False teachers leading false 'churches'

Not that long ago I wrote a post titled Peddling Christ. In that post I spoke about preachers and how they make Christ serve them rather than them serving Christ. Quite honestly this is a subject that I fell into rather than feeling any real need to write about. You see, that post was the result of someone asking me if I could take several verses and make a post out of them. This person did give me a general idea of what they hoped I could convey in that post. The rest…was up to me. It was a challenge but being as how the message they wanted conveyed was a belief I share I was able to actually pull it off.

 

From there I expected to be finished with the topic but found myself writing yet another post almost as soon as I finished that one. Then through discussions in life and comments on my blog I wound up writing even more posts. You see…it isn’t so much that I set out to speak against preachers but that I found myself sucked into a topic that had me doing just that. I have nothing against preachers in and of themselves. It’s what they’re teaching…or not teaching…and the way they’re doing it that bothers me.

 

Today…I was looking something up online and found myself reading someone else’s article on peddling Christ. And once again I got sucked into a topic I never intended to be in the midst of. But I write what’s on my heart and mind. I don’t foreplan anything, don’t usually do any research into what I’m writing about. I generally just sit down, put my fingers on the computer keys and…there’s an article. It’s that easy…and that confounding.

 

I don’t know where these things come from except to say that they’re given by the Lord…or at least the ability to do so is. And so today…I find myself writing on a subject I never thought to follow any further.

 

The more I think of what it means to peddle the Word of God…the more it hurts to even consider it. I don’t remember the days of true peddlers, have had very few encounters with door to door salesmen. I do, however, know the frustration of having people show up on my doorstep…usually when I’m trying to cook or something else that takes my attention…and try to sell me something I don’t want. I know the frustration of having them repeatedly try to convince me to buy what they’re selling despite the fact that I keep saying no. And I’ve learned the art of being rude by saying ‘we’re not interested’ and quickly shutting the door , cutting off their protests as I do so. It’s not ideal but sometimes it’s the only way.

 

I’ve had certain religious groups show up on my door and try to sell me their beliefs in much the same way. With these groups it seems that if you so much as say ‘hello’ they move in for the rest of the day. They tell you there stories, invite you to their worship buildings, give you there reading material, and…as I’ve had happen on one occasion…sit with you and tell you everything they believe and why, all while reading to you from their religious book.

 

As my grandmother is fond of saying ‘you can’t win for losing’ with them. If you’re nice to them in any way they take advantage of it. If you’re not nice to them…they take advantage of that too. And when you’re not nice you’re left feeling bad about whatever reaction you give.

 

As I think of those ‘religious’ people coming to my house peddling their beliefs…at least they aren’t actually trying to get me to buy them…I think of what it would be like to have someone actually come to my door and try to sell me ‘Christ’. I’ve seen the so-called preachers on television that tell you if you’ll just send them money ‘god’ will do x for you. And I can only imagine what my response would be if they were actually standing on my door trying to convince me to buy their ‘god’ and his blessings.

 

But that’s what so many are doing. They may not come to our door, they may not sit in our living rooms, they may not even stand in our presence but they’re doing it just the same. They’re peddling…selling…’Christ’ for their gain with little to no consideration for the souls of the people that buy into their ‘christ’.

 

It’s so easy…for most…to see the peddling that takes place by those television ‘preachers’…although the fact that they’re still on T.V. tells us that many fall prey to their peddling…but how many see the peddling that takes place within ‘church’ buildings every week?

 

Many years ago I was a regular in a ‘church’ that passed an offering plate every Sunday, they taught often on tithing and how it was required, they printed and mailed out little envelopes with your name on it and each weeks date so that you could ‘give’ your ‘offering’, and thy questioned you when they didn’t see your ‘tithes’ in the weekly ‘offering’. They went so far as to say that if you didn’t ‘tithe’ you weren’t ‘right with God’. But they didn’t stop there. Outside of your weekly ‘offering’ they had near weekly missions ‘donations’ where they profiled some organization that they felt the ‘church’ should financially support. And they put much pressure on each person to do just that. I have even seen them tell the congregation that a certain ‘offering’ for a mission organization wasn’t enough and pass around the ‘offering’ plate again, all while telling people to ‘dig deeper’ and ‘give more.’

 

Was that not peddling?

 

Unless it falls into the category of con artists.

 

The thing is…this kind of ‘peddling’ takes place every week, week after week, in ‘church’ after ‘church’.

 

I was a one time visitor in another ‘church’ building this past winter. My husband and I went for the sole purpose of listening to a quest ‘preacher’… that wasn’t really a preacher at all but a speaker…because he speaks Truth. Or mostly speaks it. While we sat on the pew, in the midst of hundreds of others, they passed an ‘offering’ plate. As expected many people put money into those plates. But like with the ‘church’ I attended so many years ago, they didn’t stop there. Once the ‘offering’ plates were collected, they passed around ‘offering’ baskets. This time was supposedly a special ‘offering’ so that the ‘church’ could use it to help their members that were in need. They explained how they used it to help those with financial problems pay bills, get to the doctor, buy medicine, clothes…whatever they may need.

