Who’s your favorite inspirational teacher? Is there a popular evangelist, author, preacher, speaker, blogger, artist or person in today’s world that you really admire? Whose advice do you follow religiously?
Can I ask why? Why do you admire them so much? Is it because they look good? Is it because they speak what you want to hear? Is it because they are popular, gathering mass crowds everywhere they go?
Think about it.
Now, let me ask this…Did you know that not every attractive leader is led by God? Did you also know that even if a leader is speaking the right words, they are not necessarily always leading you toward God?
Deuteronomy 13:1-3 speaks about this clearly. It says…
“Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, ‘Come, let us worship other gods’—gods you have not known before— do not listen to them. The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul.”
Did you pick up on what those verses are saying? Basically, even a false prophet will occasionally have their predictions come true. So what are we to do? How are we to figure out if the leader we are following is leading us to God, or leading us away from God?
I’m glad you asked. When people claim to be speaking for God today, there are three things we need to check before we jump on their bandwagon…
| 1) | What do they believe about Jesus? Do they believe He is the virgin-born son of God? Do they believe He is without sin and died for us sinners? Do they believe Jesus is the ONLY way to get to heaven? |
| 2) | Are they telling the truth? Not our truth. Not the truth according to the world, but the truth of God’s Word. Does what they’re saying agree with what the Bible says? |
| 3) | What are they focused on? God, or themselves? Is the bulk of their message about self-help, positive thinking, or taking control of your life? Or do they point to trusting God, seeking God in all things, and living according to what God says? |
I know, new ideas from attractive or popular people sound really, really good. They make us feel good. They make us feel happy. But in the end, our feel-good-happiness is not what living for Christ is about.
God isn’t against new ideas. What He wants from us is before we get all excited and join the movement, He wants us to take a moment to discern whether or not what we are hearing is, in reality, from Him. It’s called spiritual discernment.
To do that, we MUST ALWAYS check what a person is teaching against what God’s Word says. When we hear a shiny new idea about God, we have to examine it carefully before accepting it and letting it become a part of our daily lives, even if all of our friends are doing it.
There’s a danger, that sadly, quite a few Christian’s are overlooking in the ‘Christian’ world today. Wolves in sheep’s clothing have infiltrated the Church, bringing with them new age, ungodly ideas and practices packaged in the proper lingo and slogans that Christ-followers use. These false prophets are leading godly men and women away, step by step from God, and the tragedy is that most of the time these Christian’s won’t realize they’ve left their first love until they stand before God on judgment day.
Unfortunately false prophets are on the rise today. I can roll a few off my tongue right now as I’m typing. Don’t let yourself become the latest victim, dear brother or sister in Christ, by swallowing every shiny new idea that comes along.
We must judge them – yes, I said judge – as to whether or not they are consistent with God’s Word, and if they’re not…well, they have no place in our lives.