For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. Amos 8:11
We are now inundated with a myriad of voices in this time and culture. With the speed of technology and the internet everyone is scrambling to carve out their own niche of listeners / readers. When I was growing up there were only three real news voices on the TV. Newspapers covered both local and national news. A few newspapers and magazines covered world news. The circle of voices was actually very small, and they mainly reported the facts with little opinion. Now the opposite has happened. Everywhere there are voices screaming for people to listen to them. And people now gather to themselves the voices that sound good to them or have the same ‘opinion’ and viewpoint as themselves. The main news sources have turned into opinion narratives, with the ‘facts’ seen through a very narrow lens. BLM riots were “basically calm protests” where as conservative protests were radical extremists and a danger to our democracy. The separation and division forces from the spiritual realm are in full force.
The same phenomenon is happening in the Church. With the proliferation of voices now able to be listened to .. via social media and podcasts, people can gather whatever ‘preacher’ they want to listen to… to ‘scratch their personal itch’ to back up their viewpoints and personal theological and doctrinal opinions, no matter how wrong they are. Now it’s become all about gathering a ‘following’, rather than presenting the blatant facts of the gospel. It’s become the age old — money game even more.
Without the restraining and convicting individual work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of regular Christians the Sunday service goers don’t have any discernment to know what the Truth is and what it is not. Is the institution teaching them how to hear the Holy Spirit in their lives? How to hear His Voice? How does anyone know what they should be taking in?
Jesus said… My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27
Who are you listening to? Why? Is what they are saying being used by the Holy Spirit to convict you of your wrong ways, actions, words, and lifestyle? Or are you just listening to the ones who just make you ‘feel’ good about yourself. If you aren’t being disciplined by the Holy Spirit regularly — then you most likely have tuned Him out. The Holy Spirit’s desire is for you to grow spiritually, and that takes some difficult changes in ALL of us.
Have you actually asked the Holy Spirit who you should be listening to? Who you should be reading? Which Voice you should be seeking out? Are you asking Him to help you discern the Truth with greater clarity?
I do know that post should be under the same scrutiny that I am writing about. YOU should take EVERYTHING I write about to the Holy Spirit for consideration and confirmation. HE needs to become your filter for EVERY thought and word you allow into your mind.
Be careful which voices you surround yourself with. How many voices today really have His concerns at the top of their values? Which ones really care about Jesus more than anything else? Which ones are very sensitive to the Holy Spirit? How do you know?