Pondering so much of what passes for Xian churches nowadays, I consider warnings found in Deuteronomy, Matthew, II Peter, etc., and realize that contemporary attendees of many so-called Xian churches just don’t understand even the basic qualifications for church leadership, the most basic of which is prophetic speech. In fact, probably less than 1% of contemporary attendees even know that more (much more) than 8 out of 10 prophetic pronouncements in the Bible are NOT foretelling of future events. Most, by far, are instead forthtelling of God’s word for the contemporary scene.
THAT is what has become less and less common in today’s churches. Not telling forth (preaching and teaching) whatever tickles folks’ fancies and makes them feel good about themselves or confirms their biases toward [whomever], but confronting the real issues of life with /God’s/ word, not the speaker’s own self-aggrandizing opinions.
If the preacher (“forthteller,” if you will) is “telling forth” words that are his own, whether personal opinion or approval-seeking, and not God’s, he is not a true prophet. There are biblical (well, Old Testament) remedies for such that society would frown on nowadays, but surely running such out of town would be an acceptable alternative.
Oh, how can one separate the serpents from the true prophets? That is why God has protected the transmission of his Word. The minute church leader tries to justify a non-biblical stance using ANY deceptive means, instead of accepting biblical correction, they have completely nullified, revealed as illegitimate, any authority to speak on spiritual matters. Period.
Paul, that infamous persecutor of Xians who met The Way, The Truth, and The Life on his way to persecuting more Xians and became the last biblical apostle, clearly said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ,” telling the church at Corinth that his own life was open to inspection. Do NOT EVER trust a church leader who tries to tell you not to point out their error, especially if they disingenuously misapply “Touch not the head of God’s anointed.” That is a serpent’s tactic: twisting God’s Word and then misapplying it disingenuously (the first sin recorded in scripture, BTW—committed by the Serpent in the Garden).
Just watch out. Wolves in sheep’s clothing seem to be more and more common in church leadership. Don’t be fleeced.