Who do you serve?

Who do you serve?

“Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” 
                                                                                                                             Joshua 24:14,15

As Christians we must be careful whom we serve. I’ve heard too many people over the years say I follow such and such an evangelist or pastor. Or such and such a pastor or evangelist says this or that.
These people take the words of these men and woman at face value. They never question them. They will even argue with others who disagree with them as if the pastor or evangelist they are following is infallible.
Such things happened in the early church the apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians said,
“My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.  
What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas’”; still another, “I follow Christ.” 
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?”
                                                                                                                    1 Corinthians 1:11-13.
As Christians we should never let one man or woman’s interpretation of the scriptures be our only source of teaching. Men make mistakes they are only human.
There are even some teachers and preachers who deliberately pervert the scriptures. They believe a certain way and, if you will “cherry pick” the scriptures that back their belief. They fail to listen to scriptures that contradict their beliefs.
The classic line I hear from such preachers is “don’t come against the elect of God.”
There is a fine line here. Within the Christian community we have differences of opinion on various things and that is fine, provided, it’s not on the major issues. Issues such as the sovereignty of Christ.
So we must be careful not to speak out against any minister, preacher, teacher or evangelist simply because we disagree with them on the minor points.
There are still however false Christian teachers out there who say they believe in Christ who are out there to get rich or deliberately lead people astray. The apostle Paul writing to Timothy states,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 
                                                                                                  2Timothy 4:3,4.
Sadly thanks to the mass media world we live in we are exposed to false teachers all the time.  These teachers may even seem legitimate. They string scriptures in such a way as to make their doctrine seem correct when it is not.
That’s why we as Christians need to be on guard. We need to know our Bible. We need to study the scriptures daily.
We need to find a body of believers that have as their base the Bible. A group that studies from the bible directly. A group that does not just use study notes from one pastor, evangelist or teacher but from a wide range of teachers.
I’ve found over the years some of my best learning experiences have come when I’ve read teachings of those I disagree with.
When I come across someone I disagree with I ask myself why do they think the way they do? Are they right or am I? If I get a chance I even speak to the person who has opposing view to me.
In our adult bible study I lead at the church I use this technique. Everyone who attends has the right to express their view whether my pastor or I agree with it or not. We then discuss it as a group using the scriptures as our authority.
We are careful to see that every scripture is taken in context.
We also look at the history and culture of the time as well as various commentaries from a wide range of authors.
I believe that the word of God is so important it is our duty to see that we are preaching and teaching it in as accurate a way as possible.
I believe this because the potential eternal resting place of someone’s eternal soul may depend on what I and other teachers teach.
Therefore  my advise to all Christians is to study the Bible carefully. Use a wide range of commentaries. Listen to a wide range of teachers. Question what they say and what you believe. Be open an honest and willing to accept that you may be wrong in some of what you believe. If you are proven to be wrong, be willing to change.
Remember the absolute authority about God is the Bible not some Televangelist, evangelist, preacher, or teacher.
And through all of your studying pray, pray, pray. Pray and ask God to show you the truth in the scriptures.