To Encourage You

Mark 9:33-35 “And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, ’What were you discussing on the way?’ But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, ’If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.’”

I’m sure you’ve heard the preaching  espoused by some of the most popular and famous preachers and teachers in America. They say things like “You have greatness within you,”  “You can have your best life now,” or “Plant your seed (followed by a certain amount of money) and God will bless you with something great (a good job, money, healing, whatever you most want in life).”

How very different all this is from the way Jesus spoke, or John, or Paul, or anyone else who was led of the Holy Spirit to give us the words of the Bible. Jesus talked about being last, rather than first. He rebuked his disciples when their discussions turned to their own greatness. He talked about suffering and giving and denying ourselves. He talked about carrying our cross, which was symbolic of death – dying to our own desires for the sake of glorifying God, no matter what that might mean. For Jesus that meant dying on an actual cross. For John, it meant exile on Patmos. For Paul it meant being whipped, stoned, shipwrecked, hungry, and despairing even of life. Eventually it meant being beheaded.

How different this is from what so many TV preachers promote. How opposite. How appalling when one realizes that they claim to be speaking for Christ. And to think that millions are being duped to follow these people. They are being lured by visions of greatness, of health, of wealth; all the things that those who could care less about Jesus want for themselves. It’s the very same tactic Satan used on Christ as recorded in Matthew 4. He promised him greatness – all the kingdoms of the world; he tempted him to gratify himself in the here and now – turning stones to bread, rather than continue to fast as he was being led by the Holy Spirit; and he tempted him to tempt God, to do things that were not commanded by God (cast himself from the top of the temple), and then to presume on God to rescue him (“He will command his angels concerning you.”) All he had to do was bow his knee to Satan – give up on the eternal things to grab the temporary things in the here and now. All Jesus had to do was grab “his best life now.” Makes you wonder who these preachers are really representing with their promises. It certainly isn’t the true Jesus, i.e., the One who spoke to us by way of the Scriptures.

So, who are you listening to and who are you following – the King whose kingdom is not of this world, or the prince of this world? We are told repeatedly to “examine ourselves” in Scripture (2 Corinthians 13:5, 1 Corinthians 11:28, Galatians 6:4) and because we do such a poor job of it, we are given repeated examples of believers who asked God himself to examine them (Psalm 26:2, Psalm 139:23). We are also told to examine closely what any preacher or teacher says against the truth of Scripture and reject anything that is contrary to the Word of God, no matter who says it (Acts 17:11, Galatians 1:8).

May God help us to do just that.