Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

John divides the world into “us” and “them” saying,
  They are from the world.
      They speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.
  We are from God.
      Whoever knows God listens to us (1 Jn 4:5-6).

Perhaps in John’s time it was obvious who “us” and “them” were. Those who served  Jesus were “us”. Those who didn’t were “them”. Plain and simple.

But today’s religious landscape far more convoluted. If John visited today, I’d ask, “So, what do you think? Look around and tell me who is ‘us’ and who is ‘them’.”

John isn’t likely to drop by, so I put the question to you. “Look at all the churches and groups using Jesus’ name. Tell me who’s in and who’s out of God’s circle?”

Would you include  evangelicals like Baptists and Alliance? Mainline liberals like United Methodists and Anglicans? Pentecostals? Seventh-Day Adventists? Jehovah’s Witnesses? Mormons? 

Perhaps when John says “we”, he means individuals, not groups or denominations. Are “we” people who share a common experience like “born again” or a common doctrine like the Apostles Creed? 

John says
      Whoever knows God listens to us.
      Whoever is not from God doesn’t listen to us.
      This is how we recognize the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood (1 Jn 4:6). 

Yes, there is a spirit of falsehood in the world, and a spirit of truth. Jesus said, “I am the truth” (Jn 14:6). He didn’t describe truth as orthodox doctrine or good behavior, but as a person–himself. Our path to truth? Get close to that person.   

What separates truth from falsehood is not always the facts, which can be interpreted and disputed. Nor is it simply the goodness or badness of those involved. It is often the spirit behind the words, the spirit of the stories, or the spirit of the allegations. Some spirits resonate with the spirit of Christ, others don’t sound like Jesus at all. And some people’s spirit just confuses me. 

I’m cautious with John’s statement that whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever doesn’t know God doesn’t. Many people don’t listen to me, but I don’t immediately write them off as “them”, not “us”. Distrust can be created by something in my spirit. Or something in the spirit. Or something in both of us. 

How do we recognize the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood? In his gospel, John says “When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, beyond the boundaries of the explored world, an old map says, “Here be dragons”. 

That’s how I feel when I reach the limits of my doctrinal and rational knowledge, when I face the unknown ocean where we must discern the spirits. Where truth is not a rational argument, but the person of Christ. Where the way to truth is not more and better study, but the leading of the spirit of truth. 

O father, forgive our sins of the spirit. Cleanse and reorganize our inner lives, that we may know your spirit, and love his truth, and follow his leading into all that is holy and righteous and good.    

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

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