Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.
Matthew 7:15
I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock.
Acts 20:29
False teachings and teachers are all around us. Some of the most known churches and pastors speak of false teachings. These are dangerous and we need to keep watch and be aware of what we are allowing to come into our lives through what we watch, listen to, and participate in.
False teachers will come dressed as sheep when they are really wolves. They will look like you and me teaching things that sound so good and so relatable but are actually wrong and a false teaching. This is so dangerous and the amount of people who fall for these false teachings is alarming and saddening.
It is always important to use your better judgement and discernment when listening to any preacher or pastor. Just because someone seems like they teach sound theology doesn't always mean that they do. I know one thing I keep watch of when listening to sermons from pastors and teachers I have never listened to is if they talk more about themselves than God. If someone is supposed to be teaching us about God and the bible, why talk mostly about yourself? We should be talking mostly about God, His character, and things like that. It’s one thing to add a personal story here and there, it’s another thing to spend the whole time talking about your life and how much better x, y, z is because of this.
I am not saying that it is not okay to talk about what God has done in your life. No, please do. But unless we are supposed to be listening to a testimony and not a sermon, it should mostly be about God not about that person’s life.
It should also not be a complete self help talk. It should not be about how doing these 3 things will completely change your life and those 3 things have nothing to do with God or maybe one does but the others don’t. Once again, if you are preaching a sermon about God, it should mostly be about God. Give action steps that can be backed up by the Word. Not self help action steps.
Here are some examples of what I mean about action steps that are backed by the Word.
One of the sermons a couple weeks ago at my church was about information overload. Here is one of the action steps and the bible verse that correlates with it.
Take a break - Mark 6:30-32
Now how does this work? In this talk, the pastor was talking about how information overload can ruin the quality of our lives. Let me explain the first action step, which is take a break. The verse that goes with that is Mark 6:30-32.
What is happening in that passage? The disciples had just gotten back from a ministry tour. They had just gone out and spoken about God and what He was doing. They went to Jesus and told Him about all that had been done and taught and at the time Jesus told them to go with Him to a quiet place and rest. They had not gotten time to even eat during this set time.
When we are having information overload, we need to step back and take a break. That’s what the disciples did. This isn’t something that isn't seen multiple times in the gospels about them going to a place to rest and reset. This verse isn't taken out of context either. A lot of the time, false teachers take verses out of context and don’t explain what is happening before or after this verse.
It is really important to know the context of verses you are learning and to know that they are not being taken out of context. The best way to do this is to personally study the Bible and learn the Word. This could mean having multiple study bibles and commentaries that are from different translations and authors and companies to get a better picture of what is happening. (It is important to know that the commentaries and study bibles you get are sound theology and doctrine).
But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of the truth will be slandered.
2 Peter 2:1-2
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
2 Timothy 3:16
But evil people and imposters will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.
2 Timothy 3:13
A lot of these false teachers and prophets are very appealing. They are from some of the most well known churches in the world. It’s sad knowing that one of these teachers went to school at a well known theology sound college and yet is teaching the false gospel of the prosperity gospel. It’s sad knowing that there are so many people going to these churches and listening to these teachings and being fed lies and things that are not true.
They are being told they don’t have enough faith if they aren’t healthy or wealthy or prospering. They are being told living in sin is okay. They are being told that living your life the way you want to live it is okay even if it goes against God’s word. They are being fed out of context and twisted bible verses that are being used for the teachers' good. They are being told to give thousands of dollars to these churches and that money isn’t going to the church but to the pastor to live a luxurious lifestyle. They are being told they are being healed when they really are not. They are being told that if they had enough faith, they would’ve been healed by now.
These people are being told these lies and believing them because not enough people are speaking out about it or because they refuse to listen to the standpoint of someone who disagrees with them and won’t have an open conversation.
If you are listening to a new pastor, use true discernment. Go to God. Do not rely on yourself to decide if someone is a sound teacher or not. If you truly ask God for discernment, He will give it to you. If you have any ounce of uneasiness while listening to a pastor, that could be a big sign that they are not teaching sound doctrine. Take what they say and test it against the bible. Dig in and find the true context of verses. Don’t just blindly follow what someone has to say about a verse or a passage, do your own research. Talk to people who you know are reading the bible. Ask hard questions. Don’t fall victim to these false teachers.
Hold onto hope and stay strong.
Madison Rae <3
Comments