A cheery melody floated through the open window as my daughter and I sat playing.
I glanced at the hot sunny day outside.
A minute later, my daughter perked up having caught wind of the music.
“What’s that?” She asked.
By now the melody was getting louder.
“It sounds like an ice cream truck is coming.”
My daughter jumped up and peered out the window. “Where?”
“I hear it coming, but we might have to wait a little until we can see it.”
We waited at the window, looking for the truck as the music became louder still.
I glanced down at my little one. “When the ice cream truck comes, we won’t wave at him. Otherwise he will think we want to buy ice cream, but we already have ice cream in our freezer.”
“Okay,” she replied easily.
Suddenly she pointed. “There it is! There’s the ice cream truck!”
“I see it too!” I said.
As the large truck came around the corner, its friendly tune blared.
My daughter bounced on her toes.
“It’s green and blue.” She exclaimed.
We watched eagerly as the truck rolled lazily along. He stopped near our window for a long pause, but when no customers came, he moved on. Soon he was out of sight.
As we listened to the last strains of the cheery music, I scrunched up my nose.
“What’s that stinky smell?”
I glanced over at my husband as recognition dawned. “The ice cream truck must have been diesel.”
I closed the windows on the side of the house where the truck had idled, but left the windows on the other side of the house open to allow the fresh air to push out the diesel smell.
As the dense diesel stench continued to linger, I frowned out the window. I was rather displeased with that ice cream truck. So much for being sweet and child-friendly. It had filled our home with nasty fumes.
Eventually the stink faded and I forgot about the incident. I forgot, that is, until later that evening when I took my daughter upstairs to bed. Her room still held a distinctive diesel stench. Her window had been open when the ice cream truck went by.
So what? Why share this unpleasant story?
This moment has stuck in my head as a clear allegorical warning.
Watch out for false teachers.
Not everyone who presents themselves as a good clean wholesome instructor is good. Some may simply be sugar-coating, or in this case, ice-cream-coating toxic ideas that cause great harm.
This is true as we look at the world around us.
There are so many ideas and perspectives out there. We run into them on social media, in the news, in books, in music. Some are good and helpful. Others lead to terrible trouble.
Discernment is needed to sort through the good and the bad.
As Christians, much discernment is needed in regards to those who teach about the Bible.
Even in Bible-times there were false teachers. Those who would take Scripture and twist it in order to get across the message they wanted to share rather than honestly seeking to share what God was saying in that passage.
Peter tells us, “there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.” (2 Peter 2:1b-3a NIV)
So how do we spot these false teachers?
Looking at how they live their life is a huge clue.
“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” (Hebrews 13:7NIV)
Along with watching how they live their lives, we must know the Bible for ourselves.
How do I know if a Bible verse is out of context? By being familiar with the chapter it was taken from.
When was the last time you read the whole Bible?
Did you know that by reading one chapter a day you can read the entire Bible in just over three years? To help you out, I have a DIY Bible Reading chart to help track your progress. It’s free for everyone on my email list (click the subscriber freebie link in a recent email). Not on my email list? You can sign up below.
With so many Bible teachers available to us online, how do we choose which to listen to? Here’s a link with some of my favourites when I’m looking for a short devotional to read or listen to. Like with all teachers, use your discretion.
Grow Your Faith: 5 Inspiring and Free Christian Devotionals
