An Innocent Question
The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130
As we pulled into a parking lot of a “religious” looking building, my five year old Granddaughter piped up from the back seat, “Do they preach the whole Gospel here?
My daughter and I sort of laughed and vaguely explained that this was not a church we were walking into and that as far as we knew the people there taught from the same gospels we use. It seemed like enough information for a five year old and she was satisfied….for the moment.
When we got inside the woman we met was very friendly and proud of the beautiful facility that had been renovated and added to in the last few years. She wanted to give us a tour and we were happy to see it.
As she took us through one of the first few places we visited was a very beautiful chapel, pews and all. My granddaughter immediately decided we had been wrong about this place and the next thing I know she is scooting up to get close to our tour guide.
“Excuse me, do you preach the whole gospel here?” I was proud of her, her mother was mortified at her persistence.
“Well, I think we do,” was the response. Probably wondering exactly what a five year old has in mind by the question.
The exciting thing about this to me is that my little granddaughter has already learned a valuable lesson at the ripe old age of five, i.e. not every building that has a chapel with a cross is teaching the whole Gospel. What a great lesson to learn so early in life.
Recently, I was talking to someone who had learned about a family who attended a church for several months before they realized just how far off the Word of God the teaching there was. They had said just enough that was right that the heresy was difficult to see. When they approached the leadership, no one denied what they had heard. I was reminded of Matthew 24:11, “And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.”
What if this family had asked up front, “Do you preach the whole Gospel here?” Would they have heard an honest answer or some response that would have alerted them to the false teaching? I don’t know for sure, but it seems like a great place to start when you’re looking for a church these days. There are many out there that do not preach the whole Gospel.
Today, I followed up with my granddaughter about what she meant when she asked the question; she’s smart but, after all, she is only five! It turns out that she was thinking about her Dad. She has heard him talk about the churches he has looked at as possible places to serve the Lord. He and her Mom talk openly about only serving in a church where the whole Gospel is preached. She has learned it is important, whatever it may mean. It was a teaching moment to explain the “good news” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There are many people today being led astray by unbiblical teaching. Therefore, it was a little scary to me that the woman my Granddaughter asked said, “Well, I think we do.” If we are sitting under any Biblical teaching, shouldn’t we make sure?
In Acts 17 we’re told that Paul and Silas were sent to Berea where they started teaching in the synagogue. The scriptures say this about the Bereans, “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11. They were eager to hear the teaching but cautious in receiving it, they checked it with the scripture before adopting it as truth.
I believe that the same expectations apply to us. We are responsible to make our calling and election sure. If we believe everything and anything without checking it with scripture, then we may need to examine our own maturity in the faith — maybe even our salvation. The more “checking” we do, the more we will know our Bibles, and the more immediately we will hear the Truth, or the swerve away from it.
If a five year old can boldly, but politely, ask if the whole gospel is preached, can’t we?