By: Obed Pined
When someone faces a truth that is difficult or unpleasant to accept and instead chooses to remain in a constant state of denial, vehemently rejecting all logical evidence that substantiates it as fact, it is concluded that this person is in a state of wishful thinking. This is the case because they voluntarily choose to replace reality with a skewed hope that is more pleasing to acknowledge. In other words, a wishful thinker is someone who believes to have the power of altering reality by wishing it into existence. The peril of a belief founded in wishful thinking is that it prevents the wishful thinker from ever confronting and resolving an issue; it breeds negligence that leads to a state of inadvisable comfort. The wishful thinker deceives himself in believing that the trouble he refuses to accept will eventually vanish away on its own. Regrettably, avoidance of taking the proper steps to fixing a problem will always worsen the problem. Case in point: false doctrines promoted by false teachers. Holy Writ decries, “these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children” (2nd Peter 2:12-14). It cannot be denied that all false teachers are nothing more than men trapped in wishful thinking. The euphoric thought that they grip firmly to has been the same throughout the ages: “The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land” (Ezekiel 8:12b, cf. Psalm 14:1). The wishful thinker desperately hopes that he can “will into existence” an unfathomable loophole in Scripture with which God will be well pleased, and deem it as a form of obedience. One type of wishful thinking that is prevalent in false doctrines is that good intentions can oust faithful obedience to all of God’s commandments. He who is entangled in the web of false doctrine was lured into it by the appeals made solely to the heart, drowning out sound reason, and is eventually devoured by the false teacher (cf. Matthew 7:15-20, Acts 20:26-31). When Jeremiah prophesied to the captives of Babylon that they would remain as prisoners for seventy years, Shemaiah the Nehelamite openly contradicted the man of God and sent letters to Zephaniah and the priests in Jerusalem, accusing Jeremiah of being a false prophet (cf. Jeremiah 29:1-10, 24-28). Shemaiah was denying that their captivity would last seventy years as Jeremiah had predicted, and Holy Writ declares “Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie” (Jeremiah 29:31). Hananiah had the same wishful thinking as Shemaiah did by falsely promulgating, “Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went to Babylon,’ says the LORD, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon’” (Jeremiah 28:2-4). Hananiah’s wishful thinking emboldened him to break the wooden yoke that Jeremiah wore as a symbol of their bondage to Babylon (cf. Jeremiah 27:1-8, 28:10-11). This foolish action only worsened Judah’s predicament (as previously stated in this treatise that wishful thinking can do) prompting Jehovah God to advocate to Hananiah, “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron” (Jeremiah 28:13). Additionally, Jeremiah was commanded to reveal to Hananiah, “Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the LORD’” (Jeremiah 28:15-16). The Almighty confirmed that it was Jeremiah, and not Hananiah, whom He sent since the wishful thinker died that same year according to what Jeremiah had prophesied (cf. Jeremiah 28:7-9,17). Thus, this Biblical example provides us with the solution that will help us evade being caught in the web of lies that is false doctrine. The words that a prophet or teacher speaks on behalf of God, will always come to fruition exactly as it was said to be (if he or she was indeed sent by God). Today, this spiritual litmus test is administered with the question, “Is the teacher rightly dividing the whole counsel of God” (1st Thessalonians 5:20-22, 2nd Timothy 2:14-16)? Rightly dividing the Bible means that an honest promoter of Truth is teaching Scripture within its proper context. Furthermore, he has “not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” but rather preaches the Word “in season and out of season” (Acts 20:27, 2nd Timothy 4:2). This means that the true servant of God will explain some hard, unappealing truths about your spiritual condition and not try to circumnavigate the trouble that, if not readily resolved, will ultimately damn your soul forevermore. The false teacher will always appeal to your emotions, wrongfully leading you to the belief that God has “alternative” solutions to sin that does not “necessarily” require you to stop engaging in them. Yet, those who offer these kinds of spiritual snake oil, must always rely on their charm and powers of persuasion since they will not find rightly divided Scripture supporting their claim. It is wise to recall that it is the Word of God that validates if a person has been sent by Him or not. In this modern world, Jesus Christ has already commanded His Church to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16, cf. Ephesians 3:8-11). Lamentably, there are a plethora of wishful thinkers who are denying the Savior’s instruction that it is baptism in His name (i.e. with His authority, cf. Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:36-38) that leads to the salvation of the soul. The wishful thought is that there are alternate routes that lead to God’s saving grace, not understanding that His word cannot be broken (cf. Proverbs 30:5-6, John 10:35, 2nd Timothy 3:12-17).