Test Everything: 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

         Today's post is about a  fairly simple idea that is often repeated in scripture, but is forgotten by many Christians today. Let's start out with 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22:

21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.

          We, as Christians, are called to examine whatever enters our lives, whether it be a friend, thought, hobby, etc. to see if it draws us closer to God. This command tells us to not be passive about what we let into our lives. If we sense that a violent video game pulls us away emotionally or spiritually from our relationship with God, it needs to be weeded out. This process of weeding out what is bad and embracing what is good should be led by what we see in the Bible and prayer. This idea comes from 1 Timothy 4:4-5, which says:

4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

         (More thoughts and explanation of this particular passage can be found in my earlier blog series, Heavenly Wisdom) As I mentioned earlier, what needs to be grown in or thrown out can be a variety of things from hobbies to friendships. For example, we shouldn't develop deep friendships with just anyone because 1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us:

33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

          and Proverbs 13:20 says:

 20 He who walks with the wise grows wise,
    but a companion of fools suffers harm.

          We do not enter into meaningful friendships with people who will draw us away from God. This is not to forbid non-Christian friendships at all, but it does mean that the inner group of friends that you let speak into your life need to be mature Christians who are encouraging you to grow in your relationship with God. They will be the ones who will guide and strengthen you through your times of weakness and confusion.
         From my last post, you can already see that we need to check thoughts as they are entering our mind to see if they will benefit us or not. For review, Philippians 4:8 says:

 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

          A similar word in 1 John 4:1-3 tells us not to let ideas that come from influential speakers or any other "spirit" (maybe in the form of a thought) stay in your mind without examining it to see if it is from God:

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

          This passage warns us of the multitude of false teachings in the world and tells us that we need to examine ideas that enter our life to make sure that they do not contradict the Bible and sound doctrine. We are told to reject these false ideas even if the source is very convincing! Paul affirms this in Galatians 1:8-9

8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

          In conclusion to this line of thought, we need to consider not only our own needs and walk with God, but we also need to consider the needs of those around us. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 says:

23 “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

          and Ephesians 4:29 says:

 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

           Try and make a habit of pausing once or twice a day to ask yourself if what you are currently doing or thinking is helping you draw close to God, hurting that relationship, or is neutral. Developing a testing attitude over time requires practice, but draws great benefits.
In Christ,
Simeon Snow