When we see that sign on a road, if we are paying attention, we will adjust our speed so we do not lose control of our car. It is prudent to pay attention to the signs. If we do not we will veer off of the road.
It is the same in navigating our way through life as a follower of Christ. The difference is that the signs are not as clear. Further a lot of our journey is through a fog of combating world views and assaults on the core of what is Christianity. One element of that fog is to class and compare Christianity as one of several religions. I have written about that earlier so I will not rehearse that here.
We tend to deal with the fog by incrementally drifting off course, pushed by the pressures of that which is creating the fog. The drift is subtle. It begins by making small concessions to the world. We tire of continually battling so we look for areas we can agree, where the Bible is “grey.” Or perhaps we have not taken the time to check what the Bible is saying for ourselves and we just accept what Christian leaders say, or what some prominent Christian author says uncritically. Soon the authority becomes the leader or the organization and we are committed to follow what they say rather than what the Bible says.
I have said this many times before, but like Peter says several times in 2 Peter, it is OK to repeat myself… We are not to follow leadership blindly. Not even ordained Christian leaders. We are commanded to study ourselves. We are to be like those in Berea, Acts 17:11. When we see leaders not paying attention to the signs, read Bible, we are to challenge them.
There is no authority for a Christian leader to direct anyone to do something that is contrary to what the Bible says.
We tend to deal with the fog by incrementally drifting off course, pushed by the pressures of that which is creating the fog. The drift is subtle. It begins by making small concessions to the world. We tire of continually battling so we look for areas we can agree, where the Bible is “grey.” Or perhaps we have not taken the time to check what the Bible is saying for ourselves and we just accept what Christian leaders say, or what some prominent Christian author says uncritically. Soon the authority becomes the leader or the organization and we are committed to follow what they say rather than what the Bible says.
I have said this many times before, but like Peter says several times in 2 Peter, it is OK to repeat myself… We are not to follow leadership blindly. Not even ordained Christian leaders. We are commanded to study ourselves. We are to be like those in Berea, Acts 17:11. When we see leaders not paying attention to the signs, read Bible, we are to challenge them.
There is no authority for a Christian leader to direct anyone to do something that is contrary to what the Bible says.
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