 

And as I sat there watching this ‘offering’ being collected all I could think was…isn’t that what the regular ‘offering’ should be used for? And since it obviously wasn’t…what did they use it for?

 

About a year ago I was told of a preacher that told the members of his ‘church’ to give them the routing number on their checking accounts so that the ‘church’ could pull their tithes out of their account.

 

I have to ask…do any of these so-called preachers sound like men that are serving the Lord? Do any of the things I listed above sound like something Paul would have done? Do they sound like something Christ would have done?

 

Do they sound like men that are serving the Lord?

 

Or do they sound like men that are serving money?

 

For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:17

Paul clearly separated those that sincerely tried to preach the Word of God from those who were merely selling a product.  The Geneva Bible states that verse as…   For we are not as many, which l corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.   Notice the word corrupt in place of peddlers. The KJV also uses the word corrupt. Either version clearly portrays the message that Paul was giving…these men were taking the gospel and using it to their gain. One implies the selling of it, while the other implies the twisting and changing of it. As I read those two different versions I can’t help but think of what we get if we combine them…Peddlers that corrupt the Word of God…or the corrupt peddling of the Word of God.   Is that not what we have today in the majority of ‘churches’?   Basically Paul was saying that he…and the others…was giving the true gospel, they were speaking Truth with no twisting or changing of it. They weren’t watering it down, they weren’t making it fit man but were giving it so that it might man might fit into it. This was Truth pure and simple. It was Truth as Christ gave it and it was Truth as they delivered it.   And it wasn’t being delivered out of some higher agenda, out of some idea that they might gain from the Word of God. It was being delivered from sincere hearts with the sole desire to deliver the Truth as Christ gave it. Paul said that it was the ‘power of…salvation’ (Romans 1:16).   Paul understood what that meant. He knew what he himself had experienced in his conversion and he sought to deliver the Word of God in Truth and nothing but Truth.   Why?   A question we should ask ourselves anytime anyone seeks to deliver the Word of God is…what motivates this man? Does he stand to gain from what he’s teaching?   Paul’s motivation was to save souls and he gave up everything to do it. He sought no personal gain.   If a preacher delivers a message while being careful what he says so as not to offend his listeners…is he not corrupting the Word of God? If he stands to gain financially in any way…is he not peddling the Word of God? If he leaves out anything of Scripture because it might offend someone or keep them from ‘coming to Christ’…is he not watering down, thereby corrupting, the Word of God?   And if we have a corrupted Word of God…is it truly the Word of God? Is it Truth as Paul taught or is it a mere facsimile of Truth…one that will pull many to the wide path but leave few to find the narrow gate?   What purpose does the wide path have if walking on it makes you run head first into a narrow gate that you can’t get through?   Is this not what the many ‘preachers’ of today’s ‘churches’ are doing? Are they not pulling many onto the wide path by giving them a ‘gospel’ with a ‘God’ they can accept and love, because the ‘Christ’ they’re peddling requires little of them?   And if the ‘gospel’ being given by these ‘preachers’ isn’t the true gospel as Paul preached it…then is it the gospel at all? And what of the preachers that are giving a false gospel…are they not false teachers?   And what happens to the ‘church’ when a false teacher gives them a false gospel?   I know so many people that get every bit of their ‘Christian’ beliefs from the mouth of their ‘preacher’. They say things like ‘my preacher said’ or ‘my preacher believes’, or ‘my preacher teaches’. They put their very souls into what a man is teaching them…and most of those men are false teachers.   What then becomes of the ‘church’ whose pews are filled with people whose very faith rests in the teachings of the preacher on the stage?   Instead of the Church as Scripture defines it we have false ‘churches’ packed with false believers being fed a false gospel by a false teacher. And the Truth that they think they’re getting and believing in is a truth that Paul wouldn’t recognize.   Jesus himself called such false ‘churches’ "synagogues of Satan" (Rev. 2:9; 3:9). Whether or not the ‘churches’ of today would actually fall under that definition wouldn’t any ‘church’ that teaches anything that differs from the Truth as taught in the Scriptures be teaching a lie? And if they’re teaching lies and calling it the gospel…have they not fallen into Satan’s domain? Scripture tells us that Satan is the father of lies. And no matter how you want to look at that we can’t deny that Paul warned many times of false teachers. We’re told that they’re wolves in sheep’s clothing.   These false teachers are peddlers…hucksters…that corrupt the Word of God. Whether they do it for money, for man’s acceptance, to bolster their own numbers of ‘conversions’ and therefore their own pride, or even just for their own (false) sense of security…the end result is the same…a perversion of the Truth. And many of them do it while claiming to be ‘called by God.’ Would God ever ‘call’ anyone to teach and promote anything short of the entire Truth of His Word? Would He ‘call’ them to sell it, whether for monetary gain or some man oriented reasoning? The reality is that most, if not all, of today’s ‘preachers’ aren’t called by God but rather by themselves. They have some interest in preaching and believe that means they have been ‘called’ by God to do that. They then follow their ‘calling’ into expensive seminaries to get man-made certifications that will allow them to send out resume’s to apply for a job and thereby a paycheck to put their ‘calling’ to work.   