The Established Path of Discipleship

I am a documentary junkie. So, I was intrigued by the recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “These Netflix Documentaries Are Hits. Scientists Hate Them.” Scientists hate these Netflix documentaries because many are not based on scientific consensus and thus should not be labeled documentaries. That does not bother the producers of some of these documentaries. The host of the “Ancient Apocalypse” documentary, Graham Hancock, strongly believes in his work. He answers the criticism this way, “At the end of the day, the public is the final arbiter. Fortunately, the public seems to have liked this series very much indeed.” Hancock’s answer reflects our culture’s approach to truth.

Sadly, cultural approaches to truth are seeping into the church. We are too easily attracted to the gifted communicator who can attract a crowd or satisfy our latest irritation. Consequently, we will then overlook discrepancies in their doctrine with a wink. Jonathan Gibson gives an excellent example of this when he shares a story of a debate at an evangelical organization between a Christian minister and an atheist. The minister surprisingly denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus. After Gibson later expressed his concerns to the committee organizing the debate, one committee member said, “Oh yes, I mean, apart from the heterodoxy, I think it was a great success. We all knew that minister was a bit heterodox, but the debate got the most downloads on the internet we’ve ever had!” You can read the article here.

Truth is not determined by the public’s response or the number of internet downloads. Paul encountered popular heretical teachers in 2 Corinthians 11. He was “afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:4). He refers to these teachers as “super-apostles” who possessed more extraordinary charisma than him. These teachers were, however, “false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ” (2 Cor. 11:12). The final arbiter is the Jesus Paul proclaimed (2 Cor. 11:4). Jesus is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Our Christian faith is not novel. It is not new. And in many ways, it is not popular. It is “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). We do not need to change it or do anything to make it more palatable or attractive to the public. We need to contend for it. We need to stand for it in an age that has abandoned rational categories for truth. We need to proclaim our faith, the gospel, as it was delivered. Success is measured by faithfulness to that message, not clicks or likes on social media. As we live our lives faithfully proclaiming that message, may we one day hear our final arbiter say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”