Dr. David Jeremiah’s devotional for today begins with the following introduction – which not only caught my eye, it made me think. ...
In Iraq, a current strategy of the anti-government insurgents is to dress as Iraqi soldiers or policemen in order to infiltrate high-security zones. The mere profession of authority - even possession of uniforms and badges - is no longer sufficient to establish identity.
Jesus warned about spiritual imposters - wolves dressed in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). He was referring to the danger of judging spirituality based on external appearances.
Dr. Jeremiah went on to say we should take a hard look at ourselves, spiritually speaking. But I would say that this introduction refers more to being wary about those who make claims to us – but are not what they claim to be. They are liars, deceitful, and their father is Satan, the father of lies.
I am reading Samuel Clemens’ book, Huckleberry Finn, and Huck and his runaway slave Jim, meet up with two men who claim to be heirs to royalty. One claimed to be heir to the throne of France, while the other claimed to be a long lost Duke of Bridgewater. Of course, the reader easily sees through the deception, as the story goes on, these two men make a huge amount of money claiming to be various people they are not, preying on the sensitivities and kindnesses of others. One of the men made over $80 at a revival declaring to be a repentant, reformed pirate as a result of the “power of the Lord.”
Such deceivers make the real believers lose face in a lost world. The lost seem to be more discriminating and discerning than the saved. We are all too easily taken in by lies because we don’t carefully examine folks who claim to be saved. The slow progress of the church in our day has made many preachers and church members so excited to see progress that we will accept any profession – strictly based on that profession – without requiring any further evidence of inward change. We embrace them into our churches, elevate them to positions of trust and leadership, and in all too many cases, give them the highest authority in the church – pastor. When scandal comes through the life of that deceitful person, we are shocked when we should have been expecting such a thing. We need to heed the words of Jesus in this passage, and be careful to examine that there are no “wolves in sheep’s clothing” in our church roles.
In Iraq, a current strategy of the anti-government insurgents is to dress as Iraqi soldiers or policemen in order to infiltrate high-security zones. The mere profession of authority - even possession of uniforms and badges - is no longer sufficient to establish identity.
Jesus warned about spiritual imposters - wolves dressed in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). He was referring to the danger of judging spirituality based on external appearances.
Dr. Jeremiah went on to say we should take a hard look at ourselves, spiritually speaking. But I would say that this introduction refers more to being wary about those who make claims to us – but are not what they claim to be. They are liars, deceitful, and their father is Satan, the father of lies.
I am reading Samuel Clemens’ book, Huckleberry Finn, and Huck and his runaway slave Jim, meet up with two men who claim to be heirs to royalty. One claimed to be heir to the throne of France, while the other claimed to be a long lost Duke of Bridgewater. Of course, the reader easily sees through the deception, as the story goes on, these two men make a huge amount of money claiming to be various people they are not, preying on the sensitivities and kindnesses of others. One of the men made over $80 at a revival declaring to be a repentant, reformed pirate as a result of the “power of the Lord.”
Such deceivers make the real believers lose face in a lost world. The lost seem to be more discriminating and discerning than the saved. We are all too easily taken in by lies because we don’t carefully examine folks who claim to be saved. The slow progress of the church in our day has made many preachers and church members so excited to see progress that we will accept any profession – strictly based on that profession – without requiring any further evidence of inward change. We embrace them into our churches, elevate them to positions of trust and leadership, and in all too many cases, give them the highest authority in the church – pastor. When scandal comes through the life of that deceitful person, we are shocked when we should have been expecting such a thing. We need to heed the words of Jesus in this passage, and be careful to examine that there are no “wolves in sheep’s clothing” in our church roles.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for reading my post. Add your comments. They will be reviewed by me before being posted, so if you don't want them seen by everyone, just say so in your comment. Please be respectful; I don't post comments with profanity of any kind. Look forward to hearing from you.
Pastor Greg