1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

Psalm 1:1-3 ESV (C) Crossway

The advice here seems self-explanatory: “don’t take advice from wicked people”. Yet, many of us, myself included, have found ourselves doing just that.

There’s a Guru for that!

Some new guru of finance, health, morality, spirituality, etc. rises up from some part of society, with wisdom and revelation beyond the grasp of average people- or so we’re to believe. Many of us buy into their exceptionalism, literally, and help propel them to the heights of public consciousness while lining their pockets. Then, almost inevitably, a scandal breaks out and we discover they aren’t of the upright character presented to us. The rose-colored glasses are taken off, and we see them for who they really are. They’re often just like us. We can look back on the last 50 years alone and find countless examples.

We love to worship ourselves.

Notice it isn’t said in this Psalm that we should instead find the truly righteous people, or the real gurus here on Earth. Instead it says look to the Lord, and His law. The Lord is the only truly righteous authority. It’s okay to seek each other’s counsel, but it is the word of the Lord we should hang on.

Unfortunately, there are even those who will take words from Scripture and twist them to their own ends, to support their own ideology. They often even label that ideology a special new theology that God has only deemed them special enough to share.

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 ESV (C) Crossway

Seek first the Lord, not another Guru

This is why St. John and St. Paul encourage us to test everything, and hold fast to the truth. Seek first the Lord, in Scripture and in prayer, then try to find consensus among other disciples you know who are also seeking truth. Do this and, perhaps together, you will find what we’re all looking for: Truth.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”

1 John 4:1-3 ESV (C) Crossway