“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.” – John 4:23
We are miserable, discontent, self-absorbed creatures. From the very first flagrant sinful act of our first parents, we’ve wanted everything to be about us! We want to be our own bosses, we want to have our every desire met, we’re needy and we want to be told how much God loves us just the way we are (no need for change), how much He wants to bless us, and how Jesus is better than any boyfriend we’ve ever had (as the lyrics of some contemporary songs seem to say)! We even want our worship services to feed and nurture our self-esteem, promise us our hopes and our dreams, and give us fuel to get through the week without being burdened by mentioning how our prayer life is going, or how our Bible study has been lately.
In addition, if things aren’t going well for us, we want some concrete answers why they aren’t so that we can do something about it! This week I’ve heard several false reasons why things might not be going our way: 1) it’s probably because that old enemy, the Devil, is wreaking havoc on our lives, so we better go home and do more “binding and rebuking” than we did the previous week; 2) it could be that things aren’t going well because we aren’t “releasing our seed;” Or, 3) Goliath has our sword, and we need to get it back! (All three reasons given with an extra dose of “hype” at the end of the sermon, to stress the urgent nature of the situation!)
Here are eight signs that you should consider finding a new place to worship (and new pastors to listen to online):
- Your pastor’s sermons do not take a portion of Scripture and explain it from a historical and grammatical perspective. If you never say to yourself afterward, “Now I know what that passage means, what was going on at the time, and I understand better Who God is and what He requires of me,” you might want to pull your car into a different parking lot this week.
- If your pastor never tells the congregation they are sinners in need of saving from God’s wrath, you might want to pull your car into a different parking lot this week.
- If your pastor never calls you to repentance for your sin,you might want to pull your car into a different parking lot this week.
- If the sermon is focused on the great things God wants to do for you to make your earthly life better, you might want to pull your car into a different parking lot this week.
- If your pastor has to hype the congregation up at the end, and you don’t walk out saying, “Now I know what that passage means, what was going on at the time, and I understand better Who God is and what He requires of me,” you might want to pull your car into a different parking lot this week.
- If your pastor’s sermons focus on how to live a better moral life, and that you should do that because you are a Christian, you might want to pull your car into a different parking lot this week.
- If you’re being told that you’re the “David” fighting “your Goliath,” or that you have to defeat your enemy or fight your battle so that God will bless you, (in other words, you are the hero in the story and not Jesus), you might want to pull your car into a different parking lot this week.
- If the focus of the worship service and the songs you sing are about you, your feelings, how much God wants to do for you, etc., instead of scriptural truths about God, His greatness, His majesty, His justice and His mercy, you might want to pull your car into a different parking lot this week.
#Worship #Falseteaching #falsepreaching #furtick #God #Christian #preaching
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