Paul knew that there would be scheming and deceitful men whose teachings would cause many to be tossed about like infants. Instead we are meant to grow in Christ and not be fooled. We are meant to test everything. Besides "feel-good" preachers, we also are faced with a wave of prosperity preachers who further damage the kingdom by reducing the Gospel message to one of money and the pursuit of money. This is not to say that God expects us to be poor and suffering until Jesus comes but we must discern. We must test. If a preacher says to a congregation of 1000 people that it is their year to prosper, we must be mature enough to realize that is simply not possible. Some may prosper but some may go through a period of testing. Some will have valleys and some will have mountaintops. Remember the admonishment from Jesus about money:
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6: 24
Test everything. Hold onto the good. That is the will of God for your life. His intent is not for you to stay spiritually immature but to grow in Christ. His will is not for you to be taken in by smooth words of man but to be rooted in the Word of God. Paul provides this contrast in his letter to the Colossians:
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2: 6-8
Continue to live in Him today. Be rooted and built up in Him. Be not taken captive through deception or the words of man but rather, test everything brethren and hold onto the good. This is the will of God for your life today.
Anthony Wade March 15, 2008
