3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
I am very wary of big-name speakers, those who travel the world with no rootedness in a local faith community. The reason I am wary is that I have no way to check the accuracy of their claims. All my information is based on their press releases. Even in the age of Factcheck.com we are still getting a filtered version of the facts. And greed is a very powerful influence in so many lives. Some people will say just about anything to make a buck. So how can we be sure that we don’t become a victim of this type of spiritual sales pitch? First, remember that words are just one part of the equation. You can watch to see if their words and their actions match. Watch closely for the subtle things, things done when eyes are not watching. As an example, take a look at the giving record of our next President. His words say that helping those who are in need is important, and yet when you examine his record of charitable giving, he gave almost nothing. His words sound good, but his character is different. We are still waiting for the leader, who, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., will be “judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Our next president has words, but in the area of helping the poor, no substance to back them up. There are lots of examples of people with wonderful words, but no substance. Politics is about plastic words. I am including a link to a good presentation outlining our responsibilities as Jesus-followers in this age of politics (http://ag.org/top). Let’s become people whose lives match our words. If we say we care about other people, then care about other people. If we say abortion is wrong, then support a woman who is choosing to keep their unwanted child. If we point our fingers at a particular group of people whose actions we view as sinful, then reach out to that group in the love of Jesus. If we get made at people who drive like maniacs, we need to drive enveloped in the grace and mercy of God. If our kids are disrespectful of the authority in their lives, then we need to be respectful of the authority in our lives. If we aren’t careful we become empty words with no action.
The Arnold Journey 