The Bible teaches that a false teacher is not just measured in doctrine but also in deed.

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And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation." -- Mark 12: 38-40 (ESV)

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. -- 1Timothy 4: 16 (NIV)

Let me first say that this is not about perfection although we ought to be striving for it. This is not about a slip up here or a mistake there. This is about the clear growing trend of pastors and leaders who seemingly dismiss the Bible when it comes to how they are to treat people and live their lives outside of the Sunday morning service. The key verse from Timothy is crucial for the development of solid preachers and pastors. Remember this comes from a pastoral letter. Instructions from Paul to his protege Timothy as he embarks on his calling as pastor of the Church at Ephesus. Since we know that all Scripture is divinely inspired, this letter becomes God's instruction to people who would aspire to any leadership position within His church, especially those who would labor in teaching and preaching. We do not need gimmicky leadership conferences and gleaning the best advice from people in the world who fancy themselves successful. We do not need relevant marketing schemes and glossy magazines with the latest trends in management. What we always need is simple. We need the Bible. There is nothing in it that God forgot to address, including leadership, church management, and church growth. Yes it will fly in the face of carnal wisdom. It may make absolutely no sense to he who is not saved but that is the entire point. The things of God are always foolishness to those who are perishing. God knows exactly where we are and where His church is. He is fully capable of bringing forth that which He has promised. We just need to have faith in His Word and put it to action in our lives. This is even doubly important for teachers and preachers:

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. -- 1Timothy 5: 17 (ESV)

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. -- James 3: 1 (ESV)

It seems many today demand the double honor and shirk the double responsibilities. The Word says here that we ought not to even aspire to such positions because there is a stricter level of judgment associated with it. In this day and age of social media we see everyone with a keyboard fancying themselves a theologian and it is very dangerous waters they tread in. I think we need to take a step back and realize what is on the line beloved. According to this one simple verse from Timothy the very salvation of our hearers hangs in the balance. When Paul says goodbye to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, he clearly states that their blood is not on his hands because he did not hesitate to proclaim to them the entire Gospel. The inference is obvious and sobering. If you insist on offering scriptural guidance as a teacher/preacher then you better make sure that two things are properly aligned. Those two things are your life and your doctrine according to one of our key verses today.

While we spend a great deal of time dealing with the doctrinal side of this equation it seems equally important that we address the other side, watching your life. We have seen the damage done by the proliferation of false teacher and preachers throughout this land who do not watch their doctrine. From word faith to prosperity to false signs and lying wonders to hyper-grace. If you are willing to compromise your doctrine in any way, it becomes the leaven Jesus warned about:

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. -- Galatians 5: 9 (ESV)

Beloved there is a reason why atheists attack the Bible. If doubt can be introduced at any point, it discredits the entire book. This works the same way with doctrine. If we are willing to look the other way on even the smallest portions of doctrine then the whole canon of Scripture is up for reinterpretation by our wickedly deceitful hearts. The same is true for watching our lives. Paul could have just implored Timothy to watch his doctrine but he also commands him to watch his life. Why? One word Beloved, hypocrisy. The Christian leader who is correct doctrinally but wrong with their lives causes just as much damage as the false teacher. In fact, they are both false teachers. One is false in what they speak and the other is false because their life does not line up with what they preach. Because they use God and religion to create a veneer that is false. Think this is unimportant to God? One of the top subjects in the Bible is hypocrisy. The famous "judge not" verses are actually about hypocrisy. The seven woes of judgment Jesus pronounces over the Pharisees in Matthew 23 all start with an accusation of hypocrisy.

Consider the other set of key verses for today from the Gospel of Mark. Looking deeply into these three verses reveal the areas of a Christian leader's life that Paul was warning Timothy to guard closely. The first thing we see is that these false teachers like to walk around in long robes. Another translation says "flowing robes," which were rich robes that reached down to their ankles. The scribes and teachers of law took great satisfaction in this sort of display. So the first take away is that these types of false teachers like the attention upon themselves. Perhaps no longer with grand flowing robes, although many denominations make quite the spectacle of how their leaders are treated. I have seen pastors carried in to sanctuaries sitting on a throne-like chair, so some of this is still directly relevant. But most mainstream examples are far more subtle than that. I am sure we have all heard preachers who are the hero of every story they tell or illustration they use. Who is it that they are lifting up because if it is not Jesus then you ought to run. That is only one example. We see pastors all the time leading their churches with an iron hand, surrounding themselves with yes men instead of godly counsel. Changing bylaws to better consolidate their power. Abusing the sheep instead of tending to them. I once saw a local pastor state from the pulpit that if people in his church had a problem with someone else they could not resolve they ought to leave. He preached on the 99 and the 1 the following week. You cannot make this stuff up beloved. Other pastors glory in the spotlight of self-importance. Suddenly they always travel with an entourage. Someone holds their bible and handkerchief. Another fills the imaginary "armor bearer" position. They may as well be wearing long flowing robes down to their ankles as that would be less conspicuous. If you try to reach them via phone? Good luck. They are too important to deal with lowly sheep questions or problems. That is why they set up cell groups in their church!

