How can these things be
I often sit back and wonder how people can be so taken in by false teachers such as Rick Warren, Joel Osten and Benny Hinn as well as all things Emergent>
And why do people continue to buy the books and materials these wolfs put out.
Here is a reprint of a article I have posted before from my friend Scott.
Its worth reading again.
How Can These Things Be?
Purpose Driven, Emergent, Transformational, & New Age in the Church
By Scott MacIntyre
It's the million-dollar question…how is it that we are seeing the infiltration of false teaching into the church? Not just any church…but churches that at one time claimed to be Bible-believing churches.
The overall answer, of course, can be found in scripture. Paul prophesied in 2 Timothy that people would turn their ears from truth, and turn aside to myths. The Bible said it would happen and it is. But in specific terms, how is it happening? What causes a church to take into its bosom the strange fire of false gospel? Like the chicken and the egg debate, it may be difficult to unravel the maze of false teaching. Do we blame the people who accumulate for themselves false teachers, or do we blame the false teachers themselves? Perhaps both should be implicated, but allow me to focus on the pastor for a moment.
A conversation I had with a youth pastor a few weeks ago provided some insight. He was contemplating a move to being a senior pastor in the future, but expressed to me much doubt in his abilities to be a good manager of people and to assume all the responsibilities of overseeing a church. My counsel to him was to be careful that he didn't assume a role of pastor that the Bible doesn't teach. In other words, the job description of a pastor he was describing may not be the job description written in the Bible.
We see the pastor today being promoted as a 'change agent', a CEO, a counselor, upper management, a businessman, an orator, a comedian, a communicator, an ambassador, and just about everything else except a teacher of the Bible. Pastors are often gregarious, handsome, and talented. In larger churches, senior pastors (a term not found in scripture) relegate the more unpleasant tasks of visitation, counseling, and such to lower pastors on the staff. They become more of a front man…a figurehead of sorts. Many churches seem built upon the personality of the pastor and his skills in speaking, or being an author or a musician.
But the Bible doesn't offer us a view of the pastor like this. Titus is encouraged by Paul in Titus 2:1 to "speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine", and in 2:7 to be an "example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine". In fact, the book of Titus seems to be a discussion of both deeds and doctrine, and Paul is careful in 3:5 to let us know that our deeds do not save us lest someone go strong on deeds and weak on doctrine. The emphasis of deeds to a pastor suggests to me servanthood, and the emphasis of doctrine suggests to me sound teaching…something sorely lacking in the church today.
Timothy is told by Paul that an overseer must be able to teach, and that he must be free from the love of money. Timothy is told to share in Paul's suffering, and to preach the Word. Paul suffered because he boldly proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, without regard to the consequences. How many pastors are willing to suffer that way today? How many mega-church pastors would be willing to tarnish their well-coiffured images by boldly proclaiming the whole counsel of God? Perhaps some, but it does not appear to be many.
Pastors by the thousands are implementing prepackaged church management systems, all the while inviting strange and false doctrines into their churches. This has caused me to question and wonder about how and why these men feel called to being a pastor. Are they so incredibly lacking in sound doctrine that they are unable to see what scripture teaches about being a pastor? Must the pastor's job description be re-written from the Bible to conform to the corporate skills of men?
For those thinking about being pastors like my young friend is, consider this simple profiling exercise:
Do you see yourself as a change agent, able to convince and lead people to pre-determined conclusions? Then consider going into psychology, business, or sales.
Do you enjoy speaking in front of a crowd, making them laugh and feel good? Consider a career comedy, acting, or performing.
Do you believe you have many of the right answers for making the church better and bigger? You might think about authoring another book on church growth techniques. There are a lot of people willing to read them, and you might make a lot of money selling them.
Do you enjoy managing people and bringing together all the elements that would make a church successful? Definitely consider a career in a large corporation.
Do you see people as lost and confused, needing someone like yourself to bring a sense of order and purpose to them? You might think about applying for a government job, or even the U.N.
Are you a great singer or a popular author and think your skills would help you to be successful at a large church? Do the church a favor and just keep singing or writing.
Do you love teaching the Word of God, but feel inadequate as a manager or strong leader? You might consider praying about being a pastor.
Do you have a desire to pastor a small church, but feel you don't have the skills to lead them in a church growth campaign? You might continue to pray about being a pastor, and keep studying the Word to learn God's will for the church.
Do you love people, and enjoy serving them by faithfully teaching the Word of God? Have you ever considered pastoring a church?
Today's churches are full of men who have lost sight of the fact that it is Jesus who builds the church…not their ideas, plans, or abilities. Christian men who have recognized their own abilities as leaders in the corporate sense have mistakenly believed they are imminently qualified to be pastors. It becomes a career move largely based upon their own inventory of abilities and strengths.
What the church needs are men who are passionate about the Word of God, humble, love people, apt to teach, and who come into the pastorate with an overwhelming sense of inadequacy, needing to rely upon the Lord for their strength. Men who realize they have nothing to offer God, except the empty vessel they are for Him to fill for His good pleasure. Men who meet the qualifications of a church leader set forth in the pastoral epistles of Paul.
A church under the teaching of a man like that will be more apt as 'Good Bereans', and less apt to accumulate for themselves teachers according to their own desires. People will always be prone to wander, and prone to desert the Lord for a different Gospel. But in the church with a pastor who is faithfully teaching the Word of God, the desertion from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ will likely not be instigated from the pulpit as is so common today.
