And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5
If you go into any Christian book store today it is not uncommon to see rows and rows of books by many Christian authors. Some authors are very famous and some are not so famous. At the same time, it is not uncommon for people who are fans of certain authors to go to great lengths to tell me everything they can about their favorite author and why I should read their books or listen to their messages. Frankly speaking, my schedule is so full with ministry work that there is little time that I can spend reading anything other than the Bible. However, when certain books become very popular, I will make the time read them so that I am up to speed on what the author teaches if asked. Unfortunately, a large number of books by Christian authors use various Bible versions and Bible verses out of context to support what they are teaching, yet many believers will buy them in droves and embrace what they are taught without question.
I was having an enlightening discussion with a missionary friend of mine several years back and I was expressing my frustration of how if was getting difficult to find a good selection of decently made Bibles. While the local Christian book store had a large selection of books on every topic, the selection of Bibles literally consisted of a single rack that was about eight feet long and five feet high. The selection of King James Bibles was just two, three-foot shelves. My friend responded that he learned long ago that most Christian book stores do not focus on selling the Word of God any more, they focus on selling what people say about the Word of God.
Sadly, his words ring more true today than ever before with many Christians. They can explain all about what their favorite author or preacher said or wrote, but they don’t have a clue about what the Bible says in context about a certain topic. For this reason, practically speaking, many professed believers are Biblically illiterate. Their knowledge of Scripture is a conglomerated mess of what they have learned from speakers and authors who, like Paul said in today’s verses, speak and preach with enticing words of man’s wisdom. This leads to them having a balled-up theology that serves as a poor foundation for their faith. When we have a wrong theological understanding because we do not know first hand what the Bible actually teaches, it results in bad counsel when it comes to using the Word of God to have victory in our life over sin and adversity. For this reason, my motto when it comes to studying God’s Word, when you know the normal, the abnormal stands out. We do not need to study the cults and get other people’s opinions about why someone’s book or preaching is or is not theologically correct. We need to know what God defines as normal and theologically true.
When you know what the Bible says, abnormal teaching is exposed in your mind by the power of the Holy Spirit. This same power is demonstrated to us by the evidence of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. This evidence causes our faith to grow and enables us to trust God’s wisdom for all issues of life (1 Corinthians 1:30; Hebrews 11:1). As a Christian author, I must give this last bit of advice: any speaker or author you encounter should strongly encourage you to open your Bible and to study for yourself so that you can learn from the source, written by the Master Author, Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14; 2 Timothy 2:14-18; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21). If they do not do this, then avoid them (Romans 16:17-18).
