Clouds Without Water

by Terry Wane Benton

Peter spoke of change agents as false teachers who creep into churches, promise liberty from the old way of doing things, but they "despise authority" (II Peter 2). They are "clouds without water". What does that mean? It means they have no real substance to their own teaching. They can criticize the authority that established the original way of doing things, but when you ask them to prove their "better way", there is no substance to them.

In some circles of fellowship between people, even in churches of Christ, there is the idea that no hermeneutical principle is valid (That is, clouds that look promising but deliver no water).

There is a growing desire to cast aside the old idea that scriptural authority is necessary or can be derived from commands, statements, and examples. The appeal some preachers make for a "new hermeneutic" ends in never-never-land (they never deliver a "better way," and that makes them "clouds without water").

It is easy to criticize an old way of interpretation by remaining vague and uncommitted about the right way. There is a sense of safety in vagueness because one never has to defend anything or say "this is right and that is wrong". This vagueness allows one to rub elbows with denominational churches because it doesn't feel the need to stand for "truth" on anything, since no one can really be sure they know the truth.

They leave questions without answers. They lurk around to create doubt in being able to "prove what is acceptable to the Lord," but when we ask them to clarify or answer questions about their own viewpoint, they go back into silent mode. They are "clouds without water."

They should answer questions about their own viewpoint, but they have nothing to offer. Their goal is to operate without authority and to pretend that no one is really wrong about anything, except those who teach that there is an authoritative standard that can be correctly applied. Teach with scriptural substance!