When we think about spiritual counterfeits, our minds probably go to a few obvious things. Strange manifestations, false prophets and people making wild claims. Predicting the exact date and time of Jesus' return. Declaring the result of an election (only to end up with egg on your face).
But I think there are some more subtle things that we can overlook. Yes, we need to be discerning about the things I've listed above, but we also need to be careful we aren't missing the less dramatic, potentially more devious deceptions. There are things that can look and sound like "the real deal", but do not hold up to Biblical discernment.
I want to start by looking at something the Apostle Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 2 v 1-5 "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."
Paul says, "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with wise and persuasive words." I wonder how often wise and persuasive words are exactly what we are looking for. How many of us might actually have rejected the Apostle Paul because what he said wasn't eloquent enough, wasn't impressive enough, wasn't polished enough?
What are we looking for when we go to church? Are we expecting to hear wise and persuasive words from people, or are we looking for a demonstration of the Spirit's power?
The subtler dangers
There have been places in the last few decades where I genuinely believe God began to move in powerful ways, but then things became unhealthy because people responded badly. I don't want to continue to see that happening. My prayer is that, if God begins moving in that way again that we — as the global church — would respond with humility, discernment and maturity. That we would steward that well. That's the heart behind what I am sharing here.
There are lots of different opinions about what it looks like for the Spirit to move. Some people are concerned about emotional excess, and some people are concerned about counterfeits — and rightly so, because there can be excess and there can be counterfeits. But there are other concerns we should think about too.
Sometimes people bring things believing they are bringing something from the Holy Spirit but, as it says in Jeremiah, the heart is deceitful above all things. So people can genuinely think they are bringing something from the Lord, when really it is the overflow of their own thoughts, emotions, or desires.
I've had the privilege of teaching and training a number of worship leaders and worship teams. One of the key lessons I always try to convey is the importance of not drawing attention to ourselves. This is one of the things Paul is describing clearly and modelling here. It's a particular stumbling block for people who minister from the platform, but it can also be something any of us fall into if we contribute in an open meeting or service of any kind. I honestly think it is a lot more dangerous than people sometimes realise. Scripture says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." It also says, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
I've heard quite a few people put it something like this: if we try to do God's job and exalt ourselves, we should not be surprised if he does our job and humbles us.
And then, of course, there is wild excess. Often when people talk about excess, they think of things they have heard about — unusual manifestations in particular churches or movements. I think we need to be careful here as well. Sometimes those stories are second-hand and they may have been sensationalised. If we weren't there in the room we didn't see what happened before, what happened after and whether perhaps an interpretation was given that made sense of a strange manifestation. What we have is only a very small snapshot. We might have no idea what fruit may have come from it.
I know someone who was involved with the Toronto Blessing. He spoke about his concern about one of the people there — someone he thought was simply being emotional, over the top and acting in the flesh. But later, as he saw the extraordinary fruit that came from that person's ministry, he came to a different conclusion.
When we look at Scripture some of the OT prophets were called to act things out in quite unusual ways. One of the mistakes we can make is assuming that God only works in ways we are comfortable with, or in ways we have seen before. But in Scripture God spoke through a donkey. He worked extraordinary miracles through handkerchiefs that had touched Paul. People were even healed when Peter's shadow fell on them.
So unusual does not automatically mean that it's not of God.
How to weigh it
We need to approach these things with humility. We need to weigh them carefully. We need to ask, "Is it consistent with Scripture? What is the interpretation? What fruit does it produce?" rather than making snap judgements based on our own preferences or preconceived ideas.
We are told to weigh what is brought. We are not to accept every spirit or every experience as being from the Lord. We are not to assume that just because something comes with the language of the Bible, it must therefore be from God. When the devil came to tempt Jesus, he came quoting Scripture. So just because something sounds scriptural does not automatically mean it is from the Holy Spirit.
Let me slow down here for a moment, because this is important. The Holy Spirit will never contradict Scripture. That is a key test. If something is not consistent with Scripture, then we know it is not from the Holy Spirit. But that is not the only test. It's a vital test, but not the only one. Because something can sound scriptural and still come from another source. So we also have to look at the fruit. Does it build up the body? Does it point to Jesus? Or draw more attention to the person speaking than to God? Does it display and produce love, humility, surrender, and obedience?
Paul doesn't leave us wondering what genuine, Spirit-filled ministry looks like. He tells us.
He tells us the heart posture a genuine demonstration of the Spirit's power flows from.
"I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ — and him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling…"
This is completely the opposite of someone trying to make themselves look good — to impress people with their own abilities. It's the posture of someone who has taken Jesus' words seriously — someone who has learned to know Jesus, to deny himself, take up his cross, and depend completely on God.
Gifts and fruit belong together
In the past I've heard people say things like: "I'd rather have the fruit than the gifts." Or that the fruit is "much more important". I don't agree. I want both. Scripture tells us to eagerly desire the gifts. This is not an either/or situation or a priority order. In fact I think approaching it like that misses a fundamental point. The gifts and the fruit belong together. It should be a virtuous circle. Exercising my gifts well means exercising them lovingly, humbly, gently, which helps train my heart and manifest the fruit. The gifts properly, Biblically exercised display the fruit at the same time.
Discernment is not a quick check box exercise: "Sounded scriptural, good. Done." "Was a bit weird... fake!"
It's not procedural, it's fundamentally relational. We need to know Jesus, which we do through knowing his word (Scripture) and by spending time with him. We need to know the Spirit. The way he acts and moves and speaks. And we need to know the people — is the fruit of the Spirit evident in the way they are handling their gifts? Is it evident in their lives and wider conduct?
The alternative, if we aren't careful, is we end up rejecting something God is doing because it doesn't fit our personal expectations. Or we can quickly embrace something because it looks and sounds right on the surface — and end up in a mess we didn't see coming.
I don't want either of those things to happen. Neither on a personal level nor a corporate Church level. I want to recognise what God is doing, respond to him faithfully, and encourage others to do the same.
