a half-truth & then introduce something that bears no relation to the truth at all.

Typically, they will be staunchly anti-intellectual & anti-educational. Ironically, these same individuals will fall over themselves to start their own Bible schools, using their own materials for the curriculum & will then proceed to hammer their own names in between ‘Dr.’ & ‘Ph.D’. They are by definition unteachable & yet they seek to teach others. Are there any alarm bells ringing, brethren? Start with a truth, layer in a half-truth & then introduce something that bears no relation to the truth at all.

²⁷ But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him (1^st John 2:27).

There you have it, in black & white. There is no need to pursue a proper biblical education. The messaging from these teachers is simple; just listen to them. They will teach you. They will guide you. They will lead you. The Lord spoke to them. An angel appeared to them. They heard the voice of God. They have the anointing. Really? Some have argued that most of what is taught in Christian institutes is actually ineffective, therefore someone ought to concentrate on the portion that is valuable.

On the surface this statement makes perfect logical sense, but remember what we have said about this previously; it is not enough for something to make logical sense, it has to make theo-logical sense. Remember the words of King Solomon, who said, ‘Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge (Proverbs 23:12). The unteachable are above this, apparently. Their particular method goes much further & a lot deeper than those who advocate a simple faithfulness to the text of Scripture. Again, they twist the words of the text.

⁹ But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. ¹⁰ But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. ¹³ Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual (1^st Corinthians 2:9-13).

Start with a truth, layer in a half-truth & then introduce something that bears no relation to the truth at all. If the anointing of The Spirit teaches us all things & we have no need of a human instructor, why then has God set the teaching office within the ministry of The Church (Acts 13:1; 1^st Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11)? Has somebody missed something? I wonder. Like trained Matadors, our deceptive friends will side-step this question & cite the words of The Lord Jesus in order to shore up their false foundation.

¹³ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come (John 16:13). 

Whatever Scripture states is true. False teachers will read from Scripture. Their following interpretation will be a half-truth & their concluding definition will bear no relation to the truth at all. Herein lies the danger. To be unteachable is not about an inability to learn. On the contrary. To be unteachable is to be unwilling to abandon a proven lie & walk in the light of confirmed truth. It’s not about a lack of intelligence; it’s about a lack of honesty. The Scribes, Pharisees, Elders & Chief Priests were all learned men, but they were also, for the most part, unteachable. They rejected Christ in order to hold to their tradition.

Are you unteachable? Are you holding onto beliefs & practices that are patently unbiblical at best or manifestly heretical at worst, even though you are presented with scriptural evidence to the contrary? How would you now the difference? Are you determining, interpreting & defining what biblical truth is, based on the literature you read, rather than following the rule of Scripture alone? Remember brethren, those unscrupulous false teachers out there will always start with a truth, layer in a half-truth & then introduce something that bears no relation to the truth at all.

²¹ Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (1^st Thessalonians 5:21).

¹ Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world… We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error (1^st John 4:1 & 6).

¹ Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils (1^st Timothy 4:1).

³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; ⁴ And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (2^nd Timothy 4:3-4).

We have a responsibility to test all things. Be honest; when was the last time you examined a book you’d read, fact checked a sermon you’d heard or tested a teaching that came your way, in the light of Scripture? Be honest; when was the last time that you took a break from television ministries, internet ministers & everything else, except your Bible? Be honest; when was the last time you searched out truth from The Scriptures, without the aid of a conveniently written book, penned by someone you don’t even know?

I say again, the unscrupulous false teachers will always start with a truth, layer in a half-truth & then introduce something that bears no relation to the truth at all. I say again, To be unteachable is not about an inability to learn. On the contrary. To be unteachable is to be unwilling to abandon a proven lie & walk in the light of confirmed truth. It’s not about a lack of intelligence; it’s about a lack of honesty.

In our next meeting, we’ll look more closely at these themes. In the meantime, ‘…I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified’ (Acts 20:32).

 

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