Windblown Christians

Bill Brinkworth

“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive:” Ephesians 4:14

Sometimes children, because of their innocence and immaturity, follow the wrong person or group and find themselves doing the wrong thing. Many times they trustingly follow, and later pay the consequences for their mistake in following the wrong crowd.

Christians often make the same mistake. Because they are not grounded in the way the Lord wants them to go, they sometimes blow in the direction of anything that may look, sound, or seem religious. They have a desire to live for the Lord, but because they do not know exactly what that way is, they follow incorrectly.

This immaturity and innocence in the way of the Lord is mainly because of ignorance of His Word. To know His will, one must find it in the preserved pages of the Bible. The Bible is His recorded roadmap to get us through lives of detours and misleading roads. It will help us find the right way.

Because of not being grounded in the Word of God, many follow blindly in whichever direction seems right to them. For this reason, many cults grow larger in number, and many godless congregations grow in number.

Many years past, some well-meaning people followed a man in Guyana and his promises of a more peaceful life and a closer walk with God. The man’s name was Reverend Jim Jones. Although their desires were well-intended, the result, because they followed after a man’s way to please God, rather than God’s way, was tragic. Many died as their leader’s demands led them to take their own lives. They followed blindly down the wrong alleyway. Their suicides would not have occurred, if they were obeying God’s Word.

People with a desire to change their lives are often easily led astray by the first smiling face that shows any concern or care for them. Sometimes that smile is a front for other motives. Sometimes, with promises of serving the Lord, the motives are to get them as a member of a cult or organization. Once into the organization’s grasp they go wherever the false doctrine blows them.

Others, desiring also to serve God, are snagged by the tricks and schemes of a cult’s leader. Just as a magician devises methods to make something impossible appear to happen before his audience’s eyes; so do some leaders to get the faithful support of their followers.

Fake faith-healers, in order to get support of followers, have appeared to heal a member of the audience. Many lost hope as it was later revealed that the one healed was planted there, and the healing was a staged act. There was not genuine healing, but the ungrounded audience fell for the deception. If the congregation knew and obeyed their Bible and knew that most of those type of “miracles” were for the early church before they had the written word of God, they would not even have been there.

Many are misled by clerical garb and what they think is Godly behavior. Just because the leader looks and acts spiritual, they believe what they see on the outside is a true reflection of what is on the inside. It is a shattered faith and hope they are left with when the one they were trusting in is embarrassed when his phoniness is revealed in a public scandal.

Keep your eyes on the Lord and not on man. Read, feed, and heed His Word and you will grow in the direction the Lord leads you. If you do, you will be led by the Lord, not blown by an ever-changing wind of false doctrine.

This article was featured in The Bible View #173.

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