A true pastor always points his sheep to Jesus and not himself. My former pastor was fond of referring to himself as "dirt talking to dirt." A true pastor is humble in his calling. The Bible specifically instructs pastors to not lord themselves over the flock. Here is why. Inevitably, the preacher will speak about Christian humility. They will speak about the love of Christ. But what lessons has their own life already imparted to their sheep? You cannot beat the sheep and then preach about the love of God. You cannot preach about humility when you are arrogant in your daily affairs. You cannot forcibly remove people from ministries based on whims, publicly speak about things revealed to you in private, or have a reputation as not caring about people and then preach the Gospel. It does not work like that. Beloved, understand that this is another end result of purpose driven seeker friendly training. They are taught that the business side of church is somehow separate from the Christian side. That Mondays are different than Sundays. They are not. You cannot preach about the goodness and justice of the Lord and then steal someone's membership the next day. You cannot preach about Christian duty and honor on Sunday and then force your members to sign unbiblical covenant agreements the next day. You cannot wield your power viciously and unmercifully from your office and then try and preach about kindness and mercy on Sunday. Your business is the sheep. It is loving them and tending to them. Leave the horizontal growth up to God as He commands!

Secondly from the Mark verses we see that hypocritical leaders like greetings in the marketplaces, best seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at feasts. This speaks to a certain feeling of entitlement and showing off who they think they are. Preachers who are big on respect and abuse false authority paradigms but light on biblical humility. Pastors who operate under the false assumption that the church God has entrusted to them is somehow "theirs." Wrong. It belongs to God first and the congregation second. The pastor is a steward. Jesus has consistently taught about the opposite of these hypocritical phenomena -- servant hood:

But made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. -- Philippians 2: 7 (ESV)

If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. -- John 12: 26 (ESV)

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. -- 2Corinthians 4: 5 (ESV)

I especially like the Corinthians verse because this is the Apostle Paul tell the congregation at Corinth that he is their servant for the sake of Jesus Christ. That is what we need more of today. Beloved, how can this hypocrisy not be noticed? The Bible is replete with teachings on servant hood and pastors are leading their lives as if they deserve to be served. Heaven forbid you park in their parking space, ask to speak to them without an appointment, or demand transparency. The purpose driven church model teaches them that you need to be "blessedly subtracted" from their sheep pen if you disagree with them. As former Mars Hill Church pastor Mark Driscoll once quipped, you just become another "dead body" behind the bus the pastor is driving. Driscoll is a good popular example of someone who started feeling entitled. He felt entitled to take $200,000 in tithe monies to promote his new book. He felt entitled enough to cheat the NY Times Best Seller list. He felt entitled enough to steal the intellectual work of countless people by plagiarizing every book he has written. He apparently felt so entitled that he did not see anything wrong with what he did and remains unrepentant to this day. Do you think his hypocrisy was lost on the 12,000 + congregants at his former church? Do you think this type of hypocrisy is lost on the general public? Do you think it is lost on the world when Ted Haggard preaches for years against homosexuality only to be caught using a male prostitute for decades? Do you think it is lost on anyone when pastors preach about holiness only to fall in adultery? This is not to condemn anyone but to point out the immense responsibility that rests on the shoulders of Christian leaders and to avoid the sense of entitlement that can lead to such sin. There is a reason why God gave specific and difficult requirements for the pastoral office:

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for is someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. -- 1Timothy 3: 2-7 (ESV)

