Strange Wolves?

[redblue22]

Which religion workers do you think something is off about them? Why?


"Off" might be anywhere from "strange" to "wolf in sheep's clothing."

"Religion worker" might be a pastor, speaker, writer, counselor, etc.

.

 

[High Fidelity]

It depends. They all have the potential.

 

[SnowyMacie]

Usually the first dead give away for me to run is when they believe they have the true gospel or in some sense are more right than everyone else. That's how the cult ministry was at my university. They believed in evangelizing to other Christians because somehow they were more right than the rest of us, and the pastor even said "It doesn't matter what else you have been told because what I am saying is right." Of course everyone believes they have right answers and others are wrong, but when you go around believing that people who believe the exact the same as you are wrong because they aren't in your group, that's when you cross the line.

 

[Messy]

When they go to heaven on a regular basis and see rollercoasters there and when angels clean up their room and a fish they catch wears sunglasses and they hit on a rock and water comes out, the glory of God comes as a mighty bunch of gold dust from the air, things like that.

 

[SnowyMacie]

glory of God comes as a mighty bunch of gold dust from the air

I remember being a video shown of this, I think it was from Bethel, it could have just as easily been glitter or something. I think it's called a glory cloud.

 

[Rhamiel]

I do not want to sound overly polemic or partisan

but I have seen some real self defeatist thought from a particular brand of "Liberal Christianity"
I am not talking about all Liberals, there are many orthodox Christians who are liberal and who are also very pious

but some liberals have almost a mindset of cultural suicide
they water down ideas like the Gospel and Sin and even Truth so much
they act like there is nothing special about Christianity
it is just another religion
and this mindset offers nothing that is attractive
just self defeatism

recently we saw polls that show the number of the unaffiliated have grown in the USA while Christianity is shrinking
I think this is why
why be a Christian if all that really matters is "just be a nice person"?

 

[redblue22]

which liberals do you have in mind?

 

[MehGuy]

SJW Christianity..

Although..that might implode on itself.. lol..

 

[redblue22]

sjw?

 

[redblue22]

latest sermon is about how the pastor needs an airplane.

 

[MehGuy]

sjw?

Social Justice Warrior.

Or..

Hypocritical Shallow Liberal.

HSL

 

[Rhamiel]

which liberals do you have in mind?

Social Justice Warrior.

Or..

Hypocritical Shallow Liberal.

HSL

MehGuy pretty much hits the nail on the head

people who do not believe the Bible is inerrant (I do not even mean literal in all instances)
people who just focus on social justice and ignore the Gospel
Marxists who hide behind the title of "Liberation Theology"
people who say all religions are equal

 

[PetLuv]

None that I can think of as a group in general - but any group can have it's problem people.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Which religion workers do you think something is off about them? Why?


"Off" might be anywhere from "strange" to "wolf in sheep's clothing."

"Religion worker" might be a pastor, speaker, writer, counselor, etc.

.

Anything that's extraordinarily opaque sets off some red flags for me. It could be this church across town that is notoriously cultish, or it could be the entire religion of Scientology. When a group does both of the following, I tend to give them a wide berth: A) Place the entirety of their faith and trust in an individual who has no system of checks and balances in place, B) Give absolutely no information on their beliefs, their structure or their governance.

 

[Ubuntu]

I think we shouldn't judge people for being “strange”. People are different and this includes Christians. I bet that we would have thought that a few of the persons in the bible were strange if we happened to live in Biblical times.

Yet we should recognize that there will always be real “wolves” in the Church. You won't necessarily see anything strange about them, they could certainly be popular and famous Church leaders that many people look up to. As a matter of fact even miracles aren't proof that religious leaders are sent from God:

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” - Matthew 24:24

So how do we recognize them?

“Each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from brambles.”
- Luke 6:44

and

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse!”
- Galatians 1:8

 

[HexidecimalInput]

Which religion workers do you think something is off about them? Why?


"Off" might be anywhere from "strange" to "wolf in sheep's clothing."

"Religion worker" might be a pastor, speaker, writer, counselor, etc.

.

What's a religion worker in a Christian context? Someone with "Christian" in front of their job title? How am I supposed to describe to you definitively which ones I think are "off"?

I think everyone is strange, or has strange moments. Including myself, sometimes.

I don't call anyone a "wolf in sheep's clothing" because that would be taking Christ's words out of the context to which it applies. He didn't say to beware of anyone you think is strange or even to beware of anyone displaying bad fruit. He said to beware of false prophets, because they are the ones that affect whole groups of people with their teachings that they claim to be from God.

 

[GQ Chris]

Pimping Pastors and metrosexual looking Pastors.

 

[redblue22]

I didn't realize we were judging anyone. I am personally happy to know that we're not judging strange people. lol. Everyone in the bible seems strange to me. I misused an idiom also found in the bible. "Religious worker" maybe should be "Religious leader." Maybe that term is more familiar to your ears.

And Creflo Dollar seems to be a bit off. Patrick's signature seems to indicate another religious leader.

 

[K9_Trainer]

For me it's the religious extremists, either right or left. Extremism almost never leads to a healthy lifestyle or healthy relationships.