The Church, Part 6

When I was young, I had the privilege of hearing many “men of God” who were very popular. I confess that I wanted to be like them, however, it did not take long before I realized that I lacked the personality suitable for such notoriety. Also, God graciously allowed me to see that such elevation of personality is both unbiblical and dangerous.

Over the years, I have witnessed several of these powerful men fail morally to some degree. One pastor, seeking to cover himself, knowing that he was about to be exposed, preached in a conference that God would overlook sin in a preacher’s life to the degree that his success in ministry outweighed his failure. There was no Biblical proof-text cited but he used Samson to support the claim.

The Scripture never commands the followers of Jesus to follow anyone who says that he was “called of God” to build his own following. Yes, Paul did admonish the Corinthians to “Be imitators of me” (1 Corinthians 10:11). However, Paul qualified the charge, “as I am of Christ.” The Corinthians were to follow Paul only to the degree that he followed Christ. That is the only biblical standard, but, sadly, many are led to believe that the Bible demands that the laity are to yield unquestioning compliance to some just because they are in the clergy. This error is a holdover from the Romanist church and its Judaistic corruption. John warned, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world . . . Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 7). Because of this fact, the apostle warned them, “Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for but may win a full reward” (v. 8).

Satan’s plan is to destroy the church. Paul warned, “As the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). This occurs when false teachers insist that their followers give unquestioning submission to them, using "proof texts" to support their own agenda (2 Peter 3:16). Micah 3 denounces Israel’s leadership, exposing them for serving only for personal advantage but failing the needs of the people. Sadly, many churches are in the grips of such teachers who use people to their own advantage. Paul warned Timothy, “Evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).

We may learn a great deal from Peter. Jesus called him away from his nets to follow Him and to learn to “catch men” (Luke 5:10). When Jesus queried the disciples about who He was, Peter rightly confessed, “You are the Christ” (Matthew 16:16), to which Jesus responded, “Blessed are you” (v. 17). However, just minutes later, as Jesus revealed God’s plan (v. 21), Peter, who had another agenda, rebuked Him, to which Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan” (v. 23). In the end, Peter, with all his faults, was used of the Lord to feed and guide the sheep as a true servant of Christ (John 21:15–19). True servants simply follow Jesus.