Yet to quote these qualifications today is almost anathema to many pastors. I have heard many dismiss them as not being realistic or plausible. As if God made a mistake. While the first warning of the hypocritical life dealt with showing off and the second dealt with developing a sense of entitlement, the third deals more with how as leaders we actually treat people. Not in church. Not in our Friday prayer service. But in the real life and daily grind. The example Jesus gives in the key verses is that the scribes would devour widows' houses. Such was the practice of those in religious power during this day. They would prey on the weak. They would convince widows to sell their house over to them. They would persuade them to give financially to the religious leaders even though they had no way to sustain themselves. Sound familiar? Consider this quote:

"Don't give the first portion (of your income) to the mortgage company because the mortgage company does not have the power to bless your finances. Only God does. Don't give the first portion to the electric company; the electric company cannot bless your finances, only God can. Would you rather live with 100% of your income and all of it coursed, or 90% of your income and all of it blessed. That's what the Bible says." -- Robert Morris, Pastor of Gateway Church

Except that is most certainly NOT what the Bible says. The Bible says we are to love mercy. The Bible says we are to take care of the least in our societies. Morris is far from alone however. The vast majority of preachers today preach the tithing lie; bullying, and guilting the sheep into giving them money. But this portion of guarding your life goes beyond monetary issues. This cuts to the heart of being a pastor. How do you treat people? If you operate a church and everyone leaves your employ, what does that say about you? Not as a leader but as a pastor? As a Christian? If you are constantly seeing people flee your church, what does that say about you? The purpose driven paradigm simply says to replace them but that is not what the Bible says. Pastors will be held accountable for every sheep, regardless of how the sheep behaved. What good is it to only love those who love you -- even the tax collectors do that! I have seen pastors entertain gossip, spew venom at people, talk about people behind their back, preach privately gained entrusted information from the pulpit, steal people's memberships, make up lies about congregants, smear people's reputations, plagiarize other people's sermons, just to name a few ungodly behaviors. And these were pastors! Do not think for a moment that people do not see who you really are. I write a lot about false theology and what makes a false teacher but can you get any more false than these types of behaviors from someone entrusted to a leadership position in Christ's church? Please beloved; I am not speaking about an oopsie. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone says something they regret. Pastors are human too. I am speaking about a reputation earned over many offenses without the care to try and change. I am speaking about a track record of abuses and leaving a trail of bloodied and wounded sheep in your wake. We are supposed to take care of widows and orphans, not devour their houses.

This directly ties into the final area to guard closely when it comes to hypocrisy and that is motive. The key verses say for a pretense, or lie, they make lengthy prayers. They lie about their own religiosity. It is all for show. I have known pastors who can put a solid sermon together from an academic standpoint but I was not sure if they even knew the Holy Spirit. Preaching is not an academic exercise. I have known pastors who recycled old sermons consistently for new congregations instead of seeking the Lord for a fresh Word. If your pastor spends more time praying for tithing than the sick, we have a problem. More importantly here is the tie in because that is the whole point of these verses. Making a lengthy show of prayer while leading a life that does not match it is rank hypocrisy. You can fall on your face and it will not matter if you treat people like they do not matter. You can wear a Jewish prayer shawl when you pray on Sunday but if you are devouring widow's homes on Tuesday none of it matters. You can sit in ashes and rend your garments but if you are known for treating people like a bully or with contempt then your hypocrisy exposes the falseness of your piety. That has been the point all along. Preaching and teaching roles within the church are not a job. They are a calling and one that should not be taken lightly. They come with double responsibility not just double honor. As someone who has worked in human services for over two decades I have a pet saying that there are not enough people in human services that actually care about humans. The same goes for pastoring today. There are not enough shepherds who actually care about sheep.

Paul explicitly warns Timothy to guard two things closely. The first is doctrine because teaching false doctrine divides the church and leads people away from Jesus Christ. You cannot alter the Gospel and think you are still leading people to Jesus. This is the easier classification for us. We see someone preaching absurdities and we can easily mark them as a false teacher. But guarding your life leads to more subtle nuances. The reality however is that preachers and teachers who lead a life that does not line up with the Bible are just as false. It matters not if they preach the whole Gospel or not; they are just as false. They lead just as many people away from Christ. When you speak to someone who has given up on church it is rarely because someone preached falsely. It is usually because of how they were treated. The Bible makes it very clear and this should be frightening for anyone who assumes a leadership role for Christ haphazardly. Theirs remains the greater condemnation.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- March 17, 2016

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.