This group can be small churches or mega churches. Because of this they do not seem to be closed. Their superiority is not in doctrine but in personality. They are Christians who follow one man. He may be right in his teaching. The followers may also hold to the truth, not because Jesus is the Truth but because the teacher said it was the truth. This is very dangerous. The teacher could add something false and the followers would buy it because he said it.
Many years ago I was visiting a new Presbyterian Church in Omaha. The congregation, not big, was sitting on folding chairs. The pastor, a young man, had previously been a campus pastor in Iowa. His text, I think, was Matthew 18:6, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
He was liberal in his theology so I wondered what he was going to say about the text. He preached for a while and finally got around to his text. He said, “Millstones are to teach you to swim underwater.” I was caught off guard. I started to laugh. This was the point of his message. The pastor said it, therefore it was true. We are not to be men followers unless they are imitating Jesus.
“…just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” (I Corinthians 10:33-11:1)
Otherwise there are quarrels among you.
“Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.' (I Corinthians 1:12)
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?” (I Corinthians 3:1-4)
Christians who are men-followers are not spiritual, but worldly, even if the teachers are good teachers like Paul or Apollos. They are closed Christians.
In the Lord Jesus Christ,
Jim Wilson
Many years ago I was visiting a new Presbyterian Church in Omaha. The congregation, not big, was sitting on folding chairs. The pastor, a young man, had previously been a campus pastor in Iowa. His text, I think, was Matthew 18:6, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
He was liberal in his theology so I wondered what he was going to say about the text. He preached for a while and finally got around to his text. He said, “Millstones are to teach you to swim underwater.” I was caught off guard. I started to laugh. This was the point of his message. The pastor said it, therefore it was true. We are not to be men followers unless they are imitating Jesus.
“…just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” (I Corinthians 10:33-11:1)
Otherwise there are quarrels among you.
“Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.' (I Corinthians 1:12)
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?” (I Corinthians 3:1-4)
Christians who are men-followers are not spiritual, but worldly, even if the teachers are good teachers like Paul or Apollos. They are closed Christians.
In the Lord Jesus Christ,
Jim Wilson
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