The Problem With An Emphasis

A fresh new revelation from God and His Word is amazing!  Maybe we have read the same verse a hundred times or maybe we have preached it many times. Yet, on this day something happens as we read it and a kind of spiritual explosion occurs. How come we have never seen this before?  Then as we put this new revelation into practice we see fantastic fruit in our lives and the lives of those to whom we teach it. Then, more and more shared revelations come forth from different members of our group and before long our new revelation has grown into an emphasis that is spreading!  You begin to hear "your emphasis" being repeated by others just like you first stated it. Now it's gaining momentum. As wonderful as these things sound I have seen many, many emphases falter down the stretch and seen many left broken on the side of the road.

What could possibly go wrong with a new Biblical emphasis?  The fact that it is an emphasis makes it a limited perspective of truth. But look at all the people that have been helped and all those on board. An emphasis in one area means we have a limited vision on other fronts. As we gain more people on our journey we can easily encourage each other in our spiritual impairment and not even know it. Then it is difficult to avoid becoming proud over our new movement.  When other voices speak to us of balance or a different view of our emphasis we cast them aside and reject their input. After all we are certain that our original revelation came from God. Yet, no revelation in and of itself has ever been a complete stand alone doctrine. They have all had their blind spots. If we stare intently at one thing for very long and then look at another object, we cannot look at the new without seeing the old object superimposed over the new.  This is dangerous when we understand that people pattern their lives after doctrines that is believed to be true and complete. They can become blinded to the real Truth by partial truth.

We need to be thankful for a new revelation of old Truth. Remember that there is no new Truth just things others have seen that we are now discovering. When we see or hear new truth or a new emphasis we must bring it straight to Jesus for a more complete view. Let it sit as we pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom as to how we should handle this new found treasure. Certainly don't start teaching this yet. Others may get on board too soon before the full measure of the Lord's light has revealed any possible darker side of the emphasis.  Then submit the revelation or emphasis to more mature believers and/or leaders for their perspective and discernment.  Once it has been reviewed by mature believers outside our group it is now ready to be slowly imparted to others.  No truth should ever be above evaluation by others using the full overview of Scripture.  May we be zealous to hear from God and just as zealous to represent his Truth in the fullness of His Light.  .