“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves.”
(Matthew 7:15)
The use of camouflage in the military is a fascinating
study. But long before armies, navies and air forces began to camouflage their
men and equipment to hide them from the enemy, animals and insects had been
designed and created by God with colors and shapes that made them impossible or
difficult to spot. Hunters have learned from the military and nature and now
also use the same techniques to be less visible to their prey.
During World War II, huge parts of Burbank, CA, including
the massive Lockheed factories that produced planes for the war, as well as the
runways of what is now Burbank Airport, were covered with painted nets that made
the factories and the airport look like suburbia from the air. There are some
very interesting pictures of this on the Internet.
Camouflage is not only used by the armies of this world but
also by the armies of Satan to hide its agents in plain sight. Here in Hollywood
(un)reality and movie stars, gangsters and politicians hide behind big shiny
crosses around their necks. One of the best ways to detect the deception is the
size of the cross – the bigger the cross, the bigger the deceiver. In addition
to symbols that used to belong to Christians, they also use language to hide
their true nature. Sayings like “god bless” and “we are praying for you” are all
part of a clever ruse to lull the non-suspecting into believing the individual
can be trusted.
The agents of Rome have long used their cassocks, sandals
and crosses to hide their abusive and deceptive nature. The back-to-front
clerical collar (aka dog collar) has in America become standard camouflage for
all sorts of frauds, New Agers and other evil workers. This is so bad that I
have come to believe that anyone wearing a clerical/dog collar is indeed one of
the dogs that Paul warns about: “Beware
of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!” (Philippians
3:2). Yet millions are fooled by these imposters because of the camouflage they
wear.
This kind of deception is also not new: “For
such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an
angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform
themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their
works.”(2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
But recently, as a result of a book I have been reading and
various preachers I have been listening to, I have become aware of another (also
not new) form of spiritual camouflage, and that is the use of the term “Sola
Scriptura”. Just as the big cross and the clerical collar immediately flashes a
red flag that something is wrong with the picture, the profuse use of the words
“Sola Scriptura” has, for me, become a warning sign that the speaker or author
is trying to hide something.
Sola Scriptura is one of the terms that came out of the
Reformation and is Latin for “only Scripture”. By using the term, we mean that
our faith and doctrine is based on Scripture alone and not on the traditions of
men, extra-biblical documents, “revelation”, human philosophies or anything else
outside of the 66 books of the Bible.
But writers and speakers are increasingly using the term to
camouflage the extra-Biblical sources of their ideas. One writer uses terms like
“we base our doctrine only on the Scriptures” dozens of times throughout his
book. All the while he blatantly builds his ideas on everything but the Bible.
In fact, sometimes he would sandwich his extra-biblical teaching between two
such statements! It is so bad that while reading the book I came to discover
that those words were actually a siren to draw attention to those parts of the
book where he most grievously departed from Scripture and where one had to be
especially careful.
The sad thing is that pastors and mature believers whom I
would normally regard as very discerning, and who have also read the book, see
no problem with it. So the technique clearly works so well that even the most
observant and experienced are fooled by it.
At a recent conference I attended, the speakers, one after
the other, bandied the term “Sola Scriptura” about. Not only did they like to
use the term but they seemed sincerely convinced that what they were propounding
was based only on Scripture and they openly claimed that everyone else was
adding to Scripture. Yet they did not have a single Scripture for the central
idea they were propagating at the conference. Instead they relied on experience,
statistics, the Church Fathers, and the Reformers as a base for their doctrine.
Once again it seemed that almost all of the 5,000 attendees were thoroughly
convinced that the speakers were speaking truth.
Does that mean that anyone who uses the term (or similar
terms) is fake? No, not necessarily. But if someone makes a point of flashing a
big shiny cross around, beware; and so too be very careful of those who like to
assure everyone of their orthodoxy. If an author or preacher is preaching the
truth from God’s Word, it should be pretty obvious and there should be no need
to protest too much.
One of the many problems with identifying anyone using
sources outside of the Bible is that it is impossible to be a Berean – in the
sense that there is nothing in the
Scripture to compare the new idea to because it finds its source
outside of Scripture. But that should
actually be the very basis for rejecting the new idea. If it is not found in the
Bible, no matter how the author justifies the use thereof, then it should be
rejected out of hand.
And don’t be intimidated by the preacher’s doctorate,
credentials and background, elite “spirituality,”
and least of all by his confident pronouncements, predictions and
prophecies, bombastic pontifications, or affected meekness. The questions are
simple: “Is it in the Bible and is this what the Bible plainly teaches?” If the
speaker claims that you will not see what he sees because you do not have the
special training, experience and background that he has, reject him. He is
adding his “special insight” to the Scriptures. (This is a form of Gnosticism.)
Sola Scriptura also means that the Scriptures stand on
their own. Yes, you need the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth (John
16:13), but that’s it. No more. Anything else is a deception – no matter how red
the speaker gets in the face when he insists he is teaching orthodoxy and Sola
Scriptura.
The answer to all the bluff and bluster is easy and simple:
“Show me where it is written.”