If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. Deut. 13:1-5
We usually read these words and use them as a cautionary tale for those outside the church using miracles and signs as reason to listen to them. But what if the caution was just as relevant to those inside the church - today!
I'm not here to sell you what you want ... just what you need.
Sounds like a sales pitch at the local used car dealer or flea market. But it should be the 'pitch' at your local church. Unfortunately, these days we have turned Jesus into a cure-all, fix-all, end-all, do-all ... for All your problems. And that's great when Jesus works out like that, but it doesn't work like that all the time. Not all your problems go away (BTW, that was never a promise Jesus gave ... actually He promised quite the opposite).
Perhaps it is easier to see the claims of the false prophets as they masquerade while selling us false hope and quick fixes. We are even drawn in for a short time, but we never stay long ... the promise never holds up to our reality.
But what about the church? What about our own testimony?
How often are we left trying to sell "our church" or "our faith" as a means for someone to reid themselves of "their problems".
The end result is that people will respond, but when the problems return ... they leave once again disappointed in a promise broken.
Perhaps we would better to tell the real story:
I once was lost, but now am found ... but I still don't really know where I am.
Maybe you could join me a journey to figure out this thing called faith.
I don't have all the answers. My problems haven't all gone away, but I know that God loves me
and I have hope - hope in a better future - a promise of better future - and I am not alone in my struggles.
Maybe if we stopped trying to sell Jesus and instead lived like we loved Jesus ... we would find a lot less people calling us Hypocrites and trying "to put us to death" according to the Law.