Somewhere along the way, when it began, only God knows, preachers gradually stopped depending on the Holy Spirit to guide them into all the truth, and started preaching their own personal thoughts and unsubstantiated doctrines. This, sadly, has continued to this day. Please understand up front that I am not trying to find fault with any particular preacher, or preachers. I am just presenting to you the reality of a big part of Christianity today, that being all those who teach and follow unsubstantiated doctrines. Of course God has a remnant who have kept the faith. But an overwhelming amount of falsehoods are being preached today in the name of the Father, and of the Son.
I remember, when I was a young Christian, preacher after preacher taught that we have to claim the promises of God. It never sounded right to me, but one day I asked the Lord for permission to try it. I tried it and was immediately filled with shame. I felt as though I had committed a crime. I was devastated. I never claimed a promise again. It was so disrespectful to God to claim something He had promised me, as if His word wasn’t good enough for me. (Look up the definition of claim and you will know why I felt the way I did).
I told you that, to say this, my conscience knew instinctively that claiming something from God was wrong, it was an affront to His character. But so many people were preaching it, and I was so unsure of myself, that, by God’s grace, I asked the Lord if I could try it. People today seem to reach out and grab onto any new thing that comes along, or any thing that seems popular at the moment, and never think to check with either the Lord, or their conscience. Many go from one preacher to another, searching for something new. It is like they never think to ask the Lord to lead them; they just jump from one preacher to another, never finding fulfillment. Whose fault is this? I believe God holds the ministry responsible, “And they have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace,” Jeremiah 6:14.
For too many years preachers have preached what they thought might be right, without consulting God and waiting for an answer. They have left their flocks vulnerable to every wind of doctrine that comes along by preaching personal thoughts and opinions, rather than Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Again, I don’t mean for this to be harsh. I just don’t understand how anyone can say something in the name of Jesus, or God, without being absolutely certain what they say is correct. How can they be so flippant? How does their conscience permit them to do such a thing? This saddens me deeply.
Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant
jondavidbanks.com 