DISCERNMENT; A DYING GIFT IN THE CHURCH
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
Today it seems like the false teachers are coming out of the woodwork. The work of God is to give witness to Jesus Christ, and the Plan of Salvation that God has freely given to us and yet the money changers are buying and selling in the places of worship, and marketing various brands of teachings that are designed to very slightly and deceitfully cause you to think that rather than preaching the truth there is a new way to Heaven through sending them our finances.
We are all called to take a firm stand in our commitment to the word and message of God above all else in life. What that really means is that we have a responsibility to study and to pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us in finding the truth and separating that truth from the lies that this world is telling us. We have a tendency to become lazy with the responsibility of spiritual growth to the point that we let those who call themselves professionals do all of the reading, praying and worshiping for us. That is not only an unscriptural way of living, but it is also very dangerous because the world and the enemy are waiting patiently for that opportunity to nudge you off track just enough that you can be fooled into a comfortable place of complacency in your faith walk.
While the look of many ministries may be presented much like the little bear with angel wings we see here the true intent of a great number of these ministries has a darker side that has taken on a business attitude that follows a pattern of annual growth and profit that is dictated by this world, and has nothing to do with the ministry of Christ but with the advancement of those whose name is on the sign outside their doors.
The money changers and the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus time have not gone away as we may have supposed, but they have morphed into many different looks within the church as an organization of Christian principals and traditions. I remember times when our churches were truly separated from the world in the ways we did our work and the corporate atmosphere had not yet corrupted the mindset of those who we have trusted to lead us in our walk with Christ. The truth is that is our responsibility to seek after that truth by making sure we use the discernment that God has given us in His Holy Spirit to pray for and listen for the truth in what we are taught. We have grown too quickly into our trust of those whom we do not really know in the church because they may look and sound good. Frankly when these ministries start pulling out books and materials for sale after they preach a sermon that sounds good about a subject that only pats me on the head and makes me feel good about myself it makes me raise my eyebrow a bit.
If there is one focus we need to make in life it is to know the truth in Christ. Whatever we have to do to ensure that is happening we need to do. The first thing is to get into the word for ourselves and find out what Jesus actually taught then stick as closely as we can to that message. It is my prayer that we as a church body will wake up to the fact that ministry is not a profit-making enterprise. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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