I am convinced that God is disappointed, no, not with the world (unrighteous), but with the righteous. As one that looked upon us with compassion, constantly showing mercy, love, grace and even favoring us while in our sinful state, I am convinced that He figuratively shakes his head as some of our leaders make headlines using His word and His platform to further their own personal cause and worse, confusing the message of Christ.
I praise God that He doesn’t have the eyes of man. We are blessed that when He walked the earth, seeing things from our perspective, that He not only remained without sin, but remained consistent in character. As He taught people the truths of life, delivering to them the Gospel, He chose to live out the Words He preached. He served as a personal guide and model to living life on this earth. He was not overcome with such disgusted with our lawlessness and misuse of His grace and mercy, that He didn’t cancel His plans for the New Covenant. He still saw us with eyes of compassion, though they robbed Him before His entry, and Judas continued to represent us as a whole, stealing directly from the hand that was feeding him. He chose to trade in his relationship with God for some coins, that prospered him for a moment, and then sealed his fate for eternity.
As I look at some of our clergy men,
particularly our evangelical leaders,
it reminds me much of our brother Judas,
who’s comfortable position as keeper of the funds,
and his position of disciple opened doors
and gave him influence that he never dreamed possible,
but when given an opportunity to utilize his position to elevate his career, turned his back on the one who placed him in position
and made the sacrifices needed to carry on the mission of Christ.
As opposed to being loyal to the mission and cause, he chose a different master, mammon. His position as one of the 12 wasn’t enough, and his fear that he would loose his meal ticket and influence, as well as not complete his personal agenda, made him reach across the table and sell-out the Messiah King.
Not that this blog is to bury all the top shelf evangelicals who have lost focus, and have manipulated scripture, hanging their political beliefs on one or two scriptures and ignoring the other 90% of the whole text, and 99.9% of the Gospel (100% of the Red Letter Text [and we know who’s in red letters!] ), but to ask you the reader if you have chosen the same path? Have you chosen your own agenda and comfort over what is right, and thus righteousness? Could it be that we have found such comfort in our own position and prosperity, that we have ceased to be like Christ?
Our eyes of compassion are no longer Biblically driven, but are colored and shaded by political narratives, that encourage us all to consider our own best interest as opposed to the placing the needs of others before us. Now we look for our Prophets and Priest to line up with our Politicians narrative, or He or She is seen as one that lacks divine connection, as opposed to looking for a Man or Woman of God that will speak the truth in the face of injustice, choosing to preach a Gospel that is about bringing healing and building a community based on love, support, and not one guided by hate and judgement.
Today, many look for churches like I used to comb through the Pick-A-Part Lot. Looking for amenities, and a Prophet that will comfort them as the live a lifestyle of compromise. But Pick-A-Part goes beyond picking a church and prophet that suits your needs, but also highlight this generation that hops from church to church because they spend more time picking a part the things that are wrong with the churches that are truly carrying out the mission of Christ, but have things that are not perfect about their structure and even their leadership. Thus for this blog, is called Pick-A-Prophet (I thought about Pickpocket-Prophet might make that the subheading). People looking for cheap parts that fit their own selfish narrative, choosing only what they deem relative to give them peace. Our sermons are used like mild sedatives, giving the believer a false sense of peace, treating the symptoms, and leaving the problem, and worse, some pulpits revel in being the chosen pharmacy, as opposed to being the cleaners we are designed to be.
Sadly; this is nothing new! Pharisees aligned with the government, abused the people, and rejected the Messiah. Prophets catered messages to the people afraid of being stoned. Prophets grew tried of preaching truth, and having the message rejected by stiff necked people, and decided to minister to the tingling ears of their constituents, further angering the Lord. And today, sadly, we see some Prophets and Priest who have chosen to exchange God for mammon. While the average believer is raising a stink about what happens to tithes and offerings, they are not privy to the real source of the income many of these profits have access too. While it is true that some have their hands in the pocket, we must pay attention to the pockets that are funding the lasciviousness that you view. They have united and turned our faith into a pact, lobbying with the rest for favors in exchange for votes. They lead politicians in-front of constituents, and laying hands on them, giving a vote of confidence to the one who represents financial prosperity and upward social mobility.
Though what is done be these misguided and false prophets is wrong, I will look away from them and remind them that we are encouraged to study to show ourselves approved. Though this mandate was given to a man of the cloth, it is sure to be modeled by us. We must try the spirit by the spirit, and seek wisdom and knowledge by knowing God and His will in such a way, that the foolishness of one who decides to chase money as opposed to the mark of Christ will be easily identified through our study, prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit. The reason we are able to be mislead as congregants, is because they have chosen comfort and convenience over truth and conviction. They have willingly volunteered themselves to be manipulated by choosing a Prophet who will not present truth and lead them towards life change.
#PastorJDO3
