It's the Message, Not the Messenger

What an awesome Lord we have! I am still amazed at how the Lord works in my life to show me the way. I received the following video from a friend this morning. It is really pitiful what this man is doing to his congregation. Be sure to watch the entire video because there are actually two parts to it.

I read the Bible every day by a schedule provided by First Family Church in order to read it completely through in a year. After I watched the video I got my Bible out to read the scriptures for today. Today, I am starting 1 Corinthians. My Bible, Nelson's NKJV Study Bible, has commentary throughout to explain various things. Today, the "InDepth" commentary was titled "The Message, Not the Messenger." It discusses the divisions of Christians in the early church in Corinth and that they were confused and began following the various messengers instead of the message. Paul admonishes them to set them back on track. It goes on to say:

"We might be tempted to write off this problem, attributing it to "those silly, immature Corinthians," if it were not for the fact that the tendency to exalt dynamic leaders is still prevalent today. Witty, engaging Christian speakers and vibrant, charismatic spiritual leaders still have the power to mesmerize and motivate believers today. And there is nothing inherently wrong with such power. The danger comes when the speaker or leader, and not the message, becomes the focus of attention.

"Christian speakers and leaders are merely vessels through who God's Word is communicated. Exalting them for the message they proclaim is a misunderstanding of their purpose. Put simply, it's the message, not the messenger.

"As believers today, we must guard ourselves against identifying too closely with human leaders or placing too much emphasis on them. Our loyalty and identification belong only to Jesus Christ and His message."

Amen and Amen!