Before we get into this article, we want to say that there are good leaders out there, well done to all the leaders who work tirelessly to lead out of integrity. However, we are in a day and age where abuses do happen in churches because of leaders whose consciouses have been seared with a hot iron, as described in 1 Timothy 4 v 2.
“Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”
We are going to help you spot self-deception in churches so that you will be wise not to be deceived. We are going to discuss Luke 16. In verses 14 to 15 Jesus has clearly ruffled the feathers of the pharisee. Here are those verses.
14 “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”
Why did the pharisee ridicule Jesus? In the beginning of Luke 16 Jesus was talking about money like it is not the most important thing in this life or His, when you should actually be investing the gifts that you have for eternity.
What the pharisee believed was this, that the presence of wealth meant you had the approval of God. If you had lots of money, if you wore nice clothes or had lots of material possessions then people would look at you and would be like, wow, these people are blessed by God. They must be blessed by God. This is why the pharisee loved money.
But Jesus exposes what the pharisee are guilty of in Luke 16 v 15. The pharisee said that they justify the things they do, the things that they say, the things that they believe predicated on the fact that they have a lot of money or material wealth, so whatever they do is RIGHT. Jesus is saying that kind of thinking is wrong, He is saying that the pharisee are indulging in dangerous self-deception.
Does it apply to today’s times?
Absolutely. The church is full of leaders, they may not be called pharisee these days, leaders are called all kinds of things, from Pastors, Vicars, Priests, office managers, and the list goes on.
The point is are leaders justifying themselves before man, from media platforms such as the pulpit, social media and others to say look at all the money we have, see how blessed we are by God, everything we do is RIGHT. They post on social media and say things like, “that was such a powerful sermon delivered by this person”, and that Gods presence was undeniable here today.
They put out calls wanting people to get baptised, so that they can flaunt them in front of man saying we are blessed by God. But what they are doing is indulging in massive self-deception, not only deceiving themselves but deceiving others around them. These kinds of leaders are saying NEVER QUESTION US WE ARE BLESSED BY GOD! Adding to the artificial church.
Jesus was clear in the gospel of Matthew specifically in Matthew 7:15.
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”
Again, God says it clearly once more about false teachers in 2 Peter 2, here is what Peter said.
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”
We must be ever careful and test everything that is said to us and submit them to God, whether that be things said by Pastors, Priests, office mangers or whoever. Why? Because Jesus once again was clear in the book of Revelation where he called out the church of Sardis.
Here is the scripture specifically detailing the problem at the Church in Sardis in Revelation 3 v 1 – 6.
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Do you see? Churches and leaders out there could well look alive but inwardly are dead. They are the kind of churches that are indulging in massive self-deception. They think they are always RIGHT, because they have the designer clothes, the money, the material wealth, however Jesus says these things count for nothing in Luke 16 if your heart is not in the right place.
So, lets bring this plane in to land. If you think you are in a church that is dealing in self-deception and using big words to tell you they are blessed by God, or flaunting wealth, then there could be a problem. What do the pearls of wisdom say specifically in Proverbs 18:6.
“The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.”
The pharisee’s did not heed this proverb, their mouths invited a beating with self-deceptive words. But it was Jesus who came out triumphant in His resurrection.
So, pray and pray some more. Leaders who have fallen will likely not adhere to scripture such as Matthew 18 v 15:
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.
In other words, they won’t have the strength in God to have a face to face, a discussion, because, they will already have justified themselves saying look at how we are blessed by God, we are RIGHT in everything we are doing, so we don’t need to have any discussions. It is a form of spiritual abuse. They are as arrogant as the pharisee were as highlighted in Luke 16.
This is why praying is so important! So pray for your leaders because God will intercede for you. We know just how powerful praying for your leaders is to help the church. Let prayer be the engine of your life for the wellbeing of the church.
