Misdirection>Rebellion
Faith oftentimes faces a hidden trap; not open rebellion— misdirection.
While rebellion announces itself through refusal, misdirection wears the mask of deep spirituality, leading you away without a sound. It can happen while someone is praying, attending gatherings, studying Scripture and sincerely trying to please the Most High. That is what makes it dangerous.
Non-biblical doctrines don't always push people away from the Most High outright. A lot of the times, they simply redirect their attention— they take something peripheral and make it central. They teach people to measure righteousness by appearance, cultural expectations, or institutional standards while the matters YAH actually emphasizes become secondary.
Messiah addressed this very problem.
“ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you tithe the mint and the anise and the cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah: the right-ruling and the compassion and the belief. These need to have been done, without neglecting the others.”
Messiah told them that they had become so focused on one aspect of obedience that they had neglected what was weightier. It is possible to be very concerned with whether someone is doing the right things while becoming increasingly indifferent to whether those things are producing the right fruit.
Rules Replace Relationship
Many of us were taught—explicitly or subtly—that holiness has a particular look.
There is a way a “real believer” dresses.
A way a “real believer” speaks.
A way a “real believer” behaves in public.
A list of things a “real believer” does not do.
These expectations are presented with such certainty that questioning them can feel like questioning the Most High Himself.
I have come to realize that there is a significant difference between what the Most High commands and what people have decided His followers should look like.
We are called not to be of the world but being set apart is far deeper than clothing, appearance or whatever external markers a particular religious community has decided demonstrate holiness. If we are going with what the Most High says, His Word consistently brings the matter back to the heart. Messiah rebuked those who cleaned the outside while neglecting what was happening within. Paul speaks of walking according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh. And Scripture repeatedly presents righteousness as something that produces fruit—not merely something that can be displayed.
When non-biblical doctrines are pushed, we have to be willing to ask whether we are actually leading people toward the Most High—or toward conformity with ourselves.
Adding To YAH’s Word
There is another issue we have to take seriously— Man-made rules are not the same thing as the commands of the Most High. That sounds obvious until we begin examining the ways religious traditions can be presented therefore becoming indistinguishable from Scripture. A community may have standards and a congregation may establish expectations for membership. But there is a serious difference between saying:
“This is the standard of our organization.”
and saying:
“YAH requires this of you.”
If the Most High permits something, what gives us the authority to condemn someone for doing it?
If Scripture does not identify something as sin, on what basis do we call another person sinful for it?
If we cannot point someone back to Scripture and show them what they have actually violated, are we correcting them according to the Word—or according to our preferences?
When we place burdens on people that the Most High Himself has not placed on them, we are no longer encouraging holiness. We are creating another standard of righteousness. And that can become its own form of bondage. (John 8:32)
Conviction Or Condemnation
One of the clearest fruits I have learned to examine is condemnation.
Paul writes:
“There is, then, now no condemnation to those who are in Messiah יהושע, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
This verse should not be weaponized to suggest that believers can live however they want without correction. Paul's statement sits within a larger discussion about sin, obedience and transformation. The same passage says that those who belong to Messiah walk according to the Spirit. Grace does not make sin irrelevant but neither does correction give us permission to become accusers.
If a teaching consistently produces fear of people, shame, or obsession with external performance, we should be willing to examine its fruit.
If someone is being condemned for something, can we point them back to Scripture and show them where the Most High has said this is wrong?
If we cannot, perhaps the issue is not their disobedience. Perhaps the issue is our doctrine.
Something Personal
This became especially real for me because of a church I attended frequently for much of my life. I was baptized there. It was a significant part of my upbringing and, in many ways, a significant part of how I understood faith.
One of the things this church strongly emphasized was obedience to the 10 commandments. Keeping the commandments was deeply connected to its identity, and that emphasis is something I still respect and value.
I got older, however, and my life changed. I became inconsistent in attending. I began making choices that did not necessarily align with the expectations of the church— or the Most High’s will for my life.
I entered a relationship and eventually had a child. My child's father and I were not married, but our relationship and the birth of our child were public enough that I eventually returned to the church for the dedication and blessing of our baby.
Not long afterward, I received a disciplinary letter.
The letter informed me that my name would formally be removed from the church's membership records. It referenced the commandment I had violated and explained the basis for the disciplinary action. I later became aware that similar letters had been sent to other people I knew who were also members. I cannot speak for the circumstances of every person who received one. I did not know everyone's situation, nor do I claim to know everything that happened behind those decisions. I remember what it felt like to receive mine.
It forced me to think about a much bigger question:
What does biblical correction actually look like?
Scripture does speak about confronting sin.
Messiah taught about addressing offenses within the community in Matthew 18. Paul addressed serious sexual immorality within the assembly in 1 Corinthians 5. Scripture does not present discipleship as a life where nobody is ever corrected or held accountable.
“Was the discipline biblical?”
Was the goal repentance and restoration?
Was the person treated as someone who needed to be restored—or merely as someone who needed to be removed?
And perhaps most importantly:
Was the standard actually established by the Most High, or by the institution?
Biblical accountability and religious control can look remarkably similar from the outside. Both can involve correction and both can involve consequences but the fruit can reveal what is actually happening.
I want to be careful here.
I am not arguing that churches or communities should never have standards. Paul did not ignore serious, unrepentant wrongdoing in the assembly. Messiah Himself gave instructions for confronting sin. But biblical discipline is not permission for an institution to assume the place of the Most High.
What happens when the pursuit of holiness becomes so institutionalized that human standards begin to function as commandments from the Most High?
People may begin striving not simply to obey the Most High, but to avoid disappointing religious authorities.
They may become more afraid of being removed from a membership roll than of grieving the Spirit.
They may learn to perform holiness in front of people while their actual relationship with the Most High remains untouched.
All of that is still misdirection.
We can become so occupied with proving that we are different from the world that we forget to become more like Messiah. We can become so concerned with who is keeping the right rules that we fail to examine whether we ourselves are producing the fruit of the Spirit. We can become so protective of doctrine that we stop testing our doctrine.
And perhaps most dangerously, we can become so confident that we are the ones who see clearly that we stop allowing Scripture to examine us.
The Most High's Word must remain the standard.
The goal should be to become obedient to Him.
