Bad Advice

I love it when I learn something new from the Bible. There are plenty of times when I read a passage and realize that I have been missing something from that Scripture. Just recently, that happened to me…again.

In Acts 5:34-39, a pharisee gave some advice on how to handle these new Christians that are gaining quite a following. Gamaliel, the pharisee (which is a religious ruler of the day) suggested that the Sanhedrin (like the religious Senate of the day) should back off from killing these followers of Jesus and see how it all plays out.

Gamaliel’s logic is this. If this new movement of people following Jesus even after He had been crucified is of “human origin,” then it will lose steam and fail because the leader, Jesus, is not around any more to keep it going. But, if this new movement is from God, they would not be able to stop it anyway.

I always thought that was pretty good advice from Gamaliel. If God is in it, you can’t stop it, but if God is not in it, nothing will be able to keep it going. So, Gamaliel suggests stepping back and waiting to see how things shake out. Sounds good, right?

But, I came to realize that this is actually horrible advice. Here’s why.

First, there are lots of things that have not been from God that have stuck around for a long time. The biggest example would be sin. Sin has been around since the garden of Eden and sin is definitely not of God.

False teachings, cults, and many other ways in which people have been drawn away from a right relationship with God through Christ have been part of our culture and society for many, many years. So, just because something lasts does not mean it is from God.

Second, if what these followers of Jesus are saying is not true, Gamaliel is willing to sit back and let them “deceive” more and more people (at least from Gamaliel’s perspective). While Gamaliel is waiting to see, many other people will be pulled into a teaching that is not of the Lord if the followers of Jesus are wrong and teaching untruths.

Third, if what these followers of Jesus are saying is true, Gamaliel and all of the Sanhedrin should join them in the truth that connects them back to God.

Instead of waiting to see, Gamaliel should have advised everyone to discern. Discernment is how we judge if something is true or not. What is the standard for truth? The Bible which is God’s Word to us.

In 1 John 4:1 we are taught to “test the spirits to see if they are from God.” We should not wait and see. We should discern and react.

Gamaliel gave bad advice. The Bible gives good counsel. Let’s live by what Scripture teaches us to do: discern.

(Questions/responses: jeff.perkins@mbclife.org)