Divided We Fall

First, I think the Lord is reminding us that we should be followers of Christ, not of human leaders. Yes, we should be willing to learn from pastors, Sunday School teachers and other Christian leaders, but we need to remember they are only human. Even though they have some great insights into biblical truth, human teachers can sometimes be wrong. Francis Schaeffer was a great Christian missionary and writer who died in 1984. While I was in college and seminary, I read many of his books and went to hear him speak on numerous occasions. No human being has had a greater influence on my Christian life than Schaeffer, and I'm so thankful for that. Yet, for a few years I am afraid I may have been more of a Schaefferite, than a Christian. When I formed an opinion on an issue, sometimes what Schaeffer said was more important than what the Bible said. Fortunately, the Bible and Schaeffer almost always said the same thing. But, I'm glad I realized that Jesus, not Francis Schaeffer, was my Lord, and that He spoke directly through the Bible, not through books like "How Then Shall We Live?". If I would not have realized that, I would be a Presbyterian today, like Schaeffer, not a Baptist. Yes, on average, Presbyterian pastors get paid more, but I'd still rather be a Baptist. Today, I see some Christians making the same mistake that I did. I know folks who seem more concerned about following their pastor than they do about following Jesus. No one in this church, but there are folks like that. I also have seen people treat a Christian teacher like Pat Robertson, Bill Gothard, Jack Van Impe or even Billy Graham as their Lord. They start to forget that the phrase "Bill Gothard says" doesn't carry nearly as much weight as the phrase "the Bible says." Just because someone says something on television or just because we read it in a book, doesn't mean it is true. The Bible says we are to honor those who teach the Word of God, but we must never forget that they can sometimes be wrong.

Another reason to avoid following an individual Christian is that each leader is capable of falling into sin. When Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart got involved in sexual sin a number of years ago, there were thousands of people who quit going to church and gave up on Christianity because they were so disappointed at the moral failure of one or both of these men. Eight years ago the largest evangelical church in Duluth was Ecclesia. Over 500 people flocked there each Sunday morning to hear the dynamic preaching of Pastor Doug Dotson. Then it was discovered he was having an affair, a homosexual affair, and within a couple of weeks, less than 100 people were attending the church. I am not sure the church even exists today. It seemed that a lot of folks were maybe following Doug Dotson, not Jesus Christ, and when Doug fell away from the Lord, many of them did as well. Friends, by the grace of God I intend to be faithful to my wife until death does us part. But, the Lord forbid, if I ever had an affair, and I resigned as your pastor, I hope your faith in Christ would be strong. Oh, your faith in me would be shattered. But, I am not your Lord, Jesus is. I pray that I will never let you down, but unfortunately I cannot guarantee you that I won't. However, I can guarantee that Jesus will never let you down. He, and He alone, is worthy of your total trust.