(Further reflections on “The Final Appeal”—Sunday 21-Nov-2021)
Appetite leads. What we are craving for is what we are heading for. If people’s appetite is self-serving, they are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. We are warned (cf. Romans 16:17-18) to watch out and avoid these people. Why? Because by smooth talk and flattery these people deceive the hearts of the naive in the church. More than ever before, false teachers are very attractive in their (angelic) appearance and (eloquent) speech. They are capable of drawing thousands with the false gospels, which has countless variation. From prosperity to social gospel, these speakers feed the appetite of the naive who do not desire or make no time to be trained in reading God’s word daily and studying them with the Body of Christ weekly. So you may ask, Who are the naive? And What is the false gospel? Good questions! The naive are those who seem to desire for spiritual food but grab anything that suits their appetite. They like comfy and trendy messages. They tend to quote Bible verses out of context, because they never make time to read Scriptures from cover to cover in its context. They don’t want to join Bible study because it’s hard and difficult. They would rather have some spiritual messages that make them feel good and requires them to do nothing to elevate their self-serving ego and appetite than follow a sound good message.
The false gospel tends to appear with partial/half truth. It emphasizes on what people want to hear. It places people in the center of the message, instead of Christ. Everyone (after the Fall) is innately born self-centered. So false gospel is selling like hot hotcakes.
Recently, our OneHeart (small group) engaged and discussed this clip and tried to find out what was not in line with Scripture or false in this popular message of a well-known motivational speaker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JRqdklMRbg. So take a look, test yourself to see if you are able to find anything, and then share/post it in our channel #public-chat (in our Discord server).
We are warned to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that the Bible teaches and avoid them (cf. Romans 16:17). Division in the church usually come from people whose appetite want to debate about every doctrine or different teachings out there. These people are more interested in bringing controversial topics into the discussion, so that they and people have to take side and the naive will bite. And division is just a matter of time.
Mind your appetite, because it leads. If your appetite is Christ-serving, it will lead you and others to Christ. If it is self-serving, it will lead you and others to self-centeredness, which is always an obstacle to unity and spiritual growth in the Body of Christ—the church. So it is not only pastor’s role for watching out ‘trouble-makers’, but it is also your role for avoiding them and staying vigilant.
May God’s grace be sufficient for all of us to train our appetite to be Christ-serving and not self-serving. Amen. — Pastor Lap
Comments