Fog Horns and Red Flags

The apostle Paul concludes the Book of Romans with a warning to that church; "Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites, and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil, and the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you." (Romans 16: 17-20)

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It was in the late 1970's, and my father-in-law would meet once a week for lunch with other leaders of the Charasmatic community in Kalamazoo. One of the groups in town had become involved in what was known as the shepherding movement, which was started by a group of 4 very well known national Charasmatic teachers who had formed a ministry based in Florida. Although really respecting the overall teachings and work of 3 of the 4 men, Harry never liked the particular concept of headship that was being promoted by that ministry and had been adopted by a once vibrant Charasmatic fellowship in Kalamazoo. At one of those lunch meetings Harry spoke of his concerns that perhaps a scriptural principle was being violated, and he was immediately verbally attacked personally, and his ministry was attacked, for 30 minutes by the main leader of that fellowship. Harry told me that during the whole time he felt a tremendous peace and calm from the Holy Spirit, but noticed that not one of the other leaders, either from his own group or from any of the other groups, had said a word in his defense. At the end of the tirade Harry stood up and said; "This is what I purpose we do. We all agree. We ask the Holy Spirit to dry up my ministry if I am in error, or to dry up . . . (that man's) ministry if he is in error". The man and all the other leaders agreed. Two days later, the man left town, without a word to anyone in his fellowship and without a forwarding address. It was only then that the other leaders in that fellowship began to understand the fear and oppression they had been under. Most privately had concerns, but thought they were the only one.

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When I was a child my parents owned a cottage along the Lake Michigan shore. I would share a bed room with one of my brothers, and if I had the top, slightly sandy top bunk that was right next to a little one foot tall window, I would often listen to the early morning, low moaning of a fog horn, located at a pier about a mile to the south. Double piers, or breakwaters, extended from a channel connecting Lake Macatawa to Lake Michigan, and although light beacons were present at the end of each pier, the fog could be so thick that the horn was needed to warn both recreation and commercial boats that there was a huge concrete and metal structure sticking far out into the water. Just to the north of the breakwaters was the Holland State Park. For the safety of swimmers, and for boaters exiting the channel, there were flags that would be displayed at the park advising the conditions either for small boating or for swimming. If the wind was at a sufficient velocity, and coming from the right direction, a red flag would be posted, indicating it was very dangerous for people to be out in the water.

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There are spiritual warning signs that act as a type of fog horn and red flag. When we hear or see them we might not immediately know what the danger is, but we should exercise caution before we approve the message or become too accepting of the messenger. Learning to recognize these warnings, and to "keep an eye" on those that we are warned about will be helpful in protecting us from dissension's, false doctrines, and spiritual oppression. The Holy Spirit moves through spiritual gifts, prophetic words, dreams, visions, and other signs and wonders. He speaks to us through the reading and the preaching of sacred scripture. And He speaks to us through the consul of mature believers. But where we find the Spirit moving, we will also discover that the enemy is working to hinder, distort, and silence the Spirit's moving.

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Unfortunatly there are men and women "of their own appetites" who gain acceptance, recognition and power in the Christian community. I am not talking about sincere believers who may not be mature in their faith and who say or do things that could be done better. Every group has people who desire attention, or who add a lot of their own thoughts, desires and theology into a little of what the Spirit is doing. Instead, I am talking about people that are placed into a group by the enemy, or unbalanced men and women that were already part of a group and are advanced by the enemy. And also in today's mass media age, preachers, teachers and authors who have gained a wide audience for their distortions of scripture and for their false visions and prophetic words. These people always sound "spiritual", but they are really promulgating the theologies of man or of evil spirits. They are spiritual con artists, who gain influence as a way to make money, and spiritual war lords, whose desire is to dominate others.

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The goals of the enemy are the same as they have always been. The Father desires our worship, and wants us to worship Him alone. The enemy tries to get us to worship man, objects, or evil spirits The Father designed us to have a relationship with Him, and made that possible through Jesus. The enemy will deny our need to surrender to the lordship of Jesus, and will instead place a man, or a spirit, or a law, or a theology between us and the Father. The Father wants us to follow Him, and to trust Him in everything, because He loves us. The enemy hates us, and exchanges burden for love, and doubt and formula for trust The Father poured out the Holy Spirit into our lives so that we would experience freedom and joy, and so we would have the power to live holy lives and be able to minister that power to others. The enemy places on us burdens and chains, fear and doubt.

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Here are things I know to be true. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is peace, and freedom, even in discipline. It is the Spirit, and not law or the demands of a church or a leader that will change the desires of our heart to conform to the will of God. Because we were made to worship the Father, the Holy Spirit moves when our focus is on the Father. When we were born again in the spirit we became part of God's family. Our spirits are perfect even if we fall short in our thoughts and actions. Sin then, for the one born again, affects our relationship, but not our salvation. The main lesson that God has for us everyday, is to trust him. Fear has to do with sin, and with our lack in trusting the Father. Perfect love casts out all fear.

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Perhaps the warning signs that the Spirit gives to you will be slightly different than what He gives to me. My foundation is on an understanding of holy scripture in it's context, and what I have witnessed and experienced from the Holy Spirit that agrees with scripture, some of which I have shared above. If a teaching runs counter to that I see a red flag. I am sensitive to the way that scripture is used to validate a teaching or a theology. Some men are very good at teaching "scrptural principles" and "Biblical patterns" as a way to raise money. They understand the language that is used in the Charismatic and Pentecostal communities, and use that to their own gain. When anyone says "write that check", or "make that call" - "RIGHT NOW!", you have a red flag, no matter how convincing the personality or how blessed you have been by the program. And if someone recounts a dream, or a vision, or a spiritual encounter, and splices in supporting scripture, it's a sign to me that the source of the dreams and visions and encounters are not from the Lord. It is ok to examine any scripture being used and ask, "Does it really support what is being taught?" And if someone has a word from the Lord in a prophecy, dream or vision, it is also ok to ask, "Would God really speak like that?"

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The Holy Spirit is creative and may move in ways that are new and are different than what we were brought up with. Yet there are principles and standards that do not change. When we hear and see those principles and standards being violated, and when we see an obvious misuse or misdirection of scripture, we know that the Holy Spirit is warning us to be extra cautious.