Peter was an apostle who walked with Jesus, before Jesus was raised from the dead. That would make Peter very important, wouldn’t it? In fact, perhaps it would make him unquestionable!
But then along comes Paul, a man who murdered Christians and hunted them like animals. He just met Jesus on the road to Damascus.
By all accounts he was the least of those who preached Christ. But, when Peter taught, by example, something contrary to the word of God guess who confronted him.
It was Paul. Now, everyone around could have said to Paul, “Hey, who do you think you are?! Peter knew Jesus in the flesh! You must be an arrogant and proud man indeed to think you know better!” But the truth is that Paul DID know better.
Now let’s apply this to today. There are those who set some preachers and early church leaders up on pedestals. If you confront their doctrine they will say to you, “Hey, who do you think you are?! These are great men of God! You must be an arrogant and proud man indeed to think you know better!”
But what did Paul say about this?
1 Corinthians 3:4-7
4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
So what is the moral of this story? Simple, … don’t elevate men above the position of a man. Hero worship belongs to Jesus alone. We should never put man on a pedestal.
The Bible tells us that even Elijah was a man like us. All he did was pray for a drought and it didn’t rain for 3 and a half years, … but Elijah wasn’t the hero of this story. God is the hero here.
So don’t think that what the men in the Bible did was beyond you! They were no different than you! All they did was submit themselves to God. You can do the same.
Is it good to listen to others? OF COURSE IT IS! But just because someone has been put on a pedestal and said something doesn’t mean it is true. Mama didn’t always know best and Daddy didn’t always know what to do, … but God does!
So if you hear someone teaching something, don’t assume it is true because of hero worship. Don’t assume it isn’t true if they are coming against your “hero” either. But, in everything let God be true and every man a liar. Listen, … and then go to the Bible to check if their words came from God or not.
This is something I encourage you to do even when it comes to what you hear from On The Line Ministries. Because my goal isn’t to spoon feed you. I want you to learn how to hunt the truth for yourself.
As Always,
Jason Evans
Yeshua The Son Of God 