I’ve been reflecting on @karen4’s study of Jesus’ teaching about false prophets in Matthew 7:15-16 throughout this past week and I’ve been struggling with thinking through how to live it out well.
Throughout Matthew 7 and 2 Corinthians, time and time again the Lord has been showing me the importance of looking for evidence of the fruits of the Spirit in a spiritual leader’s life rather than simply for eloquent speech (1 Cor 2:1-5; 2 Cor 11:6) or fame and recommendation (2 Cor 3:1-5). Yet after a recent move, when a new Pastor begins at your church, or when you find a new teacher or community online, how can you see if they are living with self-control or know if they are consistently showing God’s love, kindness, patience, and gentleness?
I’ve found a few first steps that have been helpful for me, but I’m wondering what has been your experience and what has worked well for you.
As I’ve reflected, these have been some of the questions that I’ve found helpful in trying to discern if a teacher or mentor is trustworthy when you don’t yet have the relationship to see the fruit of their life:
1. Do they point you to God and his word or do they rely on their own authority and experience?
As @lakshmi shared in @karen4’s post, “The signs of a false prophet often draw attention to self rather than God.”
If God is not the focus and they don’t direct you to see for yourself what they are teaching in the Bible, that could be a warning sign.
2. Are they joyful, loving, and gentle in their teaching?
Some fruits of the Spirit like joy, patience, and gentleness may be easier to see than others. Even John and Paul’s more intense corrections were made out of love, to restore people to repentance and not to tear them down (Matthew 3:7-9; 2 Cor 7:8-13).
3. What do those you trust, who you know have a strong and proven faith in the Lord, and are in a position to see the fruit in the leader’s life say about them?
While Paul, teaches in 2 Cor 3 that the Corinthian shouldn’t value letters of recommendation over the fruit of Paul’s life and ministry clearly seen among them (see also 2 Cor 6:3 - 13), wise planning and decision making does look to the wisdom of others (Prov 11:14; 15:22; 27:9). So, if you can’t personally see the fruit of someone’s life, maybe there are others who can that you would be able to talk with as you discern. While there is no way to do this for all online teachers, I’ve found searching the Roys Report for their name to be somewhat helpful in discerning if there are any major areas of concern.
4. Does what they teach align with Scripture?
1 John 4:1-6 teaches us that true prophets will confess Jesus Christ and speak from God rather than from the world. So does the message they preach align with what God has taught us throughout the Bible?
Have you found of these questions helpful? What questions or practices would you add when trying to find a trustworthy teacher or mentor? How can new believers who don’t yet know scripture well tell what teaching aligns with scripture and which doesn’t?
Matthew 7, 2 Corinthians, 1 John 4, and Deuteronomy 18 have all been helpful for me in learning what to look for and what to be careful of in someone’s life, but I still have so many questions in how to apply these well when we so often have very little access to the lives of those whom we learn from. So, I’m definitely looking forward to learning how to walk through this process better!