A Study in Genesis

Warning to the reader! We are going deep today.

I want to do a recap on the previous weeks blog. Recently, (and I will not give the church name) I had the opportunity to go to a Church that was rather large. At this church the gospel was preached and the focus was only on the gospel. From a quick glance you would see this as a positive and would believe the Church was spiritually mature. After four months of going, I noticed that the subject was only on the gospel. The mission field was the audience. The room was filled for every sermon, and yet it was the same message with different Bible verses. I want to connect this back to what we discussed last week. Pride is an issue that has no place in our hearts, actions, and lives. In the Church, we are starting to see this even more. Pastors are not humbling themselves to the Word of God. This might sound strange to you, but before I continue, I want to further emphasize the targeted pastor we are discussing. In no way am I talking about those who deny Jesus Christ as the Son of God, nor am I talking about those who claim there are alternative ways to Heaven, these are not pastors, but rather cult leaders. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing with nothing to offer a person but eternal damnation. Paul warns Timothy of this group in his second letter. There is an old saying that I heard many years ago.

A liar knows he is lying, a deceiver knows he is deceiving.

I would argue this saying backs up what Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:1-9“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.”

The focus group of pastors that I am attempting to identify is different. I am talking about the pastors who mean well, but are failing to humble themselves to God’s Word and recognize it is a Jewish book. Now immediately some will say, “my pastor goes back to the Greek and Hebrew” or others will say, “My pastor goes over the Hebrew culture with it” but I believe this is a mirage provided as a way of saying, “they are going deep with their church congregation.” This is not deep, but rather a bare minimum with new believers. If a pastor stays at this level only, they are denying the truth of what the scripture says. It is a tickling of the ears in a more dangerous way, for the pastor themselves do not know they are even doing it.

While the liars and deceiverare are prevalent, they are easily catchable, see 1 John for details. The targeted pastoral group I am discussing are propagating a lie or a deception and are unaware of it. For this pastor, they earnestly seek what is good, but unknowingly follow the liar and deceivers who help build their foundation of Biblical understanding. Paul warns Timothy of this group in his first letter. 1 Timothy 4:1-3 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, [and commanding] to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” At first these pastors do not know they are departing from the faith. They seek to honor God, and base it on their teachings from Seminary or some fancy podcast. Jesus warned us of this exact scenario, Matthew 13:33 “Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” Time is all the enemy needs for the entire Church and the leadership to have a trajectory outside of God’s Word.

When not corrected, it leads to what Paul described to Timothy. 1 Timothy 6:3-5“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, [even] the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, 4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, 5 useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a [means of] gain. From such withdraw yourself.”

Now that we have this wrapped up, let us dive into the pride issue. These pastors fail to recognize the true significance of God’s Word and the foundation that is there. At the latest sermon for the church I was at, the paster declared when God comes back for us, and then described in very good detail and enthusiasm the second coming of Christ as detailed in Revelation 19. The crowd erupted in applause. Meanwhile, I sat baffled at the thousand plus people in attendance, it appeared I might have been the only one who listened to Jesus’ promises of Christ snatching of the Church or His warnings of sin creeping into the Church. I witnessed pastors not humbling themselves, and pride creep in. The attendance was filled with those going out to battle the enemy and bring about the Christian kingdom for Christ. He later addressed the crowd and told them about the washing of the feet and how to have a servant’s heart. I saw tears and people holding hands in worship. As if they had failed to recognize the deeper meaning of why Christ did what He did with washing the feet. It was to show what they should be doing for one another AND the symbolism of the Bedhot Chamits Tradition. Pastors need to wake up and recognize the pride that has crept into the Church and come back to its roots. This does not mean Hebrew Roots movement, but rather the truth of God’s Word in its entirety. For when we fail to follow all of Jesus Words, we are allowing sin into our lives. 1 Timothy 6:3-4“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, [even] the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, 4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions.”

I believe pastors need to be given grace and recognized they are also human. Jesus gave corrections to several churches that needed it in Revelation 2-3. Let’s get next to our pastors and help them! Let’s show them what God is teaching us so as to walk along side them as fellow workers for Christ. You should not be getting your only source of God’s Word on Sunday. Be a mature believer and look for ways to get involved, for more on the actions of a mature believer see Philippians 3:12-17 and 4:4-9, and Galatians 1:10. We need to come next to our Church leadership and see what opportunity we have to serve and help them, but most importantly help them also in their walk with Christ. Simply put, we need to keep pride out and let a humble love in! Remember, if you don’t know what that means just examine last week’s post and see what Eliezer did to serve God and love his master Abraham.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,

JL