Jesus, mad, bad or God?
Preachers.
Mad
Bad
Or preachers of Jesus as God
How can you tell what kind of a preacher a person is? Are they a follower of Jesus or a promoter of themselves? Are they deluded? Are they a cult?
You will know them by their fruit.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal 5:16-27
What fruit do you see?
Specially when under pressure!
Excuses.
When they slip, when they sin, when they are found in error, do they double down or turn around?
Humility repents.
God said.
Someone may be sure they are speaking what God said, but how do they handle themselves when they find themselves to be contradictory to something they previously said or find themselves to be downright wrong?
Better they would have said, “I think that God has said,” because no one knows the mind of God. We only ever know in part.
Humility gives room at the very beginning that they could be wrong or could get it wrong.
“I think God is saying…”
Do they champion their mistakes?
A preacher preaches enough that some of what they have said will come true, is successful, and does expose truth.
But what about the preaching that did not?
Do they only ever refer back to successes?
A preacher who wants to disciple will disciple others from their failures and their successes.
A preacher who only disciples from their success is not to be followed or trusted.
A flat wall or a climbing wall.
A preacher will have had the opportunity to refine their preaching, to have found flaws in their teachings, to have answers for difficult questions, or worse, to know how to present so as to avoid the difficult questions.
They will have verses to justify their point of view, but hopefully will not avoiding scripture that weakens their stand.
If you stand at the bottom of their preaching and see a smooth wall of teaching that is impossible to climb and are being told to just accept, then I suggest you do not have a preacher who is preaching Jesus.
While Jesus did make his teaching difficult, he made his teaching a climbing wall.
So we need to do the same thing.
The preacher needs to do the same thing.
Allow your teaching to have handholds, things people can hang on to, and wrestle with. Allow your preaching to be Lego-like, that it can easily be taken apart and put back together. Make your teachings climbable, so the person can comprehend and appreciate what you are saying and so climb to the same vantage point you have and to see from your point of view.
It’s okay to make it difficult so as to extend the disciple, just don’t make it unclimbable.
Jesus only.
These are some things that will help you avoid toxic preachers.
In your discipleship, you need to avoid people who are preaching another Jesus.
A preacher is meant to point you to Jesus, to make themselves redundant in your life, to equip you to hear directly from Jesus, to become a guide by the side and not a sage on a stage.
It is not easy to overcome a preacher who does not do this, they will have built up a dependency of themselves in you, they need you to need them.
John said it well. Any good preacher needs to do the same.
John 3:30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
Galatians 5
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
John 3
John Testifies Again About Jesus
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”[h]
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God[i] gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.