The Bible says:
“No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
— 2 Timothy 2: 4
Before a Christian joins a ministry and puts themselves under the oversight of the pastor it should be determined whether he is of God or man. For many it doesn’t matter if he is or not. But for those seeking to know God and striving to live for Him it matters that the pastor is called by God and is living and leading according to the Scriptures.
That the man leading God’s people may not be of God is nothing new. There were false prophets in the Old Testament and there will be false preachers and teachers throughout the church age. (Matthew 7: 15; 2 Peter 2: 1) The man who enters the position of spiritual leadership must be God-called. Abraham and Moses and all the prophets were called. Jesus chose and called His apostles. (Matthew 10: 14; 2 Corinthians 1: 1) And God still calls men today into the ministry. God accepts no volunteers. And God calls only those who are truly qualified for the position.
(1 Timothy 3; Titus 1) That there are men in the ministry who are not God-called is obvious.
Some are “Mama called and Papa sent.”
There are some who are actually ministers of Satan. (2 Corinthians 11: 13-15) There are some the church is using but God is not using.
Sadly, most don’t know the difference.
Religion is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Some enter the ministry for the prosperity, and prestige.
Even the lost minister becomes religiously successful. (Matthew 7: 22, 23) They will preach “another gospel,” “another Jesus,” “another spirit” (2 Corinthians 11: 4; Galatians 1: 6, 7) in order to please their listeners.
Paul, before he was saved, was a successful religious man. He was a “man-of-the-system.”
(Philippians 3: 4-6) But when he was saved, he became a man-of-God and left the system and counted it but “dung.”
To discover if a minister is of God or man is easy. They will be known by the fruit of their life (Matthew 7: 15-20) and whether they seek to please God or man (Galatians. 1: 10), and by what they say about Jesus Christ. (1 John: 4) Do they preach Biblical Christianity or Contemporary Christianity?
James H. Cagle is a Ray City resident who pastored several churches for a total of 11 years.
Email him at pastorjameshcagle@ yahoo.com
