Thursday, March 7, 2013

Exalting Yourself Part 2

Thee are some very successful, unscriptural ministries run by wealthy televangelists who gain much of their wealth from poorly educated people. And these televangelists have something in common: self-promotion. The key to their success is teaching people how great the wealthy televangelists are.

As a result, churches are sometimes plagued by people who believe that they are authorized by God to glorify themselves by seizing control of ministries run by Godly people and taking all the credit. There might be exceptions, but in every case I know of, a person who seized a ministry that God gave to someone else ruined it. In every case in which the person held on to the ministry, it continued to succeed.

Jesus said that people who exalt themselves will be abased. It's hard to believe that when you look at the wealth and prestige of wealthy preachers, but their time is coming. And for their imitators in local churches, it often comes fairly quickly.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

EXALTING YOURSELF

Matt. 23:12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Folks, this is getting a little complicated. You'll have Christian people and institutions that keep doing the same stupid thing over and over, when it is obviously not working. Why? Because they are acting on a strongly-held wrong belief. Why do they keep the wrong belief? Because it is based an another strongly-held wrong belief, and so on.

It takes painful humility to admit that you were wrong about something that you have done for years, but God lifts up Christians who do. My college taught that soul-winning was the most important thing in the Christian life. Therefor, they could commit any sin necessary to protect their ministry. Therefor, they could cover up sin. Therefor, they could slander anyone who objected to the sin. As a result, the college has gone through forty years of scandal and disgrace. Their last pastor is in jail for sex with a teen-ager. Their sins continue, and nobody can stop them.

Jesus said that if we do not build our house on His Words, it will collapse, and "great was the fall of it."