It is so easy to do, and I admit I am guilty of this as well, it is so easy to point to the false ones, the charlatans, the wolves in sheeps clothing, and go on and on about them. Boy don’t I know it!! And of course I’ve heard that saying that when I point at others there are at least three fingers pointing back at myself. "Yes, I know I have faults as well, but I’m not leading a congregation, nor am I setting myself up as some kind of authority figure...however, be that as it may, those guys are doing great damage to the flock of the Lord, and the Bible warns us about them, and, and, and..."
Yes, the Bible does warn us, as does the Holy Spirit, and we also should warn others, certainly, out of our compassion for others and our love of the Truth. The Truth. Our love of the truth. If 99% of my time is spent telling people what is wrong with some people do they really get a sense of my love for the Truth? Or does it have more of the appearance of my love of finding fault with others?
There’s another saying that I think is good to keep in mind the times we feel the need to point to the sins of counterfeit preachers: It is easier to spot a counterfeit if we are very familiar with the actual, the real McCoy so to speak. If we truly love the Truth then let’s keep our gaze on Jesus, and not on all the imposters. If we truly love the Lord; He Who is genuine and true; we will know to follow Him and will see the falseness of the false ones soon enough because HE will reveal it.
Let’s get everyone to focus on the Original and true instead of constantly sounding like brass cymbal as we are warned in 1 Corinthians 13 (think of the gong on The Gong Show, and how annoying that was!!!) and then pray for those imposters, pray that the Lord will teach them the right way, or that the Lord will expose them and keep them from fooling His true sheep.
It's good to warn about the false once in a while, but if that's all we do maybe we need to re-evaluate our focus.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1
Great post, Susan! Last night our Bible study lesson was on renewing our minds. If we focus on what is true, and lovely, and of good report by keeping our eyes on Jesus and His blessings, we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free from deception by false teachers. And yet, if others are misled, it may sometimes be necessary to speak the truth in love.
ReplyDeleteGod bless,
Laurie
Amen. Where there is bitter contention and strife we must not boast of having the Spirit of God, because the Holy Spirit is about gentleness and meekness. There is much deception, especially when we deceive ourselves into thinking we are doing the work of the Spirit while the fruit of our flesh is in full display to everyone but ourselves.
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