Guarding the Landmarks
Proverbs 22:28
Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.”
The first church I pastored was in a small country town south of Fort Worth, Texas. I was a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and while I was there, I was blessed to serve as Pastor of the Baptist church in Mertens, Texas. This little town is actually a farming community and just to be clear, Gina and I quickly realized that we knew absolutely nothing about farming. We grew up in a big city and candidly the farming world was all new to us.
By farming, I mean that our little house was surrounded by row cropping. Regardless of the direction you looked from the front porch of our house, all you could see was rows and rows and rows of crops. The farmers in the area grew mostly soybeans, cotton, corn and maze. One day, while driving down a gravel road, I noticed something that looked strange. Standing in the middle of thousands of acres of row cropping was one lone tree. The area in which we lived was very flat, full of thousands of acres of row cropping and there was this one lone tree. For some reason, I found that to be humorous. I couldn’t imagine why in the world the farmers would leave one tree standing in the middle of all those thousands of acres.
That is when I learned about the importance of landmarks or boundaries. That one tree was planted by the forefathers of those farmers and it was there to serve as a landmark. It was a boundary distinguishing where one farmer's land ended and another farmer’s land began. Actually, it was very important. That tree, or that boundary, provided a clear marking for land ownership. Can you imagine the confusion and conflict that would occur if you removed that tree, if you moved that landmark?
If you take a good look at all that is happening in our world today, I believe we are seeing this principle right before our very eyes. We are watching the ancient landmarks and ancient boundaries being moved. And the result is confusion and conflict.
For example, the landmark or the boundary of human sexuality is clearly being moved. The days when men were men, boys were boys, girls were girls, and women were women are passing us by. This is a boundary, a landmark, that God clearly established in His word. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” There is the boundary, the landmark, “male and female He created them.” And clearly today we are seeing many around us moving the landmark of human sexuality that God Himself set.
We also see it when it comes to children. I recently read an article in which the person being interviewed declared with bold arrogance that children were the responsibility of the government, the school, and the teachers and not the responsibility of parents. Yet, the Bible says otherwise. Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.” A simple and honest reading of Psalm 127 shows us that children belong to parents and that parents have the responsibility to raise their children to honor God. That is a boundary, a landmark, that is clearly being moved.
Over the next few weeks, I hope you will join me as I share with you some scriptures in God’s Word that show us how the landmarks, the boundaries, are being moved today and how we, as Christians, are to respond.
Today, I want to address a boundary, a landmark that is being moved. Its impact is profound. That landmark is the truthfulness of the Word of God. And here is the thing that grieves me most; it is being moved by those who call themselves preachers and pastors.
There is a softening toward God’s Word and a willingness to mix God’s truth with cultural philosophy. There is a willingness among many pastors to water down God’s Word, to explain away truth, and to compromise what God has said in His Word. I Timothy 6:20 - 21 says, “Timothy, protect what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” which some have professed and thereby have gone astray from the faith.”
The Apostle Paul must have believed the same thing was happening in his day. And so he encouraged Timothy to protect, that is to guard the boundary, the landmark of God’s Word. When gimmicks replace expositional Bible teaching, when “feel good” talks replace the preaching of God’s Word, and when we change the theology of God’s Word to fit the philosophy of modern culture, then we are witnessing false teachers moving the boundary and the landmark that God has set.
Just notice some of the things the Apostle Paul tells us to guard against. We are to guard against “worldly, empty chatter.” What is that Paul is talking about? The answer to that is found in I Timothy 6:3 - 5, “If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a sick craving for controversial questions and disputes about words, from which come envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”
Paul is talking about people that in their worldly and empty chatter present a different doctrine other than the doctrine of God’s Word. And that is rampant today. We have pastors giving empty talks and worldly illustrations under the guise of truth. In reality, all they are doing is moving the landmark of the truthfulness of God’s Word.
Paul also is talking about arguments that look like knowledge but have no Biblical substance. And notice the result, people hear this and go astray. I believe you will agree; we have church members confused with what the Bible really teaches. And much of that confusion has come from teachers and preachers.
So where do we go from here?
Pray
I encourage you to pray for your pastors and for those who teach you God’s Word.
Know the Word
Study the Word yourself so you will recognize false, empty doctrine when it is taught.
Go Deep
Don’t be satisfied to stay in the “shallow end of the pool.” What I mean by that is go deep into God’s Word and don’t be satisfied with a shallow study of God’s Word.
Trust
Trust the landmark, the boundary of God’s Word to be completely trustworthy and do not remove the ancient boundary.