…if he is not leading your community the way he should be. Read Jeremiah 5:31. Note that the prophet, read leader, is not doing what he is supposed to be doing. As the prophets are portrayed in the rest of Jeremiah, they are portrayed here as doing their own thing not God’s – by the way in my quiet time this morning I read Mark 8:33, note that Christ tells Peter that setting one’s mind on the things of man, that is doing their own thing, is Satanic. That is bad…
But look at how Jeremiah describes those who are listening to the prophets, “they love it so!” The prophets are lying and the people love it; so why would a prophet who is getting props for lying change?
Peter tells us that the church will be like Judah. In 2 Peter 2:1 – 3, Peter tells us that we will have false teachers just like Judah and Israel had false prophets. Paul in 1 Timothy 4:1 – 5, shares that people will begin to fall away from the faith to follow false teaching – good thing there is not much of that around. Further, in 2 Timothy 3:1 – 5, there will be an epidemic of self-serving attitudes that crop up in the Church. Paul expands his description – and this may be the key passage here – 2 Timothy 4:1 – 3, the people in the community find leaders who will tell them what they want to hear, turning aside to myths. Like the men of Judah, “they love it so!”
So we have to ask ourselves, if our leadership is not preaching the Word of God, if they are not challenging and equipping us to stand on our own in the Scripture, why? Is it their choice? Or have we asked them to share myths? Are we resistant to the messages or exhortations to take responsibility for our own understanding of the Word? Have we engaged in encouraging the leader when they have especially challenged us and pushed our understanding or the Word? Or are we subtly encouraging and demanding falsehood?
Tough questions. Forces us to look at ourselves. In elections the old adage is that the nation gets what it deserves. Perhaps that applies to communities as well.
Peter tells us that the church will be like Judah. In 2 Peter 2:1 – 3, Peter tells us that we will have false teachers just like Judah and Israel had false prophets. Paul in 1 Timothy 4:1 – 5, shares that people will begin to fall away from the faith to follow false teaching – good thing there is not much of that around. Further, in 2 Timothy 3:1 – 5, there will be an epidemic of self-serving attitudes that crop up in the Church. Paul expands his description – and this may be the key passage here – 2 Timothy 4:1 – 3, the people in the community find leaders who will tell them what they want to hear, turning aside to myths. Like the men of Judah, “they love it so!”
So we have to ask ourselves, if our leadership is not preaching the Word of God, if they are not challenging and equipping us to stand on our own in the Scripture, why? Is it their choice? Or have we asked them to share myths? Are we resistant to the messages or exhortations to take responsibility for our own understanding of the Word? Have we engaged in encouraging the leader when they have especially challenged us and pushed our understanding or the Word? Or are we subtly encouraging and demanding falsehood?
Tough questions. Forces us to look at ourselves. In elections the old adage is that the nation gets what it deserves. Perhaps that applies to communities as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment