“Large numbers do not necessarily equal spirituality. Jeremiah had very few followers. Now, there are times when God does a great work of revival and great masses of people fill faithful churches. But just because a podcaster says they’re a Christian and has a million subscribers does not mean their message is the truth. You have to evaluate the teaching. Where do their directions lead?
But here’s the good news: God has given you a mind. If you’re a Christian, He’s given you His Holy Spirit to be your Teacher – to help you understand the truth. God has promised to not withhold wisdom from you if ask for it. So, no matter who is trying to teach you, no matter how impressive or influential they seem to be, do what the Bereans did. They heard this guy Paul teach a message about God, then they took what he said and examined the Scriptures to see if it was true. Acts 17 says they did so daily. It wasn’t that they had closed minds, they had critical minds. Not just drinking the draught because they were impressed by the person offering it.
You and I are called to be wise, to be discerning, to be careful about which well we drink from, spiritually speaking. False teachers present themselves as expert navigators, but their directions don’t lead to abundant life. Their path is a crooked path of depravity and spiritual disease.”
