There are many warnings God gives His children in the written Word, but are there some that are more important than others?
In a recent episode of “The John Bevere Podcast” with his son Arden, Christian author, speaker and co-founder of Messenger International, John Bevere addresses what he says is Jesus’ most important warning to the church, and it has specifically to do with the end times, and are we as the church ignoring it?
So what is the warning that should be taken seriously by all Christians?
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As the disciples beseech Jesus to tell them of the signs before His return in Matthew 24, He tells them what to look for, and who to be wary of during the end times. But most importantly, according to Bevere, Jesus says four times that we are not to be deceived.
“You’ve heard me probably say it before, ‘there’s only one problem with deception…it’s deceiving,” Bevere says. “It’s deceiving. The person that’s deceived believes with all their heart they’re right, when in reality, they’re wrong. That’s so scary. In other words, they are self-fooled.”
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Bringing this deception is one of the greatest threats facing those in need of salvation: false teachers.
“Jesus is not the only one that warns about false teachers,” Bevere explains. “Every writer in the New Testament…except James. Now James warns about deception, but he doesn’t warn about false teachers. Every single writer…every one of them, warned about false teachers.”
There are false teachers in the world today, Bevere warns, and it is imperative that Christians are able to identify them. According to Bevere, this must be done without turning into a “watchdog” or somebody who gets tunnel vision and only looks out for false teachers. These individuals have become known as “heresy hunters” who often fail to grow the kingdom in their search for their next clickbait video.
Discipleship is the key to not becoming a watchdog according to Bevere. “When a counterfeit comes in, if I train you how to recognize a counterfeit $100 bill, do I need to be next to you when that fake $100 bill comes into your hand?” Bevere asks. “No, I don’t need to be there, do I? What I taught you, the way I trained you, it taught you how to recognize it for yourself.”
According to Bevere, there are three categories in which teachers are placed:
- True teachers that are on the right path.
- True teachers who are off course but receive correction humbly.
- False teachers who are not humble or teachable, and cannot be corrected.
Bevere has seen leaders fall over the years. Leaders that were at one point on the right path, but all fell and left the ministry when they demonstrated their inability to be taught and corrected in their behaviors. This highlights the necessity for not just leaders but all Christians to develop a humble heart, because as the Bible says, “…God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” (James 4:6).
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James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
