Ask yourself this--regarding worship

Do you worship your God or your ministering role model?

I often see articles that intend to discredit everything about individual ministers. Why? Are we at times so self righteous and shallow that we expect our ministers to have all the right answers? Do we esteem them as though they should represent the fullness of our Lord, Jesus Christ? We should be careful not to. Why? Because the bible says so. We are told to not worship idols. It is a direct command. Do we tend to idolize our ministers to some unlawful extreme? I think sometimes we do. Be careful. We need to fully acknowledge our human tendencies to judge without having such an authority to so do. No minister of the word is perfect. Each of them are human, just like we are. We should not idolize them, perceiving them as some sort of Gods, expecting perfection with everything they say or do. We should not hang on every word that exerts from their mouths as though it is absolute truth, and then become disappointed in them to a point of complete disgust when they say something out of line. Do we make mistakes? Yes. Of course we do, we ALL do. You might not realize you are breaking another biblical command by placing judgment on those we so want to trust. That is failing to love one another as the Lord loves. Do you think the Lord stops loving his children when they say the wrong things, or become confused about something? NO. Absolutely not. The Lord would remind those of us who recognize a misconception to pray for the person to come into proper understanding, lovingly, not judgmentally. So, how do we know if we perceive a message the right way, anyway? Let me say, by absorbing what the Lord says in His very own words, in the Holy Bible, and by praying for wisdom and understanding. Therefore, if we resume in the Word of God, we will know how wrong destructive gossip and negative thoughts toward another person truly is. We would realize and abandon such tendencies. Remember, the Lord, your God loves you, and He loves your brothers and sisters, just the same. Do not spit in His face by developing your own standards for who is qualified to receive your love. Jesus told us already who qualifies. That is each other, every one of us. It was not left to us to pick and choose those we feel deserve it. So, the next time you think about dragging a minister's name through the mud because of something he/she might have said or done, remember your responsibility to the Lord, and just simply love. We should also always seek to remember and appreciate all the blessings that have come about in people's lives because of the minister's services to the Lord. If we look at all the good of a person's ministry, we will surely forget any bad, because the Holy Spirit in us makes it that way. As long as we remain in the Word, we do not need to lean so heavily on the actions of another human being; others cannot hurt us. That is why our christian ministry should primarily encourage others to read the bible, where there is no mistake. Stay in the word and release others from the burden of your judgments.

Take the plank out of your own eye before you try removing the splinter from your neighbor's. We all have wood in our eyes! Let us not snuff out the blessings an individual has to offer because of all our timbers. Keep the Holy Spirit at work in every one of us by supporting eachother, and not shutting eachother down with begrudging criticism.

Thank you.