"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them" (Heb. 2:1).

As Christians we have great difficulty in not drifting away from the truth, in our lives and in our teaching. The devil is constantly drawing us to the left or right of the patterned path, for he seeks the destruction of our souls. Paul tells us, "Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves. Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed ye be reprobate" (2 Cor. 13:5). It is a continuous struggle to keep our course true and straight, and we must monitor our progress everyday to be sure.

But the church has a tendency to drift, too. We must watch for signs of that drift, for the devil is out to destroy each congregation that will be influenced away from blueprint that God has given.

There are those who would serve the devil and not God in this regard. The pull of the world, the desire to be "mainstream," to be like the denominations, and be respectable is a great temptation to many. But the problem is not new. Israel’s rejection of God as their king was a result of the same desire in that people. "Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah; and they said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations" (1 Sam. 8:4-5). The desire to be like others caused Israel to reject God as their king (vs. 7). The desire to be like those around us has caused many in the church to deviate from the pattern, though they do not realize it.

Often departure from the pattern comes visibly and suddenly. More often it comes through a gradual process that is not realized at all – ever – or, if it is, it is too late to save so many who are lost. God has set some among his people to be watchmen, to be sure that such drifting does not take place. Those watchmen are elders in the local congregations.

The writer of Hebrews said, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this were unprofitable for you (Heb. 13:17). Who is he talking about? Peter says to the elders of the church, "Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind" (1 Pet. 5:2). Elders are the watchmen that God has given his people to warn them of sin.

But first, God warns the elders. Their work is not going to be short or easy. It will be long, grueling, and largely thankless. He gives as a qualification, "Holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers" (Titus 1:9). And there will be an abundance of gainsayers. "I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30).

According to the warning, wave after wave of errant teachers have troubled the church, and the great tragedy is that the church is often unprepared to deal with them properly. Too often, elders are mere "preacher hirers," and sometimes the preacher they hire is the one that should be convicted.

We live in a small world that is getting smaller. Whatever effects one congregation will soon infect all those round about. Heresies that spring up in Kentucky and Tennessee will follow the sun to Arizona and California and take root. But the wind blows both ways – what troubles the faithful on the left coast will soon arise in the east. We cannot avoid contact with error that rises, though it rises elsewhere.

Elders who have a sort of isolationist disposition are asking for trouble. While the autonomy of local congregations must be respected, autonomy is often the excuse that some have for being ignorant of things they need to know about and warn against. I am definitely opposed to people from our congregation interfering in the affairs of another church without being asked. At the same time, it is wrong for the leaders of any congregation to pretend that problems of others won’t be soon coming our way.

As subtle as the devil is, we are not ignorant of his devices. He will not suddenly impose choirs, women preachers, adultery, the social gospel, or modernism. He is patient and willing for us to drift into these errors little by little. Incrementalism is the philosophy of his angels, men who would take us captive by their wiles a little bit at a time. There must be someone to stop the drift, to stand in the gap (Ezek. 22:30).

Preachers must "preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching" (2 Tim. 4:2).

Elders must "convict the gainsayers" (Titus 2:9) and "tend the flock" (1 Pet. 5:2).

And we must all "Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 5:8). "Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Col. 2:8).

God has given us the Bible to direct us in the way that we should go. If we are vigilant and determined, there is no reason that we should drift from the pattern. But we must admit to the danger.

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them" (Heb. 2:1).