May 22, 2024

It strikes me that there are so many people; fellow Christians, of all people, who continuously judge other brothers and sisters or ministries. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that is the assignment Jesus gave us; to condemn each other. Sure, everyone is allowed to have an opinion, but is it to the benefit of God’s Kingdom if we make everything public? Everything must be announced immediately on social media about how terribly bad this ministry or this person is and whether it is a false doctrine or not. I personally believe, it’s a good thing to keep each other alert, and warn against false teaching. The Bible often warns us about false prophets and heresy (Matthew 7:15, Matthew 24:4-5, Matthew 24:24, 2 Corinthians 11:4). Jesus also indicated that at the end of the age more and more false teachers would arise (Matthew 24:11), but should we do it this way? I often see entire witch hunts, people and ministries are publicly shamed. Is this the way? Or is it better to first silently bring your doubts about a pastor or ministry to God and ask Him for wisdom, insight and discernment before we blow things off the roof. How we deal with it is what counts. Mind you, we are ambassadors of God’s Kingdom, people pay attention to us and how we interact with each other and the world around us. We must consider how it appears to unbelieving people. We have a mission to share, and to show the love of Jesus for each other and the world around us. And by that I don’t mean that we have to be ‘yes marbles’, love is above all proclaiming the truth, but I do believe in gentleness and remaining in peace. We must realize, we were all sinners that have been saved by grace. Unfortunately, I have often heard from unbelieving people they find Christians ‘hypocritical’; “They gossip about each other but then go to church on Sundays.” They can’t reconcile that (neither can I by the way 😉). And can we blame them? Those thoughts and statements don’t come out of the blue. This does not draw people to God, but rather it repels people. I have seen it happen around me that people renounce their faith because of how Christians treat each other. We can expect these things from the media and the world, they do not know the love of God. They live in darkness, but we, children of God, should know better, right? The Holy Spirit lives inside us! /*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 08-05-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} The Pharisees and Judases in our midst We must remember, Jesus Himself was also labeled as a false teacher, and how did He deal with the Pharisees and Judases in His midst? His life’s work, His mission, was not to expose false prophets. It strikes me that many Christians make it a true life’s work. Entire social media platforms are being set up to expose the ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’. The “evidence” comes from media articles, short TikTok videos or short quotes. But it also strikes me that those who criticize the most have often not seen/read/visited anything at all about the person or ministry they accuse. We can only sincerely criticize when we have investigated this ourselves, right? With our Bible next to it, having listened to or attended several sermons and, above all, pray about it. We could cause real harm to our brothers and sisters or ministries, when we shout harmful things into the void without thorough research and prayer.  Remember; death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Words have power! The last time I checked the Bible, Jesus commanded us to go into the world, preach the good news of The Gospel and the Kingdom of God, lay hands on the sick, and cast out demons (Mark 16: 15-18). However, when I look around, I see that some brothers and sisters Bibles say: “expose ‘false teachers’, make fun of them, and post them on your Facebook page for the whole world to see.” I personally think it is quite serious and not Christian, especially when ministries and people are dragged through the mud regardless of whether it is correct or not. I think it is very important to keep each other alert and warn against false teachers, but let us be very careful with it. Let us take it in prayer and first discuss our findings behind closed doors with fellow brothers and sisters, consult our Bibles and consult God. James 1:19 teaches us to be quick to listen, but slow to speak. Sometimes Christians are diametrically opposed to each other and unity is hard to find. The Bible also teaches us; “The tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33). So it is not very complicated, look at what the person/ministry does; is Jesus preached and recognized as the Son of God who came to die on the cross? Do people come to faith? Are they baptized and baptized in the Holy Spirit? Are hands laid on the sick and healed, and demons cast out? These are primarily the broad and most important lines. Trying to keep people happy I personally think, there are many churches who are mainly busy with ‘petting heads’; hold a “feel-good Sunday services”. I think many churches have fallen asleep and therefore become powerless, and I think this has been happening for years; it has crept in, so this is what people are used to. As soon as ministries go radically for God’s Kingdom, as we read in Acts, followed by signs and wonders, that goes against the hairs of a lot of people; because they are not used to it anymore! But when the cat’s hairs are being stroked the wrong way, we should not start stroking along with the hair, but instead turn the cat around! So, don’t adjust your message