Try The Spirits

Recently, I was tossed into a conversation by another Christian. I say tossed, because I was deliberately trying to stay OUT of that conversation. This person has been doing what they believed God had told them to do. It seemed a little different, but I was keeping my mouth shut. However, the conversation came to me directly. I listened intently for quite some time as this person told me that what they were doing was correct and that they were following God. However, I saw something that I didn’t understand from a biblical perspective, and I asked a question. “How do you say you are doing what God wants when what you are doing from my perspective seems to be outside the word of God?” I quoted the verse. This person was so upset by my question that they left in anger. NOT MY INTENT. I legitimately wanted to know. I do not know what this person is doing in their quiet time with God…God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, and none of us would think he was hearing from God if Abraham relayed that story to us beforehand. NONE OF US. You do not sacrifice your children to YHWH. So I felt the question was legitimate, maybe they had a reason, or something else….I just asked. But when the person reacted in anger, I knew the heart.

Many people have read the verse in 1 John 4: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. In our evangelical circles we have over spiritualized this a bit. John, the writer of this was closely associated with John the Baptist in the beginning according to historians. That matters because John the Baptist was part of a group of people called the Essenes. We know this because they were the ones who practiced baptisms, and he baptized just outside the Essene community. John the Baptist also wore camels hair, etc eschewing money, just like the Essene.

Why does that matter? Well, since the Dead Sea Scrolls have been found we learned about the Essene community is that they had a practice of ‘trying the spirits.’ This had nothing to do with demons, or super spiritual practices which sometimes get used today. Not saying those do not work, or are not legitimate, but the practice is far more practical.

Trying the spirits to the Essene community, John the Baptist, and John the beloved did not mean testing for demons; it meant that if a brother chose a path, the rest of the community could question them or their motives, etc., to make sure they were hearing from God. So if someone decided to, for example, sacrifice their son to YHWH, then the rest of the brotherhood, had a right to question, just to make sure you were not making a mistake. It could be anything, if you felt God wanted you to give money, or go preach to another city, everything was on the table. Why? Because being in alignment with God is vital, and we are humans and we make mistakes. We do miss it, so allowing others to check your heart in a matter was a healthy practice.

Let’s be honest, we humans can talk ourselves into just about anything. This is the danger. We are called to love each other, and loving each other entails making sure we are doing right. When we submit ourselves to Christ, we are also submitting ourselves to the rest of the body of Christ. The hand does not move independently of the heart or the brain. We are all connected. Unless we are humble enough to allow ourselves to be checked by others we will eventually stumble.

Try me. I will try you. It’s how we stay connected and show our love for each other.

I was only asking a question! I didn’t mean to make you mad!