It’s time for Believers to look out for the salvation of their own souls

By Andrew K. Coakley

I knew I would have received some backlash from the Pharisees and Sadducees about my recent post about cancelling Bishop William Murphy III.

I had expected it. I’ve been in church long enough to know or anticipate the response of church folks to certain things. And when it comes to criticizing or calling out their leaders, many church people will defend their pastor, bishop, prophet or evangelist with every fiber of their being. Even if their leader is in the wrong.

I received some commendations about my opinion piece both on Facebook and with text messages. But there were some people who emailed or texted me privately and sought to chastise me for what I said about Bishop Murphy and his actions pertaining to his New Year’s Eve service, which, has gone viral.

Who am I to criticize their “man of God”, they wrote me. How dare I touch God’s anointed? “It’s Christians like you, who don’t know how to forgive, that’s giving the kingdom a bad name,” another person wrote.

Like I said, I expected some of these responses. You see, so many church leaders have so trained their congregation to fend off anyone who dare to speak out against actions by that leader which may by ungodly and that go against the word of God. These people have placed these leaders on a pedestal and have unknowingly made these people idols.

And God warned that we should have no other gods before him.

Some church folks have been trained to accept any behavior by their pastor and not hold them accountable. That’s why you have churches where a pastor can sleep around with sisters (and brothers) in the church and still hold his position as the leader. Some pastors indulge in deviant behavior, smoke weed, take illicit drugs, frequent prostitutes and church members cloak them in their sin, adamant that we should learn to forgive.

I’m all for forgiving people, because all of us make mistakes, fall and mess up on a regular basis. But when a mistake or fall becomes a habit, maybe it’s time that leader takes a seat and get his life right with God.

The truth is, if some of us knew what some of our church leaders do behind closed doors, we would be shocked. We would vomit with disgust. Yet, these people get up on the pulpit every Sunday, raise their hands before Heaven and dare to say they represent God. But that’s behind closed doors. What about when these leaders openly and blatantly violate God’s word right in the church?

So, no one in these churches can go to their leaders and privately let them know that some of the actions they’re taking, or have taken goes against the Bible? You mean no one in T.D. Jakes’ camp warned him that the Bible said friendship with the world is enmity with God? No one on his board could stand up and tell him that light and darkness could not co-exist and that it was not a good look for him to be hanging out at P. Diddy’s parties?

Even if he’s not guilty of what he’s been accused of, in the gallery of public opinion, he’s guilty by association.

What has the church come to, when the leaders hold themselves up as gods over the people. When did church leaders become untouchable to the point where no one can correct or criticize them?

Now, let’s be clear, in some cases even if one of the deacons in the church told some of these pastors that their behavior was questionable, that leader would step up on his soap box and condescendingly ask that deacon how dare he lecture him about the Bible.

While there is no shortage of church leaders whom we can point fingers at for going against the Bible on a consistent basis, perhaps we need to turn our attention on the members inside these churches who feel they have been anointed by God to cloak their pastor’s bad behavior.

You see, as long as people show up every Sunday, give their tithes, stand and clap every time the pastor walks into the church or scream and shout and run around the church when he throws out some quote that rhymes in order to sound deep, then these pastors will continue in their sin. They have received the approval of the congregation. They have long disregarded the approval of God.

But as the last days falls upon us, the time has come for Believers to take charge of their own salvation and stop depending solely on these people who are leading them astray. The Bible admonishes us to “work out our own salvation in fear and trembling”. (Philippians 2:13)

This has become even more necessary as the Western world’s idea of Christianity has taken a nosedive to evil levels. The church has lowered God’s standard to the point where there is no more fear of God in many churches. That explains why many pastors or church leaders can do the things they do, with no spiritual or moral conviction.

Many churches don’t even preach about sin anymore. They have become places where people with itching ears go to hear about how to get God to bless them financially or materially. Sermons have become motivational messages about living your best life and gaining more, with a few Bible verses thrown in for good measure and preachers have given the impression that sinners can receive God’s blessing and approval without having to repent of sin, change their wicked ways and cry out to God for deliverance.

Pastors want to become celebrities and well-known by people of the world. So they compromise God’s word to obtain this desire. But the truth is, if the people in the world accepts your pastor with open arms and they love him all over the world, you should run away from that pastor as fast as you can. Jesus said the world only loves its own and if the world accepts you, then that’s because you’re a part of them. (John 15:19)

The world hated Jesus Christ because he told people about their sin nature. He told them that they would never see the kingdom of God if they did not repent and turn from their evil ways. The world hated the Apostles because they followed in Jesus’ footsteps and preached a message that made people in the world angry.

Many of today’s pastors preach a message that allows celebrities and everyday sinners to sit in their churches on a regular basis with no conviction of their sin. They rub shoulders with people whose sins are posted in the newspapers, on the news, and on social media on a regular basis.

It’s hard to even hear a message about hell in many churches today. In 1741, theologian Jonathan Edwards preached the famous sermon “sinners in the hands of an angry God” that was so powerful that it was said that big, strong men began to hold on to trees and crying, trying not to slide into hell! That’s the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ that never changes.

We don’t hear sermons like that anymore. There is no more talk about holiness in the church and among church members. Western Modern-Day church has been watered down where anything goes. You can come as you are, stay as you are, and God will accept you. There are no rules for the church. No standards. The message of the gospel that has saved and regenerated people for decades and generations has suddenly become ineffective as far as today’s preachers are concerned. They say they want to change church to make it more appealing to the younger generation.

But God’s message never changes, no matter which generation exists. No matter how much the world changes and trends come and go, God’s word does not change with the times. When you change God’s message to appeal to one generation, you will have to change it even more to appeal to the next. And where does it end?

It ends when the people in the church become angry with some of these church leaders and begin to hold them accountable not only for what they teach, but for the way they live their lives. You say we can’t judge people. On the contrary, the Bible says we had better judge the fruit they are producing. The Apostle Paul warned in the book of James that not many people should desire to become teachers because those who teach will be held at a higher standard.(James 3:1)

But that can only happen when church members grow up spiritually. There are millions of Christians who have been sitting in churches for years who refuse to crack the Bible open at home. They have no prayer life; they never spend time with God and they rely solely on learning about God from their pastor.

They have not yet learned that some pastors are like politicians. In politics, it’s beneficial for politicians to keep people ignorant, because it makes the people reliant on them. And once people are reliant on them, it ensures that those people vote them back in office. Some pastors take the same approach. That’s why they never preach the unadulterated word of God because they fear that when people learn the Bible for themselves, their eyes would be opened to the fact that these pastors are not doing church God’s way.

Jesus said in John chapter 10 that the only people who came before him were thieves and robbers. He later said in that same chapter that those who were hired hand cared nothing about the sheep. So, the question church members must ask themselves is “is my pastor, bishop, apostle, prophet or teacher a thief, a robber, a hired hand, a bad Shepherd or a good shepherd called by God?”

I dare say that the first five of these traits listed above belong to some of the people who are leading many of these churches today – thieves, robbers, hired hands and bad shepherds. Church Members who are serious about growing spiritually have to start looking out for the salvation of their own souls. While Christians are busy fighting to try and keep the devil out, all the while the enemy has already snuck in disguised as a trojan horse who looks just like us.

They look like Believers, sound like Believers and can quote all the Christian verbiage at the snap of a finger. But inside, they are wolves in sheep clothing. They have been planted by the devil to lead the church astray and many of them are doing it openly.

These are serious, serious times Believers. Wake up!