OH MINISTER! HEAR YOUR FELLOW MINISTER SPEAK!
These days if you don’t know who you are ,whose you are and whom you believe,you may get confused with the various teachings out there on the internet.While I cannot speak on all the false teachings in the public domain,I have an instruction from Paul to the teachers:
Let each Facebook,twitter,Instagram,pulpit etc teacher of God’s words pay attention to the words written by Paul and see if he/she is still on track.
As you post,comment,criticise or teach on social media do you have the same mindset like Paul? Oh young minister,hear Paul speak here:
“Our appeal to you is not based on error or impure motives, nor do we try to trick anyone.
Instead, we always speak as God wants us to, because he has judged us worthy to be entrusted with the Good News.
We do not try to please people, but to please God, who tests our motives. You know very well that we did not come to you with flattering talk, nor did we use words to cover up greed — God is our witness!
We did not try to get praise from anyone, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we could have made demands on you.
But we were gentle when we were with you, like a mother taking care of her children.
Because of our love for you we were ready to share with you not only the Good News from God but even our own lives. You were so dear to us!
Surely you remember, our brothers and sisters, how we worked and toiled! We worked day and night so that we would not be any trouble to you as we preached to you the Good News from God.
You are our witnesses, and so is God, that our conduct towards you who believe was pure, right, and without fault.
You know that we treated each one of you just as a father treats his own children. We encouraged you, we comforted you, and we kept urging you to live the kind of life that pleases God, who calls you to share in his own Kingdom and glory.
1 Thessalonians 2:3-12 GNB
LESSONS TO LEARN FROM THESE VERSES
1)Watch you life and doctrine closely.Review your stand periodically on critical issues especially if you have many followers.Don’t post things that can make the immature ones fall into error.In the name of teaching ‘grace’ or ‘hypergrace’,please don’t forget those that are still ‘babies’ in Christ.
2)Avoid tricking people with your posts.Many post messages using the names of ‘big’ men of God without their endorsements of such messages.In getting people to type ‘Amen’ to their posts,some people add the pictures and names of these servants of God.Desist from this.Stop any form of tricks on people.
3)Be a God pleaser and not men pleaser! Men can ‘like’ or ‘react’ to your posts because they are pleased but are the posts pleasing to God?
4)Your motives to teach or preach should not be based on greed.You can deceive people,but God cannot be mocked.
5)Don’t be in a haste to post ‘rhema’ that has not transformed your life! Let the change begin with you, then you will be able to encourage and comfort others.There are even some things God drops into your mind that are for only your personal consumption,let them be so unless God asks you to share them to encourage others.
Stay blessed and rapturable.