When we know the truth, the counterfeit will be more easily spotted. However, some copies are not as easily discerned. The sermon is one of 60 “preachers” the average church participant hears in a week all telling them what to think and believe.
So, how do leaders and members discern what is of God and what is not of God within movements, books, radio shows, teachers, and speakers? Often there is a mixed bag of both God’s work and the flesh—the disciples exhibited this.
1. Is there an inner witness of the Spirit beyond what is visible in outward behavior? (1 Cor. 12:10)
2. How does this match the Scriptures? (Acts 17:11)
3. Do the movement leaders or the author allow examination of claims? (Matt 8:1-4; Lev. 13,14)
4. If you have concerns or questions, are you deemed not spiritual? (GodTV excerpts)
5. Is there a competitive spirit against the rest of the Body of Christ? (Goshen church sign)
6. Is there pressure to declare a new idea immediately as truth without study or discernment? (1 Tim. 5:22—don’t be pushed into “all or nothing” thinking)
7. What have you observed in the author or movement firsthand, not merely judging from hearsay? (2 Cor. 12:20—no gossip or slander)
8. Beyond the results, does the process have integrity? (“Ends justify the means” question)
9. Is there a grandiose self-adulation or sense of self-importance? (Rom. 12:3; Phil 2:1-4; Acts 12:21-23)
10. Is there foolishness or immaturity coming from the crowd or from the stage? (James 3:1; Gal. 2:11-14)
11. If there is ungodliness on stage, what correction is exercised by mature leaders? (Acts 18:24-26)
12. If there is fallenness, is it isolated or widespread within the movement?
13. Does the behavior of the leaders look like something Jesus would do? (Matt. 16:24; 1 Cor. 11:1)
14. Is the leader learning and growing and with humility able to admit mistakes?(Luke 14:11)
15. What is the sustained result in people’s lives after an encounter? (“Take a movie, not a snapshot”)
16. How does one isolated experience fit in the whole movement? (Don’t “throw the baby out with the bathwater!”)
17. What other leaders or organizations does the movement associate with? (Not “guilty by association”)
18. Who trained or discipled the leader(s)? (Luke 6:40)
19. Is there manipulation of group emotions or dependence on God?
20. Is the person of Jesus Christ exalted? (John 12:32)
21. Is there a real relationship with those to whom the group is accountable? (2 Cor. 10:12-18)
22. Does it lead people toward devotion to Jesus Christ or away? (See # 20)
23. Does terminology need to be clarified to avoid miscommunication or misunderstood teaching? (Gnostic ideas in Christian language)
24. How much listening prayer precedes new revelations? (Jer. 29:13; John 10:27)
25. What is God up to in the long term? (Eph. 1:9,10; Eph. 2:11-22; 2 Cor. 5:17-6:2)