Copyright 2006 by Scott MacIntyre
Wood and Steel Ministries
Contact: woodandsteel7@hotmail.com
And why do people continue to buy the books and materials these wolfs put out.
Here is a reprint of a article I have posted before from my friend Scott.
Its worth reading again.
How Can These Things Be?
Purpose Driven, Emergent, Transformational, & New Age in the Church
By Scott MacIntyre
It's the million-dollar question…how is it that we are seeing the infiltration of false teaching into the church? Not just any church…but churches that at one time claimed to be Bible-believing churches.
The overall answer, of course, can be found in scripture. Paul prophesied in 2 Timothy that people would turn their ears from truth, and turn aside to myths. The Bible said it would happen and it is. But in specific terms, how is it happening? What causes a church to take into its bosom the strange fire of false gospel? Like the chicken and the egg debate, it may be difficult to unravel the maze of false teaching. Do we blame the people who accumulate for themselves false teachers, or do we blame the false teachers themselves? Perhaps both should be implicated, but allow me to focus on the pastor for a moment.
A conversation I had with a youth pastor a few weeks ago provided some insight. He was contemplating a move to being a senior pastor in the future, but expressed to me much doubt in his abilities to be a good manager of people and to assume all the responsibilities of overseeing a church. My counsel to him was to be careful that he didn't assume a role of pastor that the Bible doesn't teach. In other words, the job description of a pastor he was describing may not be the job description written in the Bible.
We see the pastor today being promoted as a 'change agent', a CEO, a counselor, upper management, a businessman, an orator, a comedian, a communicator, an ambassador, and just about everything else except a teacher of the Bible. Pastors are often gregarious, handsome, and talented. In larger churches, senior pastors (a term not found in scripture) relegate the more unpleasant tasks of visitation, counseling, and such to lower pastors on the staff. They become more of a front man…a figurehead of sorts. Many churches seem built upon the personality of the pastor and his skills in speaking, or being an author or a musician.
But the Bible doesn't offer us a view of the pastor like this. Titus is encouraged by Paul in Titus 2:1 to "speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine", and in 2:7 to be an "example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine". In fact, the book of Titus seems to be a discussion of both deeds and doctrine, and Paul is careful in 3:5 to let us know that our deeds do not save us lest someone go strong on deeds and weak on doctrine. The emphasis of deeds to a pastor suggests to me servanthood, and the emphasis of doctrine suggests to me sound teaching…something sorely lacking in the church today.
Timothy is told by Paul that an overseer must be able to teach, and that he must be free from the love of money. Timothy is told to share in Paul's suffering, and to preach the Word. Paul suffered because he boldly proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, without regard to the consequences. How many pastors are willing to suffer that way today? How many mega-church pastors would be willing to tarnish their well-coiffured images by boldly proclaiming the whole counsel of God? Perhaps some, but it does not appear to be many.
Pastors by the thousands are implementing prepackaged church management systems, all the while inviting strange and false doctrines into their churches. This has caused me to question and wonder about how and why these men feel called to being a pastor. Are they so incredibly lacking in sound doctrine that they are unable to see what scripture teaches about being a pastor? Must the pastor's job description be re-written from the Bible to conform to the corporate skills of men?
For those thinking about being pastors like my young friend is, consider this simple profiling exercise:
Do you see yourself as a change agent, able to convince and lead people to pre-determined conclusions? Then consider going into psychology, business, or sales.
Do you enjoy speaking in front of a crowd, making them laugh and feel good? Consider a career comedy, acting, or performing.
Do you believe you have many of the right answers for making the church better and bigger? You might think about authoring another book on church growth techniques. There are a lot of people willing to read them, and you might make a lot of money selling them.
Do you enjoy managing people and bringing together all the elements that would make a church successful? Definitely consider a career in a large corporation.
Do you see people as lost and confused, needing someone like yourself to bring a sense of order and purpose to them? You might think about applying for a government job, or even the U.N.
Are you a great singer or a popular author and think your skills would help you to be successful at a large church? Do the church a favor and just keep singing or writing.
Do you love teaching the Word of God, but feel inadequate as a manager or strong leader? You might consider praying about being a pastor.
Do you have a desire to pastor a small church, but feel you don't have the skills to lead them in a church growth campaign? You might continue to pray about being a pastor, and keep studying the Word to learn God's will for the church.
Do you love people, and enjoy serving them by faithfully teaching the Word of God? Have you ever considered pastoring a church?
Today's churches are full of men who have lost sight of the fact that it is Jesus who builds the church…not their ideas, plans, or abilities. Christian men who have recognized their own abilities as leaders in the corporate sense have mistakenly believed they are imminently qualified to be pastors. It becomes a career move largely based upon their own inventory of abilities and strengths.
What the church needs are men who are passionate about the Word of God, humble, love people, apt to teach, and who come into the pastorate with an overwhelming sense of inadequacy, needing to rely upon the Lord for their strength. Men who realize they have nothing to offer God, except the empty vessel they are for Him to fill for His good pleasure. Men who meet the qualifications of a church leader set forth in the pastoral epistles of Paul.
A church under the teaching of a man like that will be more apt as 'Good Bereans', and less apt to accumulate for themselves teachers according to their own desires. People will always be prone to wander, and prone to desert the Lord for a different Gospel. But in the church with a pastor who is faithfully teaching the Word of God, the desertion from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ will likely not be instigated from the pulpit as is so common today.
Copyright 2006 by Scott MacIntyre
Wood and Steel Ministries
Contact: woodandsteel7@hotmail.com
posted by Tim Wirth | 9:18 AM
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