You Know Who Taught You These Things

Faithfulness is a hard thing to find anywhere for anything these days. We are society of choices and we have a wide variety to choose from. Have you counted the variety of toilet paper in the grocery store these days? Look at our televisions. Maybe I am showing my age but I grew up with three TV stations and one of those was French. Now it takes 30 minutes just to flip through the tv guide to see what is on. There was a time when we were faithful to the brand products we used but it wasn't hard to do when there were only two choices. Now it seems the choice is dictated by what is on sale.

Unfortunately some people apply these love of choices, and frequent changes according to convenience, to God and the Church. But with God there are only two choices: To continue to be lost in sin or be rescued from it through Jesus.There are not "many choices" to get to God, as some celebrities are famous for promoting; there is only one way and his name is Jesus:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life!” Jesus answered. “Without me, no one can go to the Father." (John 14:6)

It doesn't matter how you try to twist this, it still comes down to Jesus being the only way. In our world of choices it is a reality many people find hard to accept. And it is for this reason you need to be careful where you get your spiritual food. Paul wrote to Timothy:

Keep on being faithful to what you were taught and to what you believed. After all, you know who taught you these things. (2 Timothy 3:14)

"You know who taught you these things." Again, there are a lot of choices where you can get your spiritual food. There are a lot of choices for churches. There are a lot of teachers on YouTube. There are a lot of pastors and teachers writing blogs. But just because you read someone's tweets and have access to their official FaceBook does not mean you "know" them. Like I said, there are many online teachers, pastors, putting out a lot of material but you should not accept it at face value. You don't know these people. In fact. 95% of you reading this don't know me. We've never met.

You have a pastor and some of you have more than one. God has provided you with a church filled with teachers and mentors. Are you reading their blogs and their teaching? That is where you should be getting your spiritual food. You can see your pastor living what he preaches all the time. You can see your elders' living testimony. These are the men and women God has given to teach you so learn from them.

I am not saying that the teaching material that people like me put out here on the Internet is wrong but some of it is. You should consult your pastor or elders. Ask them to verify things for you. If something sounds strange, counter to what you have been taught, not lining up with the Word of God, then take it to your pastor. Just because I say I am a pastor does not mean I am. Just like when you are chatting with someone you have never met, it doesn't mean they are who they say they are. Just because she says she is a 16 year old girl doesn't mean she isn't a 42 year old man. People can be whatever they want to be hidden behind their computer.

Never allow the Internet, YouTube, FaceBook, Tumblr,or any of the other great social media tools to replace the Church. The Body of Christ is vital for your growth and your service to Jesus. Get involved and grounded in your church. Get to know your pastors and elders. Ask about their testimony and learn from them. God has given them to you so stay faithful and know who is teaching you.