{"id":5560,"date":"2018-01-02T20:46:57","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T02:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5560"},"modified":"2018-01-02T20:46:57","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T02:46:57","slug":"keeping-main-thing-means-avoiding-false-teachings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/02\/keeping-main-thing-means-avoiding-false-teachings\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping the Main Thing Means Avoiding False Teachings"},"content":{"rendered":"

By David Shannon<\/strong>
\nVincent Lombardi, widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in history,\u00a0had a way of never losing sight of the basics. He believed games were won and lost on fundamentals. After a disappointing loss he would\u00a0demand that practices return to basics of football.\u00a0Why work on passing routes and blitz packages if you can\u2019t block and tackle!\u00a0 Standing before professional men who were among the greatest athletes in the country he began each season by holding up a football and saying, \u201cGentlemen, this is a football.\u201d\u00a0Lombardi wasn\u2019t the first focused leader.\u00a0The apostle Paul\u00a0was a focused leader also.\u00a0He held up the truth of God\u2019s\u00a0Word in order to move people toward God.\u00a0Vincent\u00a0moved football players to championships.\u00a0Paul\u00a0led people to eternal life.\u00a0Where do you lead people?\u00a0It is easy to get off course.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u202f<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nWhat was the main thing in Paul\u2019s Life?<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nIn this second part article of \u201cKeeping the Main\u00a0Thing the Main Thing,\u201d we\u00a0remember\u00a0that Paul stated his main purpose in life\u00a0in Acts 20:21.\u00a0His purpose\u00a0was to turn others toward God so they could\u00a0live their lives faithfully\u00a0in our Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0Paul succeeded in focusing on the main thing\u00a0due, in part,\u00a0to his unwillingness to be distracted or detoured.\u00a0Leading well\u00a0today is one level of challenge;\u00a0leading well\u00a0every\u00a0day is a much higher challenge.\u00a0Envision\u00a0the elders of Ephesus sitting in the conference with Paul\u00a0in Acts 20.\u00a0He is urging them to stay on track.\u00a0Almost in\u00a0Vincent Lombardi\u00a0style he calls them to consider his simple, basic example.\u00a0Paul was going to fulfill his purpose to lead others toward Christ, despite tribulations, which we considered\u00a0in\u00a0last month\u2019s issue\u00a0(Acts 20:22-24). Even despite false teachers,\u00a0which\u00a0we will consider now\u00a0(Acts 20:29-32).\u00a0And despite difficult labor,\u00a0keep giving, which we will discuss next month\u00a0\u00a0(Acts 20:33-35).\u00a0These same distractions\u00a0take leaders off course today.\u00a0<\/span>
\nFalse Teachers<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nPaul urged the elders not to become side tracked with false teachers (Acts 20:29-32).\u00a0Despite the warning, he\u00a0prophesied\u00a0that some of them would.\u00a0Paul uses\u00a0the term\u00a0wolf<\/i>\u00a0to describe those who would\u00a0teach false doctrine.\u00a0You have to think in terms of the defenselessness of sheep\u00a0against wolves to fully appreciate the possible\u00a0damage done by these men.\u00a0The only protection sheep has against a wolf is their shepherd.\u00a0To gain the most from Paul\u2019s analogy, pause for a moment, close your eyes and imagine a wolf chasing down a sheep, tearing its jugular,\u00a0and devouring its flesh (pause, meditate).\u00a0It wasn\u2019t a pretty sight, was it? Can you imagine Paul saying,\u00a0\u201cSome of you are going to be the\u00a0wolf.\u201d\u00a0How can leaders of sheep protect them from wolves?\u00a0First, by not becoming\u00a0a wolf themselves!\u00a0Paul\u00a0continues his answer\u00a0by saying they must deposit their life in God and His\u00a0Word (Acts\u00a020:32).\u00a0In other words, keep the main thing the main thing.\u00a0Culture is making some hard pulls to deviate us from\u00a0Truth.\u00a0What does the\u00a0Truth say about sexual immorality, roles of women, worship, the form of doctrine that saves, etc.?\u00a0 There are many wolves\u00a0today\u00a0who\u00a0\u201cdevour\u201d Christians and even whole congregations with false teaching.\u00a0<\/span>
\nReal Life Example:\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Paul wrote to the same elders and their congregation in Ephesians 4:14-15 \u201cthat we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
\nCan you imagine children floating in a boat carried by the current of the water? They don\u2019t have the nautical skills to arrive at a chosen destination.\u00a0They are at the mercy of the current or wind.\u00a0In the same way immature Christians can easily be carried by every wind of doctrine, even if it is false.\u00a0But if someone can speak the\u00a0Truth in love it\u00a0will\u00a0help\u00a0them\u00a0to grow up into Christ, our destination.\u00a0Leaders have the opportunity\u00a0and responsibility to do this.\u00a0<\/span>
\nLessons for Leader<\/b>:<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>The leader must know the\u00a0Truth in order to protect the sheep\u00a0or in other words, to keep the children on the charted course.\u00a0The leader must speak the\u00a0Truth with love.\u00a0If the leader doesn\u2019t have a genuine love for others he will use the\u00a0Truth as an attack weapon instead of an\u00a0instrument which\u00a0gives life.\u00a0Leaders use the\u00a0Truth to fulfill the main thing.\u00a0Fathers, Bible class teachers, deacons, ministers,\u00a0or elders would you be described as\u00a0a\u00a0shepherd\u00a0or wolf?\u00a0Examine yourself as to\u00a0what you do with the\u00a0Truth (John 17:17) and there you will find your answer.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThink on\u00a0this.\u00a0What are the risks if the leader doesn\u2019t know the\u00a0<\/b>T<\/b>ruth? Is this why some are so easily distracted from\u00a0<\/b>the main thing?<\/b>\u00a0The\u00a0<\/b>T<\/b>ruth moves people toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ!<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By David Shannon Vincent Lombardi, widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in history,\u00a0had a way of never losing sight of the basics. He believed games were won and lost on fundamentals. After a disappointing loss he would\u00a0demand that practices return to basics of football.\u00a0Why work on passing routes and blitz packages if you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[1138,1230,244,1231,1215],"class_list":["post-5560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-think-excerpts","tag-david-shannon","tag-false-teachings-paul","tag-leadership","tag-moving-people","tag-october-2012","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nKeeping the Main Thing Means Avoiding False Teachings - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/02\/keeping-main-thing-means-avoiding-false-teachings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keeping the Main Thing Means Avoiding False Teachings - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By David Shannon Vincent Lombardi, widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in history,\u00a0had a way of never losing sight of the basics. 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