I have an embarrassing story. Our staff received a strange email supposedly from one of us. Although I should have known better, I clicked on the email. Later that day, I found out that the email was part of an internal training exercise on identifying cyber phishing.
I was the only one on staff who failed the test. Oops.
As I reflect on this experience, I wonder whether I can apply these lessons to my heart. Clicking on a fake link could have compromised my computer and our whole organization, but opening our hearts to fraudulent teaching could damage our souls.
Here are three test questions that can help you become more discerning when you hear someone teach God’s Word.
1. Do I really know this spiritual teacher of the Bible?
When I clicked on the suspicious email, I didn’t pay attention to the actual sender. I didn’t look at their credentials or profile. The email’s subject line looked important and interesting, so I clicked it without knowing who the sender was.
I wonder how many spiritual teachers you are listening to without truly knowing who they are. Do you click on a video just because of its interesting title without knowing the actual person, their beliefs, or the credentials behind the message? Do you know enough about them to trust their message?
2. What emotion is the teacher trying to invoke?
In my cyber training, I learned to be skeptical of urgent messages that demand quick and emotional responses. Those deceivers want their victims to be driven by worry and anxiety so that they quickly open themselves up to reactive and compulsive clicking.
Although you can’t fully know the motivation behind every spiritual teacher, you need to be cautious of people who are playing on your emotions of fear and worry. Instead of sounding like Jesus, they sound like the deceiver and accuser who wants you to be driven by anxiety so that you keep clicking.
3. Is their Bible teaching coherent, and does it align with the rest of Scripture?
One of the red flags of cyber-phishing emails is that they don’t make sense. Often, fraudulent emails contain logical errors or confusing messages. The spam email I received didn’t align with our staff’s culture and tone.
Although the Bible was written over thousands of years by many human authors, it tells one unified story that finds its fulfillment in Jesus. That story has four parts: God’s good and moral design. Human rebellion. Jesus’s redemption. The final resurrection and renewal. All biblical teaching must align with this four-part story.
Therefore, when you listen to a spiritual message, step back and see whether it aligns with the overarching story and message of the Scriptures. If a teacher’s message doesn’t agree with God’s Word, “they have no light of dawn” (Isaiah 8:20).
Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice” (John 10:27). That means to judge all the messages you hear and compare them with the message of the Good Shepherd, Jesus. The devil will use false teachers to lie, deceive, kill, and destroy you. But Jesus came that you would have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Be alert and appropriately skeptical of the messages you hear, but cling to and meditate on the message that comes from your Savior.
