Text: Ephesians 4: 1-16 (Emphasis on verse 14). “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting (equipping) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”
Introduction:
In these closing days of Grace those who have eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts to perceive know that God has initiated a tremendous move of the Holy Spirit in the world and in the church as a whole. In this move the Lord, as head of the church is emphasizing a number of truths in order to mature God’s people and to guide them into all truth as it is in Jesus. Truth must be seen in all of its glorious facets as one related whole in order to be clearly understood and grasped.
Balance in what is being presented to the church is necessary. One of the hardest things to maintain in all these facets of truth is balance. When truth is not seen as one related whole there is not proper balance and trouble will develop. No one facet of truth can be used to contradict or distort another facet of truth. When it is tried, it produces the seeds of heresy – a Wind of Doctrine.
Heresy or a wind of doctrine
Heresy in its many forms originated in truth. In fact, it is impossible to have heresy apart from truth. There can never be the counterfeit without the genuine article first. The counterfeit is never the original. The original comes first, the imitation follows. So it is with truth and error. Truth existed before error. Error uses truth to launch out upon or to build upon.
What is error or heresy?
Heresy is simply an aspect of truth taken to extreme and pushed out of proportion with the whole body of truth. It takes one truth and majors on it alone neglecting or violating other truths. This easily leads to error, discord or imbalance. This then can become one of Paul’s Wind of Doctrine.
Winds of doctrine
Winds of doctrine are truths presented in imbalance or errors presented as truth. The church has always had to face winds of doctrine that is teachings that would create party spirit which would produce spiritual pride, compromise the truth or split the church. Every seven to ten years a number of winds of doctrine tend to repeat themselves; some book to re-discover with a message that needs to be re-emphasized.
Some thoughts on winds of doctrine
(Note some of the weaknesses in these doctrines:
1. very little emphasis put on saving of the lost
2. very little emphasis on unity or oneness within the church
3. very little emphasis on manifesting the life of Christ such as caring for the flock, sharing, caring and love.
Winds of doctrine: a temporary aberrance of a normal atmospheric balance.
Normal wind changing to a storm wind is an aberration. The wind begins to kick-up dirt, obstacles, debris. This means that things need to be nailed down. When wind begins to rearrange things from order to disorder, things need to be put back in place. When heavy winds start blowing one must change their stance to keep a balance. If you are a pastor you might have to change you way of thinking. If winds get heavy enough you might have to anchor yourself to something else beside yourself,. You may have to anchor to something or to someone more solid that you are. Remember – all winds will eventually stop because winds are an aberration. Winds causes you to only focus on the wind itself. You cannot think of anything else. Sometime these winds of doctrine take your breath away.
Emphasis on facts
Winds of doctrine lacks in some element of the truth. Most often, they contain kernels of truth usually enough to catch our attention but have an over-emphasis of a reality that then takes on unreality . These winds of doctrine must be analyzed and distinguished from the true move of God. Any neglected truth of the Word of God invites a wind of doctrine. The truth that is presented is overemphasized until it becomes unbalanced. Other Scriptures that would give balance are neglected. The purpose of a true move of God is to move the church back into balance which must entail the ministry of the Holy Ghost to restore a balance. We, as humans, can react too rashly in “self” to bring the correct balance. Sometimes a genuine move of God becomes a wind of doctrine because “self” gets in the way. A wind of doctrine, unlike the move of God, does not affect the community. A true move of God always adds to the Kingdom of God. A wind of doctrine causes people to forget and be loosed from their moorings both temporarily and often permanently. When people that are caught in winds of doctrine they are difficult to reason with because of their pride and defense.
How to survive winds of doctrine
Make sure your moorings concerning scripture doctrines are intact. To what and to who are your immovable moorings anchored. Call for help from others who are free from problems that you are in or confronted with. Find out as much as you can about what that wind of doctrine is teaching. What parts are true and what parts are untrue. Don’t destroy your credibility by attacking without knowledge of the error you are pointing at. Don’t attack winds of doctrine with angry tones. Agree with an obvious truth that is found in winds of doctrine. Best defense on your part is a god prior preparation. Endeavor to help the church to have the five-fold ministry in operation. Keep the church evangelistic, then there is less opportunity for winds of doctrine to blow. The more solid the believer is in the Word of God the less opportunity there is to be blown about by winds of doctrine. Expect some damage when winds of doctrine do blow.
After the wind has blown over
Nail down the truth with emphases. Remember that every novelty doctrine cannot live up to what it advertises. If you need to adjust, then readjust. Know for sure that all winds blow to an end and that balance will return. Expect people to say how much they were being helped by winds of doctrine even though it is not true.