Does that sound like a calling by the Lord or does it sound like men following their own desires?   Once these preachers have gained their expensive certificates and earned themselves a job through their resume’s they may then begin to preach (and ‘earn’ their paycheck) by leading ‘God’s flock’ through the ‘gospel’ that they have been taught to teach by men. They can use the very Word of God to create and promote a ‘gospel’ that looks nothing like the Truth as its presented within the pages of Scripture. And they preach not the gospel but a ‘gospel’ that is found nowhere in Scripture. Paul himself saw this happening and warned against it.   For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.  2 Corinthians 11:4 But it wasn’t just the false teachers he warned against. He clearly told those that accept it that they are putting up with it. In other words…by listening to it they are actually allowing it to happen. How many Christians sit in the audience of ‘churches’ and listen to a message being delivered that speaks something other than the Truth? How many sit idly by and listen as the very gospel our Lord gave his life for is corrupted and peddled…and do nothing. They put up with it readily enough. They put up with listening to a message being delivered that isn’t the Truth of Scripture. They put up with turning the solemnity of the Word of God into a form of entertainment designed to draw in crowds, to boost numbers, and to keep those crowds entertained so that they aren’t offended and will keep coming back. Was the Truth that Christ died for entertainment? Was it so inoffensive that it appealed to everyone? Was Paul beaten and imprisoned for a Truth that was careful not to offend? What of the many ways ‘churches’ fund their ‘ministries’ through worldly entertainments that are designed to draw in an even bigger crowd so that they can line their pockets for the purpose of continuing the perpetuation of the twisting and perverting of the true gospel? Did Christ die for that gospel? Did He teach that it’s okay to feed the carnal minds and hearts of people…rather lost or saved…at the expense of their pocketbooks to further any form of the gospel? And yet as Paul said…you put up with it readily enough. My husband just showed me a video about televangelists that buy multimillion dollar jets…now I ask…what possible need could anyone that’s supposedly concerned about the souls of the lost need with a high dollar jet. If…and I stress, if…they absolutely had to go somewhere that flight was required why wouldn’t they go by the cheapest flight available so as to put their ill-gotten gains to better use serving the people that they claim to care about? One of the ‘preachers’ in this news video is shown literally bragging of having bought not one but two very expensive jets and paying cash for it. I have to ask what the people that regularly give their money to this man think of his new ‘toys’. But that doesn’t happen in your average ‘church’ some might say. Maybe not in some but I personally know of a ‘church’ in a mid-sized town where the preacher owns multiple high end vehicles and his own airplane. And it was all bought with ‘church’ funds. And what of the ‘church’ that provides the funds for such extravagances? …you put up with it readily enough. These preachers peddle their versions of ‘God’ and the people put up with it. I can understand that when we’re truly talking about wolves in sheep’s clothes…or preachers that teach such subtle differences that a person would have to know the Scriptures well to know that what’s being taught is a lie but what of those that sit in the audience…or their living room…and listen to the blatant blaspheme of the Lord while hearing these men tell of ultra-expensive purchases? Even those that teach subtle lies as Truth are they not men who have a form of godliness while denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5). Are they not wolves in sheep’s clothing? Are they not teaching lies and therefore leading ‘churches’ that have fallen into the hands of the ‘father of lies’? I’ve heard many times…while sitting in the pew of a ‘church’…that Satan will attack the ‘church’ but I must ask…why would he need to attack the ‘church’ when lies are on the menu of every sermon? If anyone is saved out of such a ‘church’ it’s in spite of the ‘church’ and not because of it. The Lord can, and does, use all things to His glory. These false teachers and their false ‘churches’ may be responsible for the true salvation of some but it isn’t because of the false gospel given within its walls…it’s  in spite of it. It’s because that was the method the Lord used to save one of His own. But what of the false gospel being delivered week after week from the very men that claim to be working for the salvation of others?   They are false teachers delivering a false message that has no power to salvation except for that which the Lord gives to those that are his.   There is, in fact, a method to the madness that is preached from the pulpits. While these men are in their expensive schools earning their ‘calling’ they are actually taught to profile their targeted audiences and to tailor the message to those that will be listening.   They are in fact profiling their audiences straight into hearing a fake gospel that sends people straight to hell. But I’m saved, some might say. But I said the prayer, another will say. I chose Jesus is the reply of so many.   And that last part is the worst of all because it completely disregards the fact that Christ said you did not choose me but I chose you.   