A few years ago, Kimberly and I went to visit her sister’s family in Texas. One afternoon while we were there, I helped my Father-in-Law (also was visiting at the time) and my brother-in-law fix their kitchen faucet. While their faucet worked just fine (when you pulled up on the handle, water poured out), it was plumbed backwards . . . hot and cold water were reversed, so that you turned the handle left to get cold water and right to get hot (just the opposite of sinks in America today.) Being a rookie home owner (and a non-parent) at the time, I did not understand what the big deal was. The sink “worked” after all. Why should we go monkey around with it just to right the cold water line?
After about an hour of working on this project, I asked my father-in-law why we could not just leave the sink alone. I still remember his response:
“We don’t want their children to grow up and not know the proper direction to turn the faucet. If they learn it backwards here, they may get burned later.”
I was thinking about this story this week as we prepare for our study of Romans 16:17-20 this Sunday at Wildwood Community Church (in part 3 of our Co:Mission series.) In these verses, the Apostle Paul shares a strong rebuke concerning false teachers inside the church. We are to have nothing to do with them . . . to be on the lookout for them . . . and to avoid them. Why was Paul so strong about false teaching? After all, what if people like listening to certain teachers? Why “fix” teaching if it appears to be “working”?
Paul’s response seems to be similar to my Father-in-law’s.
“We don’t want Christians to grow up and not know the proper theology concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. If they learn it backwards inside our churches, they will get burned later.”
Join us this Sunday in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 worship service as we explore this topic more deeply together. We will also be looking back at the baptisms from this past Sunday in a video montage and praising God together for who He is. We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, November 20. We have much to be thankful for!