The church at Corinth was not the kind of church we would want to imitate. They were carnally minded, indifferent toward sin, and lacked the proper love for one another. Perhaps their biggest problem, however, was their pride. The saints at Corinth were so arrogant that they set themselves up as the standard of right and wrong.
2 Corinthians 10:12 (ESV)
12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.
This practice of using the wrong standard to decide how we live our lives and what we believe, religiously, is still very prevalent today. Most people are being guided by the wrong standard. Let me give you a few examples.
- Gospel Preachers
While most sound gospel preachers are good men, trying to live right in the eyes of God and teach sound doctrine, they are not the standard by which we should judge ourselves. Gospel preachers can be wrong. To accept everything a preacher teaches without comparing it with the Word of God is naïve and misguided. Jesus taught us that if the blind lead the blind, they both will fall into the ditch (Matthew 15:14). Before we accept anything doctrinally, we must make sure we can read it in the Word of God for ourselves.
- Denominational Creeds
Anything that originates with men should not be trusted as a final standard of right and wrong. There may be some good teaching in the creeds of men, but there is error in them as well. If a creed did not have anything more or less in it than what is in the Bible, it would not be a creed at all; it would the Bible. The teachings in them that do not originate with the Bible are just the teachings of men and should not be made a standard of doctrine or living. Yet, many people do, indeed, live by them. Jehovah’s Witnesses center their lives around Watch Tower publications. They treat the teachings therein as if they were the Word of God when they are just concoctions of men. Writings found in Watch Tower magazine, or any other denominational creed book, is not the right standard. They should all be discarded.
- The Majority
Another incorrect standard is the majority. Many feel good about what they are doing religiously because it is what the majority teaches or practices. People follow the majority because it is the easy thing to do. To go against the majority is unpopular. The majority, however, can be wrong. In fact, in religious matters, the majority is almost always wrong. That is one reason Jesus said that the gate that leads to life is narrow and the way is hard (Matthew 7:13-14).
What is the right standard by which we should judge ourselves and everything we teach, believe, and practice religiously? It is the Bible. The Word of God should be our only standard of right and wrong. It is, after all, the standard by which we shall be judged on the last day (John 12:48).
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.