Even still…the sad reality is that most have no idea that Christ even said that. They don’t know because they’ve been taught the false gospel by the false teachers and they take those false teachers at their words. They lay their entire salvation into the hands of men. And those men hand them straight into hell.   They follow the wolf like slaves following their master. Where the wolf leads, they follow. And sadly enough heaven isn’t where those wolves are leading. They follow their masters (preachers) believing they are being given the gospel for salvation when in fact they are being fed lies that get them nothing but eternal damnation.   There are two very basic problems with what’s happening there…two things that are perpetuating the system. 1) those preachers have been so indoctrinated with the gospel that they preach that they don’t know they’re teaching lies to the very people they believe they’re leading to salvation, and 2) the people they’re leading don’t want to hear the Truth even if the preacher knew how to give it.   If a preacher actually got behind a pulpit and told his audience that the prayer they prayed didn’t save them, that their free will is a lie, that their salvation rests in the hands of the Lord and nowhere else…his audience would quickly disperse. If they made it through the first sermon, they wouldn’t return for a second.   Years ago I was given tickets to go and hear a classical pianist. I knew nothing about the woman but was told that I would love listening to her, that her music was amazing. I went to the concert and barely made it through it. What I had been told would be classical piano...which I don’t care for…was anything but. Rock and roll would have been a better definition. The next time that woman came to town I was once again given tickets to go listen to her. I made sure not to make use of those tickets.   How many people that pack the pews on Sundays would be sure to avoid those same pews if they ever heard the true gospel delivered from the stage they spend so much time in front of?   You see…most of those in the audience don’t want the truth. They want their false teachers giving them a false doctrine through an entertaining program that feeds on their own sinful desires.   They don’t want to be taught a gospel that teaches a saving faith. They want a false gospel that teaches they can have their hearts desires and still have faith. They want to be told that it’s okay that they think of movies and food before they think of Christ. They want to be told that it’s only normal for them to have reacted the way they did to a certain situation. They want to be told that ‘God’ loves the things they love. Because…they put up with it readily enough. Paul warned… For the time is coming when people will not endure sound[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 People of today have turned away from Truth and have followed myths. The biggest one that I can think of in the ‘church’ is the myth that man ‘chooses’ Christ or that he has the free will to do so. These same people have ‘itching ears’ that want to be give a gospel they can grab onto and because of that they ‘accumulate’ or follow teachers…preachers, authors, speakers, etc…that give them what they want to hear. They have turned away from truth and wouldn’t sit still to listen to it and they sure wouldn’t go back for a second helping. I sat in one such ‘church’ building about a year ago and heard the preacher tell the audience that whatever part of the Bible made them angry was the very part they needed to spend time in. I would have to agree with that preacher on that. But I’d also have to ask the question…why? Why does that part of Scripture make you angry? What is it about that part of Scripture that makes you angry? Are you scared? Threatened? Do you see something there that shakes what you believe? Why? I saw a headline online a few days ago that said a ‘church’ is ordaining homosexual ministers. I have to ask if that really sounds like a ‘church’ but then I would have to ask…is there any part of the Bible that makes those so-called ministers angry? And if so…why does it make them angry? Could those so-called ministers walk into a church of true regenerate believers and be allowed to preach or teach any sort of message? How long would they last before someone interrupted their message to correct them using the very Scriptures that probably inflame their anger? And so there are entire ‘churches’ that meet to support and encourage one another in the very sins that the true church would reject outright. The people that go to those ‘churches’ do so because their false teachers pat them on the back and tell them that what they believe is okay instead of telling them that they’re living in sin and they need to repent and beg the Lord to save them from their very sins. But it isn’t just the obvious things like homosexuality that falls into this category. There are entire ‘churches’ formed around certain lifestyles. The rich go to ritzy  ‘churches’, cowboys go to cowboy ‘churches’, country folks go to country ‘churches’. They all have their catagories and they pretty much stay within the ‘church’ that best supports their lifestyles. A farmer isn’t going to go to a ‘church’ that frowns on dirt getting on their fancy floor more than a time or two if he’s having to go straight from the field to the ‘church’. He will soon find a ‘church’ that welcomes him, dirt and all. Sin is the same way. The sinner is the farmer that’s looking for a ‘church’ that will welcome him sins and all. What does that say of the preacher of the church that welcomes the sin into their midst instead of rebuking the sinner and teaching him the Truth of Scripture? What does it say of the ‘church’ that embraces the sinner and his sins with open arms because ‘God would love him’? They are false ‘churches’ being led by false teachers and being fed a false gospel that caters to their wants instead of to the Truth.