The world in which you and I publicly minister today is totally different than it used to be and we need to be aware of that as we teach/preach the Word of the Lord. No longer are we just speaking to our family that we know and experience life with. We are in essence speaking to the world. Now that everything we say is either recorded, videoed, and many times live steamed, we cannot be flippant or careless in what we teach, preach, or share from the front. It can be researched, fact checked, and cross referenced before anyone leaves the building. That isn’t a negative, it is a positive in that it causes us to take even more seriously the things that we say as they will live on virtually beyond our lifetime. We need to be cautious of what we say, teach and preach as well as the verbiage, examples and sidebars that so easily come to our minds.
In 1992, I was nailed to the wall and hit with these verses in a very late night meeting with the prophets. It put the Fear of the Lord in me for sure, with a revelation to a degree that I had not felt before. Here is the verse I read. James 3:1-3 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
Or how about the MSG James 3:1-2 Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. 2 And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
As I was sitting there in that living room late that night, I suddenly realized that as a teacher/preacher, I carried within me the ability to lead someone astray if I wasn’t teaching/preaching truth. WOW, that was sobering to say the least. And I was hit with the Fear of the Lord in a new way. My prayer immediately was, Lord grant me the ability to minister truth to others that will bring about Kingdom change in not only their lives but everyone that they come in contact with. As ministers of the Gospel we have an amazing opportunity, but it needs to be taken very seriously. Selah!
D.O.V.E.