Why is it that we take so little interest as to whom it is that offers us spiritual succor? Why is it that we would rather spend more time contemplating what brand of clothing or shoes we want to wear than what the intentions of the smiling face before us truly are? Although we are quick to roam the supermarket looking for organic produce and cosmetics that don’t perform animal testing. But as far as spiritual nourishment is concerned, we are more like a trash compactor taking in anything offered us and waiting mouth agape for the next batch of fresh baked lunacy to be shoveled therein.
What’s worse is that every new fad, every new wave, every new doctrine, teaching or theory, no matter how unscriptural and absent any Biblical foundation, becomes gospel to us, and if anyone dare point out the inconsistencies, we are quick to lash out, smearing them, their families, their loved ones, their ancestry, and throwing in an Ichabod or two just to be safe.
Consequently, you never see these people come back to apologize or repent once the fad implodes, once their new messiah turns out to be anything but, and once the date that was set or the theory that was put forth is annihilated by none other than time itself.
I’m still amused at seeing what I’ve deemed prophetic or revelatory sparring going on among believers, wherein one ‘prophet’ gives one word, another ‘prophet’ gives a word negating the word of the other ‘prophet’ gave, as though God is divided, double-minded, or just likes to sow confusion among His children.
A true word from God will stand the test of time. A true word from God will not seek to elevate the man delivering it, but the Lord Himself, stirring people to repentance and intimacy with God rather than to digging hovels in the earth and learning to live without indoor plumbing.
It would seem the prophetic landscape is abuzz with new words, with dates being thrown about, and with events which will happen on those dates. I’m getting more and more correspondence from individuals asking me to either confirm or deny these dates, and I will say publicly what I’ve reiterated privately that each man is accountable to God for the words he gives, and he is likewise accountable to confirm that said words did originate from God.
If there is any lingering doubt, keep silent.
If there is one thing I would love to see as pertains to the prophetic, is that we hold our ‘prophets’ accountable for the words they speak, the dates they set, and the events they foretell will occur during any given time frame.
Between swallowing everything wholesale and being skeptical, I would rather the household of faith be skeptical during these days, because Jesus Himself warned of false prophets, false teachers, and false Christs, who would deceive many. We’re not talking about a handful of people here; we’re talking about a large swath of what we deem to be the Church being deceived by these ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing.
What can one do when the sheep prefer the wolves over the shepherds? What can be done when the church honors deceivers and vilifies preachers of righteousness?
Some are still waiting for a great sweeping revival. They are waiting for the light to come on, for the church to have a collective eureka moment, but those who would wait for such a thing have chosen to forget that salvation is not collective, but rather an individual endeavor.
Indifference is killing us ever so slowly. From indifference as to whom we choose to listen to, to indifference as to whether or not the individual is Biblically sound. We have more important matters to tend to; we have more important things to worry about. That is until we find ourselves far from the light, surrounded by wolves, with no one to come to our aid.
