(be careful what you read and what you believe)
(wink wink)
I am planning a series of teachings, services, conventions, seminars, forums, workshops, retreats, every night of the week (for at least a year), with programs taking place 24 hours a day, which will feature the most popular, most controversial, most charismatic, most educated, most successful speakers on the "Christian" stage today, with added focus groups dedicated to deceased experts.
(still winking)
We are going to have living "ministers" teach their doctrines, cast their visions, sell their wares; we are going to have videos of "ministers" exercise their gifts; we are going to have professional readers present long portions of the written materials of these "god and gospel gurus;" we are going to have debates, question and answer times, discussion forums (and sometimes, "aginums"); we are going to have continuous multimedia presentations taking place in the various meeting rooms of our convention center; we are going to have a "book store" that sells autographed books, videos, music, Frisbees, holy anointing oil, workbooks, small bottles of "ministers" sweat and spittle. I will also present experts who will read extensively from the writings of "dead" scholars and interpret what they meant when they said what they said. This will be followed up by other experts who will interpret the interpretations of dead dudes.
(and the winking goes on)
I hope everyone is able to come and spend time, energy and lots of money. Do not waste your time looking for and dedicating yourself to a local church, led by a totally dedicated, gifted, anointed, called pastor, and do not expect God to lead you into all truth without the help of our highly acclaimed leaders. Instead come and learn the truth from them as it was meant to be learned, first hand, or second hand, or third hand, or... well you get my point. Or, don't come and learn anything, then you can just choose the popular personality of the day. If you send us your email, we will update you concerning the latest "Christ" figure in the world.
(and on and on)
I am doing this because there are so many who are coming in the name of Christ that it is much easier to do this than to research all of the information on them and inform folks.
There are two other options, just accept any or all of these top rated Propheteers, or learn the word of God and grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ.
(without end)
If you want to support my endeavor, please send me very large gifts and spout my name whenever you want to sound like an informed Christian. Don't worry about what I actually believe or what the Bible actually says, because it is not about truth, it is about popular perception.
Final thought... I have met some people who don't get caught up in the "holy hoopla of high visibility heroes." They don't amount to much and they don't have big followings, so don't be too concerned about them.
HERE IS THE REAL REASON
Yes, there are some great men of God that are worthy of our attention, but we need to build our faith, our doctrines, our lives and our ministries on the teachings of God's word, regardless of what men say. Do not get caught in the maelstrom of personality cultism.
I posted this because I am constantly hearing people sing the praises of errant leaders and speakers and because people are interested in what these popular speakers actually believe.
I am not opposed to special meetings, seminars, retreats, camps, etc. They can be wonderful tools to help us grow. We can benefit from the insights of godly men who serve others. MY PROBLEM IS THAT PEOPLE ABANDON THE BIBLICAL MODEL FOR PERSONALITY FOLLOWING.
In fact, this is not a sudden or new thought for me. Back in the mid 1970's I had a very dynamic church in the Cleveland, Oh. area. I am a good pastor, having spent myself since my Bible college days honing my skills, abilities, talents and gifts, in service to Christ and His Church. I studied and worked hard and long as I ministered to others. As pastor, I was a dedicated student of anything and everything that effected my people. Our church not only grew, it flourished in finances, missions, men called to the ministry, conversions, family life, pastoral counseling, deeper life, social ministries. This is not bragging, since it was God's call on my life and His salvific enabling that made it possible.
Every so often there would be some special conference that our denomination would promote, or that I thought might help our laity in their ministries, therefore I would send delegates to these special events. More often than not I had to work hard to correct the errors and attitudes, with which the experts had infected my delegates. They would return to a church that was thriving in every area, only to inflict concepts and attitudes that brought confusion, division and retardation.
When a man is the pastor that God wants him to be, he will be able to feed and lead his church better than any cadre of "experts." We can all learn, but remember, one of the four basic gifts of the Spirit (for the planting, nurturing and leading of a church) is Pastor/Teacher (Eph. 4:11-16).
Another thing to keep in mind is that pastors should be well versed in Bible and doctrine, having been taught by men who were equipped to teach them. However, each local church should provide such a strong Bible, doctrine and ministry program that a graduating high school student should be as well versed as a Bible college graduate, in all but a few of the subjects (possibly Greek and, Hebrew, depending on the pastor). Oh, a Bible college course is often a better training ground for ministry than a seminary. A seminary should be a graduate study level for ministry academics rather than actual ministry service.
Anyway, my point is that God's idea for the local church is much better than the traveling specialists can ever offer. When the experts realize that they are helping and serving churches to follow Christ as a local body, then the experts are much more useful.
NO ONE TAKES THE PLACE OF THE LOCAL PASTOR AND NO ORGANIZATION DOES A BETTER JOB THAN A LOCAL CHURCH.
No comments:
Post a Comment