I’ve recently been called out for being too judgmental of pastors. Assuming this person isn’t the only person I know who thinks this of me I thought I’d go ahead and lay it all out there.
She’s right.
I am very, very, very judgmental of pastors or anybody who teaches scripture. Whether that be by books, blogs, anywhere.
Before I come off looking all ‘holier than thou’ I want to define what I believe as judging. I will take what a pastor teaches and if it goes against God’s word then, yup, I will not listen to what they have to say. So if you ever see me saying something that goes against scripture then I beg you to rebuke me! I have fallen too many times into the traps of false teachers. The one that stands out the most was when I woke up early one morning and began watching Creflo Dollar. I was still a relatively new christian. I went to meet up with a couple ladies for breakfast and told them what I had watched. How it was such a good teaching. Thankfully one of the ladies was not afraid to tell me I was being lead astray. And, yes, at first I thought she was being a smarty pants only to realize that she was telling me this because she cared about me and didn’t want to see me fooled.
I remember going through Confirmation in the Methodist church. There was one Sunday where they walked us through all the religions. Funny enough I left saying I wanted to be Buddhist. You know, as if it was a religion flea market. I wanted to believe in reincarnation. Cause in my middle school mind I could just create my own god and it would be truth, right? Well, I was later told that I needed to look into Christianity more because christians believe in reincarnation. A few short years later I would declare myself an atheist thanks to a high school Philosophy class.
I tell you that story because not one person truly loved me until the day I was saved. Nobody was willing to speak His truth into my life. No, no, no, that would be too uncomfortable for them. Better just let her go to hell. You know, I take that back, our neighbors across the street showed me the love of Christ. I remember after I was saved I went to the store and bought a Jars of Clay cassette tape because my neighbors had played that music for us. That was the only christian music I knew of. And I remember one of them stopping by and apologizing for the way they treated us when we were kids. I mean, that was crazy! Who apologizes for just acting like a normal punk kid? Obviously that has left a huge impression to this day.
I completely understand that we are all human and we all fail. However, if I can see that what you’re teaching is benefiting you more than Christ then I will definitely tell people to steer clear.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
(James 3:1 ESV)
My loves, be careful who you listen to. Read the Bible and pray that God will open your eyes to His truth. There are so many false teachers out there. I kind of go by the thought of “if it’s popular stay away.” Remember that the path is narrow. Christianity is not comfortable. If you don’t have a friend who is willing to tell you the truth then you need to find somebody. Seek that person out.
When you do find a good pastor to listen to then soak in their teachings! They will be using lots and lots of scripture. There will be no tickling of your ears. Real, honest, Bible teachers have hard hitting sermons. I like how Voddie Baucham says, “don’t say amen y’all, say ouch.”
It is never pleasant to expose the deceptive, destructive tactics of the “false brothers.” But it is necessary to do so in order to protect the freedom of fellow Christians…we are constantly faced with a choice between different religious options. They are not all the same; they are not all spokes on a wheel leading to the same hub. Some religious options lead to slavery and imprisonment. Only by obedience to the truth of the gospel of Christ can we protect the freedom that is ours in Christ.
Blessings!
