It's Just One

The Danger of One Degree

Recently, in a conversation with some friends, the subject of a controversial tv preacher came up. There seem to be two decided camps regarding how that particular preacher is perceived in the Christian community. Either people love him or they want nothing to do with him. My brother was one of the friends in this conversation; he said he himself had heard that controversial minister say there was more than one way to get to heaven. I googled that allegation and, surprisingly enough, found it to be a verifiable statement. (In case you wonder why this is a big no-no, Jesus says in John 3:5, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” This is just one of many Scriptures along this vein.)

In the course of our talk, one friend poo-hood the camp against this minister. “I don’t necessarily believe everything he says, but he has a lot of good teachings that I listen to. I use him as a resource.”

I was bursting at the seams with things I wanted to say about this. Although I distinctly felt the Lord telling me, “Keep your mouth shut, Janine. Keep your mouth shut”, true to my consistently disobedient nature, I opened my big fat mouth and voiced one of my own concerns about that minister. Maybe not such a good idea.

My friend’s vehement rebuttal made me realize why God had told me to hold my peace. In Titus 3:9 the Lord specifically tells us not to get into word fights with people. If someone is not receptive, they are simply not receptive. Talking, trying to reason with them, will be fruitless and pointless. Not to mention that being pushy is not God’s way. So, after sticking my big fat foot in my big fat mouth, I finally obeyed God and clamped my lips shut, sorry to rack up yet another episode of disobedience on my part. Sigh…but at least some good came of it—I got the topic for today’s blog!!!!!

Have you ever heard someone parrot Hillary Clinton’s famous, “What difference does it make?” Turns out, one degree of error (one, not two, not three, not a hundred, one) can make a very big difference. One degree can mean the difference between life and death.

Pilots are taught the “one in sixty” rule. That rule states that each one degree error in a plane’s flight path will result in a one mile deviation off the planned course for each 60 mile traveled. That means that a plane leaving New York for Tokyo with a measly one degree error will end up 112 miles away from Tokyo. The plane would end up in the Pacific Ocean or the Sea of Japan. Seeing that such a flight is 14 hours long, by the expected time of arrival the fuel would be running low. What does that mean? That the end of that flight would be extremely precarious if not totally deadly. A beautiful modern plane with wonderful attendants and luxurious facilities, not to mention the latest technology—but an error of one degree would have its flight end in tragedy. One degree.

Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name (Jesus) under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” That controversial minister had it 100% wrong with regard to the way of salvation. But it’s just one belief. One degree. With that one error, do you really think it is safe to listen to the other stuff he has to say? If you are not well versed in Scripture, he might very well say something else that could mislead you spiritually. One degree. The difference between life and death.

I am not using that minister’s name because I am not out to bash him, for despite his error, he does disseminate God’s Word and God says that His Word will always bear fruit (Isaiah 55:11). Though the teaching itself might be “off”, nothing can detract from the Word of God. It will always, always, always pack a powerful punch. The Apostle Paul put it this way (I am paraphrasing): even though someone might minister with impure intentions, there exists a chance that someone somewhere sometime might be ministered to through him (Philippians 1:15-17). The context might be iffy, but God’s Word remains a rock we can trust and on which we can build our life. As a teenager seeking God, I was encouraged in my quest by a Christian novel that, upon rereading years later, I asked myself, “Really? That precipitated my search for truth????” God used something not very strong in spiritual depth but that contained portions of God’s Word to bring me to my knees before Jesus. Could this be one of the reasons Jesus said not to pick the tares from the wheat (Matthew 13:24-43)? Sometimes the questionable can, by God’s great mercy, be used to minister to His little ones (as in, new to the things of God). So, in the interest of preserving the integrity of ministry per se before unbelievers and baby Christians, that minister’s name will remain unspoken.

But the mature Christian is expected to be more discerning than the unsaved or newly born again (1 Corinthians 2:24). The mature Christian (a state that is God’s desire for all His children) is expected to avoid paths with possible pitfalls. What I want to do is remind myself and all who read this that we need to be aware from whom we receive teaching.

There is a reason why John wrote, “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed (2 John 1:10). Pretty strong words! A minister might have charisma, present an engaging persona, speak like an angel—but if his doctrine is riddled with error, what will his teaching profit us? To the uninitiated in the things of God, his captivating words might spark a yearning for God. But on learning more, the young Christian should be more discerning, realizing he should not trust any old words simply because they are engaging; words not predicated on God’s precepts are not enough on which to build our spiritual house.

We might be all goose bumpy happy to be seen with “a cutting edge” minister. We might feel like puffing out our chests and preening like peacocks because we are with the “beautiful” well-known people in the Christian world. But … what good will it do us if we are one degree off? It won’t be the Sea of Japan we’ll be landing in, buddy.

We have to be careful to whom we lend our ear. Sure, In Matthew 7 Jesus tells us to be careful how we judge because we’ll be judged the same way. But then in John 7:24 He says, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment”. There ARE times when we have to pull up our spiritual pants and decide what is biblical and what is not. Even if that puts us in the minority or in the unpopular camp.

One degree.

Be careful to whom you listen. Keep your flight path on course! And may all your landings be on point!

“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; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).