Small errors – big problems

For many years we’ve been looking forward to the time when people with walking difficulties could access our main teaching room at Glyndley Manor without having to endure embarrassment and physical discomfort. At last we’ve begun the construction of the new extension which will house a lift, enabling such folk to get more easily to the conference room. The first part of the process was to construct a solid base from which the superstructure would be supported.

During the work, despite meticulous measurements by various members of the team, it was discovered that one of the markers for the positioning of the concrete base had been moved slightly (which could affect the stability of the wall).

Next we found that the bolts for holding down the steel frame were in the wrong place by 50mm. It might not seem much, but the result was that the steel didn’t fit. Brute force was needed by the steel workers to bend the bolts into place. It seems we hadn’t been given the most up-to-date drawings, so we’d been working from different measurements to those of the steel fabricators. Two ‘small’ errors had quite big effects! But thankfully all has been put right now and the steel frame is in place and bolted down.

This reminded me of how subtle Satan’s deceptions sometimes are. It’s easy to spot the big errors – when the plumb-line of truth reveals doctrine which is definitely false from a biblical viewpoint. However, many of the current pseudo-Christian teachings are not so obviously wrong. As we look at these ‘sects’ or cults we see that there’s sometimes an appearance of truth which hides a distortion from the real truth of Jesus.

In an era when ‘truth’ comes in many forms, and absolute truth is no longer acceptable to many people, believers need to be careful to examine the foundations of the Christian faith and test themselves to find if they are believing things that are truly biblical.

Paul wrote ‘For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ’’ (1 Corinthians 3:11). He meant that no other foundation is sufficient for us in regard to both salvation and sanctification. The enemy is hard at work putting deceptive markers out for us to follow, and sending us inaccurate information, often from seemingly reputable sources. Watch out therefore brothers and sisters. Let’s check out what we hear and ask the Holy Spirit to give us discernment to spot the deceptions.