43 No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. ~ Luke 6:43-45 NIV
The other day I saw on social media that a pastor had passed away on Monday. He was 67 years old. What caught my attention was that he was called the Cussing Pastor. In the comment section of the post that I saw, were two groups of people:
One group consistently said, “Only God can judge,” “Ye without sin cast the first stone,” “Judge not lest you be judged,” “God is a forgiving God,” “God judges the heart,” and so on.
The other group said, “I hope he got right with God before he died,” “I hope he took the time to repent,” “Why do we defend sin,” “God is fed up with foolishness,” and so on.
I think these comments showed the division that we have in the Church today. We have one side screaming at the top of their lungs “Only God can judge,” while the other side is screaming at the top of their lungs, “Sin is still sin.” And right now, one side is louder and more dominant in the Church today, and it isn’t the side calling sin sin.
Have you noticed the temperature of the Church in the last two decades? It went from faithful attendance. A belief that sin is sin. A respect for the pulpit to God isn’t barbaric like we were taught, so He won’t send anyone to Hell. God is love, so He understands. He wants us to be happy and enjoy this life. He knew us before we were born, so we’re not going to be sent to Hell that was never created for us anyway.
The two biggest issues in the Church today are that our pastors are no longer teaching the Word of God and our people are no longer reading the Word of God. We hear other people quote Scripture, but we don’t check to make sure that it’s right or wrong. Paul was checked by the Bereans, yet we don’t check our pastors today.
I heard another pastor quote Isaiah 29:13 and claim it for himself. He continued to claim his church members were his children and should be obedient to him like Jesus is to the Father. No questions asked. No doubt. Full faith in him. His entire sermon was, in essence, that he is their god.
I heard another pastor preach that Jesus often took the Scriptures (the Word of God) out of context. How can Jesus take the Word of God out of context when He is the Word of God?
I heard another pastor scream at the camera, “I don’t take Scriptures from Sodomites.” Another time I heard him say that if you wear a mask in his church, you will be removed. Another time he said that when he and his wife couldn’t cast a demon out of someone, they began taking notes of what the demon said because they told them who the witches were in their congregation. So you didn’t have the power or authority to cast out the demon, but somehow it told you the truth and not lies? How does that work?
Our pastors are going unchecked. Their mouths are full of blasphemies, yet they will be defended as if they are above correction.
Jesus told us to beware of false prophets. To beware of those who come to us in sheep clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. And you know how Jesus said you’d recognize them? By their fruit. You have to judge the fruit that they bear in order to know whether they are of God or not (Matthew 7:15-20). The biggest tell is their words. If blasphemies, cursing and cussing, false teachings, hate, and perversion are what comes out of their mouths, then that is what is in their heart. And if that is what is the abundance of their heart, then they don’t have a new heart and they should be seeking the LORD’s forgiveness, not trying to lead a flock. It will be the blind leading the blind and both will fall into the pit (Matthew 15:14).
I’ll leave you with this verse:
23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Matthew 6:23NIV
Dear LORD, please forgive me for the words that have come out of my mouth. Please forgive me for following false teachers and believing false doctrines. Please give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand. Create in me a clean heart and renew in me a right spirit. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing and acceptable to You, LORD. Please search me and convict me of any sin that is within me. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and the spirit of discernment. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.