September 17: The teachings of demons

Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing should be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, since it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.  (1 Timothy 4:1-5 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)

In the time of Paul and Timothy some pastors taught that the path to true spirituality was through avoiding certain foods and staying single. In the second and third centuries this train of thought actually developed into a serious problem in the church called Gnosticism. But Paul writes to Timothy in no uncertain terms calling these pastors hypocritical liars with damaged consciences, and calling their ideas the teaching of demons. Whoever followed these pastors would fall away from their faith, and either get weak in their faith, or lose it altogether.

But the same thing is happening today, though not necessarily with food and marriage. The overemphasis on praise and worship in churches, with professional musicians and huge bands, and great sounding music becomes more of a show that true worship. The music stirs up emotions that many mistake for God’s presence, and yet when they arrive at home all those good feelings are gone. This does not happen with the genuine presence of God.

Another modern-day doctrine of demons is pastors telling their members what they want to hear. They make sure their messages do not offend or challenge anyone — they want people to come back and so they steer clear of making anyone feel uncomfortable. But Jesus’ messages were not like that. He spoke the truth that would set people free no matter what people thought about it. He knew what people needed… and wasn’t about to give them what they wanted instead. When we seek out non-challenging spiritual leaders we are falling into the same trap.

One more demonically inspired teaching in modern-day churches is the absence of any real teaching on demons and how to cast them out. Obviously demons love this, they don’t want churches talking about their existence, they want to be left alone to do their destructive work. The problem is that these churches are not following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, and are totally unprepared to help certain types of people. Unlike people with demons in the time of Jesus, the people in these churches will not be freed from oppression and their suffering will continue. 

We cannot allow demonic teachings to make us depart from the faith, and one way to make sure this does not happen is by protecting our consciences. This is the part of us that distinguishes between right and wrong, that sets off an alarm whenever we’re doing something it considers wrong. The hypocritical pastors in today’s passage had ignored theirs so often that it had become damaged and no longer worked. — This can never happen to us. We need a healthy, properly functioning conscience that keep us on the right path — and by faith that’s going to happen to each one of you that’s reading this today.